The new GCSE in artificial intelligence (AI) could quickly become out of date, the chief of England’s largest exam board has warned.

The government announced that a new qualification in AI would be launched in response to Professor Becky Francis’ curriculum and assessment review, which was published last night.

However, Colin Hughes, chief executive of AQA, questioned how durable a qualification in AI would be.

“When you create qualifications, you have to think, is it going to be transient, or is it something that will need to be updated?” he told Tes today.

“Are we still going to want to have a qualification in AI and data science in 20 years?” Mr Hughes asked.

Long-term prospects of AI qualification

In the government’s response to the Francis review, it said it would explore the development of a level 3 qualification in data science and AI. It will also replace the computer science GCSE with a “broader offer that reflects the entirety of the computing curriculum”.

Mr Hughes said that “we need to think very carefully” to ensure the AI qualification has a chance at a long-term future.

“Qualifications need to be good for at least a decent chunk of a young person’s life, not transient,” he added.

He also suggested that the qualification in AI could be explored as a V level.

“Somebody’s going to be walking around going for a job [in a number of years], saying I’ve got an A or a V level in AI and data science,” he said. “The question is, do we think that that still means something in that period of time?”

Mr Hughes said it could be possible that in four or five years, the sector would be more excited about quantum computing than AI.

Target mathematicians and scientists at GCSE

The review also called for an entitlement to triple science at GCSE, which would mean that any student who wants to study triple science has the opportunity to do so, a proposal backed by the DfE.

Mr Hughes agreed with the plans, but said that “recruiting physics teachers will be the hardest bit”.

Almost one in 10 schools in the poorest areas do not offer physics at A level as a result of a lack of trained teachers, analysis by Teach First revealed earlier this year.

He suggested that recruitment should focus on mathematicians, scientists and late joiners.

The AQA chief agreed with the government’s approach to revamp Progress 8, but said that the department needs to be alert to “unforeseen consequences”.

“Quite often we do these things in policy terms, and then we discover that the knock-on effect out in the real world of schools is different to that which we intended,” Mr Hughes told Tes.

Another government policy is to introduce a Year 8 reading test, which Professor Francis said should not be used for accountability measures.

Mr Hughes predicted that “most schools would want to show Ofsted their Year 8 reading results”.

In underlining his support of the policy, he said: “We’re talking about enabling the school, the teacher, the class, maybe the multi-academy trust, to be able to get a very good picture of where their kids are at at any given moment in time.”

Wider concerns about AI qualification

Experts have welcomed the potential new qualification in AI, but warned that there may be issues around having enough expert teachers to deliver it.

Myles McGinley, managing director of Cambridge OCR, said that it “could provide real opportunities for young people, and also reflects demand from employers for better skills in these areas”.

However, he shared Mr Hughes’ concerns about capacity, particularly around the supply of expert teachers and examiners.

“We know that a shortage of appropriately qualified teachers already affects access to computer science,” he said.

Jon Andrews, head of analysis and director for school system and performance at the Education Policy Institute, warned that if the government wants to introduce an AI qualification, “it will need to ensure it has a teaching workforce that is skilled and confident enough to teach that content”.

“While schools themselves are working hard to get a grip on the tools they use, both in administration and in teaching and learning, the evidence of effectiveness is currently limited,” he added.

In the latest published figures for trainee teacher recruitment in 2024-25, just 37 per cent of the government’s target for computer science teachers were recruited.

However, the National Foundation for Educational Research forecast that the DfE would hit 79 per cent of its target for 2025-26.

The department will work with subject experts to understand what an appropriate process and frequency for light-touch updates might look like for computing curriculum and qualifications, Tes understands.

This will include any potential data science and AI qualifications and will account for the rapid pace of technological changes, while also minimising workload burdens for teachers.

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