The publication of the RISE Digital Skills and AI Hub Impact Report (2026) marks an important moment for schools exploring the role of artificial intelligence in education, bringing together real-world evidence from nine working parties, three multi-academy trusts and hundreds of practitioners across the South West.
Over recent months, Teachmate has supported over 50 colleagues across Cornerstones Academy Trust, Ted Wragg Trust and Kernow Learning with free access to the platform and bespoke demos, enabling a collaborative, research-led approach to trialling AI in real school contexts.
What stands out most is not just the scale of this work, but the way it has been approached – through structured working groups, shared practice and a genuine test-and-learn mindset across teachers, leaders and specialists.
A clear impact on SEND provision
Within the SEND and Adaptive Teaching working group, Teachmate was used in Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) sessions to support instruction-following and spoken language development.
As the report states:
“Staff report improved consistency and reduced planning time. In SaLT sessions, Teachmate resources provided clearer session structure and stronger student engagement, with therapists noting better focus on specific language targets. The process also prompted the team to review and update older resources that had been in use for years.”
This is where Teachmate’s impact is most tangible – not simply helping you create resources faster, but rather strengthening the quality and consistency of support available while making learning more accessible for every child.
Sessions became more focused around individual language goals, engagement increased and staff were able to deliver more consistent provision. The process also encouraged teams to revisit and improve existing resources, strengthening practice overall.
This work has since been extended into secondary settings, exploring how Teachmate can support more complex language needs across subjects.
Supporting inclusive classrooms in practice
With SEND need continuing to rise, schools need tools that help them adapt quickly while maintaining quality and consistency.
The report shows how Teachmate supports this by enabling staff to:
- Structure learning around specific needs
- Adapt resources quickly and effectively
- Maintain consistency across sessions and classrooms
- Improve engagement for students with additional needs
This is underpinned by a growing collection of over 20 SEND-specific tools within Teachmate, designed to support a wide range of needs in real classroom contexts. These include tools such as the EHCP Outcome Generator, Differentiate Text, our brand new SEND Lesson Planner, Sensory Activities Generator and Social Awareness Stories.
Together, these open up a genuine opportunity to move towards truly personalised learning at scale, where every student’s experience can be meaningfully tailored to their needs.
The strongest message from the report is crystal clear: when used well, AI can support more consistent, targeted and engaging provision for students with SEND.
If you would like to explore how Teachmate could support your school or trust with SEND, or learn more about the approaches highlighted in the report, you can sign up to one of our free CPD webinars or get in touch with the team on team@teachmate.com.
You can read the RISE Digital Skills & AI Hub’s Phase 2 Report here.