Insights & Guidance on Workplace Learning & Development and CPD | WorkplaceHero

AI Can’t Save a Broken Curriculum (But It Can Support a Strong One)

Written by FE & Skills Hero | Jul 6, 2025 7:37:30 AM

Let’s get one thing out of the way early: AI isn’t a silver bullet for quality improvement.

If your curriculum lacks clarity, intent, and sequencing, AI won’t fix that. But if your curriculum is strong, thoughtful and built around learner outcomes? AI can be a brilliant, flexible tool to enhance delivery, reduce workload, and add value to the learner experience.

So how do we keep it in perspective?

Curriculum Still Comes First

A well-sequenced, well-articulated curriculum remains the backbone of high-quality education. Inspectors (rightly) want to see a curriculum that:

  • Builds logically and deliberately over time

  • Aligns to learner need, employment context or qualification outcome

  • Can be explained by tutors, experienced by learners, and evidenced in progress

If those foundations aren’t in place, it doesn’t matter how many prompts you put into ChatGPT.

AI can support you - but it can’t substitute the thinking.

What AI Can Do (In a Strong Curriculum)

Once your curriculum intent and sequencing are in place, AI can help by:

  • Rewording learning materials for accessibility or clarity

  • Generating extension tasks or quiz questions to reinforce learning

  • Helping tutors tailor examples to different learner contexts

  • Creating draft templates for schemes of work (that staff can then personalise)

It speeds things up, sure. But only after the important decisions have already been made.

Watch Out for Copy-Paste Curriculum

One of the risks Ofsted rightly highlight is curriculum that doesn’t feel owned.

You can spot it a mile off:

  • Schemes of work that don’t match delivery

  • Learning objectives that feel generic

  • Assessments that aren’t linked to what was taught

Overuse (or careless use) of AI tools can amplify this. If a tutor is under pressure and uses AI to generate a whole lesson plan, it might look fine on paper, but that doesn’t mean it reflects the learner journey, your industry context, or what’s come before and after it.

Good inspection doesn’t reward slick documents. It rewards coherence, consistency, and depth.

Use AI With Intent, Not as an Escape Hatch

If a staff member is using AI to:

  • Reconnect learners who missed a session

  • Simplify dense materials

  • Create accessible formats for SEND learners

  • Generate varied questioning to stretch a group

…then that’s excellent use. It’s responsive, thought-led, and clearly linked to the curriculum.

If they’re using AI because they don’t understand the topic, or haven’t had time to plan? That’s a system issue, not a tech solution.

AI has a place in FE—but it’s just one part of a much bigger picture.

Inspectors want to see:

  • Intentional curriculum design

  • Responsive teaching that meets learner needs

  • A golden thread between planning, delivery and impact

If your curriculum is already strong, AI can help bring it to life in creative and efficient ways. But if the core isn’t there, no amount of tech can paper over the cracks.

Strong provision starts with people, not prompts.