Scottish School Appoints UK's First Dedicated AI Literacy Teacher

Mearns Castle High School in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, has appointed former principal biology teacher Jamie Laycock as a dedicated principal teacher of AI literacy, believed to be the first such role in the UK. All S1 and S2 pupils will receive AI literacy lessons, older year groups will cover the subject through citizenship and personal education classes, and an elective course will be offered. Lessons include spotting deepfake images, AI hallucinations, anthropomorphisation, sycophancy and training-data bias. Laycock will also train colleagues and develop teaching materials for other schools.

The event turns AI literacy from an add-on duty into a school system with dedicated staffing, fixed lesson time and tiered course arrangements, offering a reference model for other schools. It directly affects teacher capacity building and curriculum design, and relates to how pupils understand AI's impact on careers. The limitation is that the report provides no course evaluation data or learning-outcome conclusions, so the role's effects remain to be observed. Schools can make AI literacy a dedicated post with tiered courses, changing the previous practice of teachers handling AI alongside their day jobs. Teacher training and the development of shareable materials may affect the cost and speed at which other schools replicate the model.