Cognita starts rolling out AI learning platform to schools around the world

Cognita has started rolling out its Cognita AI platform to schools around the world, following a pilot that showed teachers were the system's most consistent users.

The schools group built the rollout around teacher training rather than software access alone. Developed with Flint, the platform was tested in six countries before being extended across the wider network.

During the pilot, 704 users logged 2,644 sessions. Students showed deeper thinking and questioning when teachers guided their use of the platform than when they used it independently.

That finding shaped Cognita's wider approach, with professional development designed to help teachers use AI in everyday classroom practice while keeping professional judgement at the centre of decisions.

Nathan O'Grady, EdTech Implementation Manager at Cognita, said, "Teaching is a constant flow of micro-decisions - reshaping explanations, reframing questions, and addressing misconceptions before they take hold. AI can ease that load by supporting explanations, highlighting likely misconceptions, and helping educators to tailor questions to each learner. But teachers remain the decision-makers: reading the room, building relationships, and choosing which insights to act on. AI can only be effective when teachers are empowered to use it. That's why teacher training is at the heart of Cognita's AI rollout. When professional development is prioritised, teachers move from cautious observers to confident designers and practitioners of new learning experiences."

Pilot findings

The pilot examined whether AI could widen teachers' "cognitive space" by easing some of the mental load involved in planning, questioning and responding to misconceptions during lessons. Rather than replacing classroom judgement, the software was used as a support tool, giving teachers quicker visibility into student understanding.

Teachers reported greater flexibility in lessons and faster responses to misconceptions. The platform also revealed patterns in student reasoning in real time, allowing feedback during lessons instead of after work had been completed and assessed.

This gave teachers earlier insight into how students were thinking, not just the answers they produced. In the pilot, AI informed decisions but did not make them.

Training focus

The pilot also showed that access to AI tools alone did not lead to sustained use. Teachers needed structured opportunities to test the technology within clear boundaries and with support from colleagues and school leaders.

The revised programme included live practical training sessions focused on classroom use, masterclasses for inclusion, post-16 and Arabic school leaders, accredited online modules, and shared case studies across schools. These measures were intended to build confidence through active use rather than passive exposure.

Cognita also found differences in adoption between staff groups. More experienced teachers tended to approach AI more cautiously, drawing on established professional judgement, while younger teachers often adopted the tools more quickly and with greater confidence. The strongest results came when those approaches were combined.

Wider context

The rollout comes as schools face growing pressure to decide how AI should be used in classrooms. Cognita pointed to wider research suggesting many teachers still receive little formal support, even as students increasingly use generative AI tools for schoolwork.

It cited a Bett report showing that 46% of UK teachers had received no AI training or support from their schools. It also referred to UNESCO data showing that, in high-income countries, more than two-thirds of secondary school students already use generative AI tools for schoolwork.

Those figures point to a gap between student uptake and teacher preparation. For school groups and education providers, that raises questions about governance, classroom practice, and how schools can introduce AI without weakening the role of teachers.

Cognita's experience suggests the commercial and operational challenge is less about deploying a tool than about changing behaviour in schools. Its model centres on guided adoption, peer learning, and repeated training as a way to embed AI into teaching practice.

With 100,000 students and more than 22,000 staff across Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and the US, the group is testing that model at significant scale. Pilot results indicated that teachers, rather than pupils, were the platform's most reliable users.