Research contracts will explore AI tutoring tools to boost learning outcomes for disadvantaged learners, signalling a wider shift towards AI in education services.
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A new research programme on AI tutoring is moving from concept to procurement. The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology has gone to market for the development of “high-quality AI Tutoring Tools” designed to improve educational outcomes, with a particular focus on disadvantaged pupils in England. For AI and EdTech suppliers, the work could shape how government-backed digital tutoring tools are conceived and tested in classrooms.
On 6th May 2026, the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology published a contract notice for its AI Tutoring Tools Pioneer Programme. The notice sets out a plan to award contracts for research and development, rather than to buy finished products off the shelf.
According to the notice, the initiative has three central features:
The department is inviting participation from suppliers with expertise in both EdTech and artificial intelligence. That combination suggests an interest in tools that are grounded in educational practice as well as in technical innovation, rather than generic AI products repurposed for schools.
The notice is silent on the number of contracts, their value or duration, but it is explicit about the priority group: pupils who are already at a disadvantage. That framing puts the programme in the territory of targeted intervention, rather than general-purpose classroom software. It also reinforces a wider theme across recent procurements: using AI not just to automate back-office work, but to tackle persistent gaps in access, skills and outcomes.
The focus on disadvantaged pupils does not stand alone. In February 2026, the Department for Education issued a prior information notice titled AI Tutoring Tools Development. That notice sought market insights to inform the development of safe, curriculum-aligned AI tutoring tools “aimed at supporting disadvantaged pupils and enhancing teaching”. Taken together, the two notices point to a coordinated interest in AI tutoring across the education and science portfolios, with safety, curriculum fit and disadvantage as shared concerns.
Other parts of government are exploring AI for learners who are far from mainstream school settings. In November 2025, the Ministry of Justice began market engagement on an AI-Enhanced Reading Education Solution to improve literacy among prisoners. That project, like the tutoring programme, links AI directly to education for people facing entrenched disadvantage.
The social focus extends beyond central government. In April 2026, The King’s Trust issued a contract notice for Digital & AI Skills Training Services, seeking suppliers to develop and support a national programme for young people facing digital exclusion. And in April 2026, the Belső-Pesti Tankerületi Központ went to market for tools and software to support institutions caring for children with special educational needs, focusing on physical accessibility adaptations, developmental tools and educational resources in its Support for Special Needs Development procurement.
These notices, together with the new AI tutoring programme, sketch out a policy direction in which AI and digital tools are deployed first where human support is scarcest: in prisons, among digitally excluded young people, and for learners with special educational needs. For suppliers, that underlines the importance of designing for accessibility, ethical use and alignment with teaching practice, not just for technical performance.
The AI Tutoring Tools Pioneer Programme also sits within a wider wave of AI-related procurements aimed at improving productivity and decision-making in public services.
In January 2026, the Office for Students issued a prior information notice on AI Project Delivery, seeking to enhance its internal processes through AI and automation using its data platform, with a strong emphasis on developing and upskilling data colleagues. Local government is moving in a similar direction: in January 2026, Gateshead Borough Council signalled its intent to appoint an AI Transformation Partner to enhance operations, reduce costs and improve services.
Policing is also in scope. In April 2026, Bluelight Commercial began market engagement on a Police AI Lead Delivery Partner to support the establishment of a national centre for responsible AI adoption in policing. Elsewhere in Europe, the National Police Board of Finland has gone out to tender for AI application development services covering the full lifecycle of police information systems, while the Technologická agentura ČR has launched an innovation partnership for an AI system for contactless measurement and equipment sizing for police forces.
Beyond frontline services, AI is being procured to strengthen the machinery of government itself. In December 2025, the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Uzbekistan went to market for an AI software for bid-rigging detection to spot collusion in public procurement, while in February 2026 the National Agency of Information Society began preparatory work for an AI-powered e-procurement system aimed at transforming an existing national platform.
Against this backdrop, the AI Tutoring Tools Pioneer Programme looks less like an isolated education project and more like part of a broader shift. Public bodies are beginning to commission AI not simply as an add-on, but as core infrastructure for teaching, policing, regulation and administration. The distinctive feature of the tutoring programme is its explicit blend of R&D and social targeting, which could influence how other AI projects are structured.
Other education systems are also moving from pilots to procurements for AI in and around the classroom. In December 2025, the Land Saarland’s Ministry for Education and Culture issued a contract notice for an AI Tool for Education – a web application for the Online School Saarland to assist teachers and students, including training programmes for effective use. In February 2026, the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports in Greece went to market for an AI Support System for Education using AI and natural language processing to provide immediate, accurate information for primary and secondary education.
AI is also being applied to the management side of schooling. In March 2026, the same Greek administrative structure launched a Smart Predictive Staffing System to implement an AI-based platform for strategic staffing and evaluation of school units, with an emphasis on resource allocation and transparency.
On the hardware and skills side, universities and regional bodies are weaving AI and robotics into teaching. In April 2026, the University of Huddersfield issued a contract notice for Educational Robot & AI Systems to support teaching and applied research in robotics and AI. In March 2026, Moravskoslezská Technologická Akademie launched a framework agreement for educational workplaces with collaborative robots, complete with software, training and installation. And in February 2026, the Podkarpacki Zespół Placówek Wojewódzkich w Rzeszowie procured services for up to 210 Educational Robotics Training sessions on programming and building educational robots.
Across these procurements, a pattern emerges: AI is entering education both through software that supports teaching and learning directly, and through infrastructure that builds digital and AI skills. The AI Tutoring Tools Pioneer Programme fits squarely into the former category, but its emphasis on research and development means it could also generate insights that inform curricula, teacher training and future investment decisions.
The AI Tutoring Tools Pioneer Programme is still at the procurement stage. The notice confirms the intent to fund research and development of high-quality tools and to focus on disadvantaged pupils, but it leaves open questions about how those tools will be evaluated, how they will be integrated into classroom practice, and how teachers and schools will be supported.
For suppliers, the contracts offer a route to work directly with government on early-stage AI tutoring concepts, alongside related opportunities in areas such as AI skills programmes, prison education and educational robotics. For policymakers and practitioners, the key test will be whether the resulting tools measurably improve outcomes for the pupils the programme is designed to reach – and whether lessons from this research effort are shared across the growing portfolio of AI projects in education and beyond.
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