The best AI tools for teachers are ChatGPT for lesson plans and differentiated worksheets, Gemini Notebook for building resources from your own materials, Gamma for lesson slides and Canva for classroom visuals. Claude drafts feedback comments and Adobe Express makes posters. Check every output for accuracy and follow your school's rules on pupil data.
Teachers lose hours each week to planning, adapting and formatting. These 6 AI tools take the first draft of that work off your desk. You stay the expert who checks it, and every one of them can be started on a free plan.
Last checked : each pick's free plan and price on the maker's own pricing page.
One tool per job, in the order most teachers need them. Select a name to jump to why we picked it.
| Pick | Tool | Use it for | Score | Best for | Learn it free |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ChatGPTOpenAI | Draft lesson plans and differentiated worksheets | 9.0 / 10 | Good for everyone | Generative AI for Everyone |
| 2 | Gemini NotebookGoogle | Build resources from your own materials | 8.5 / 10 | Best for beginners | Maker's own tutorials |
| 3 | GammaGamma | Turn a lesson outline into slides | 8.0 / 10 | Best for beginners | Maker's own tutorials |
| 4 | CanvaCanva | Make classroom visuals and displays | 8.6 / 10 | Best for beginners | Maker's own tutorials |
| 5 | ClaudeAnthropic | Draft written feedback comments | 8.8 / 10 | Good for everyone | Generative AI for Everyone |
| 6 | Adobe ExpressAdobe | Make posters, handouts and newsletters | 7.6 / 10 | Best for beginners | Maker's own tutorials |
What each tool does for you, the catch, what is free and what costs money, from the maker's own pricing page.
OpenAI
Give it the objective, the year group and how long the lesson runs, and ask for 3 versions of a task at different reading levels. You get a usable first draft in a minute; your subject knowledge turns it into a good lesson.
Upload your scheme of work, past papers and textbook chapters, then ask for quiz questions or a revision summary drawn only from them. Answers cite your sources, so you can check each question against the page it came from.
No free course we'd recommend yet. You'll learn this one fastest by using it, and the maker's own tutorials are the best place to start.
Gamma
Paste the plan and it builds a clean deck with one idea per slide. Edit the wording to match how you teach, and you've saved the half hour you'd spend fighting layouts.
No free course we'd recommend yet. You'll learn this one fastest by using it, and the maker's own tutorials are the best place to start.
Canva
Worksheets, display boards, certificates and timelines from templates. Its education features suit sharing designs with a class, and pupils can use it for project work too.
No free course we'd recommend yet. You'll learn this one fastest by using it, and the maker's own tutorials are the best place to start.
Anthropic
Describe what a piece of work did well and what to fix, and ask for feedback in plain, encouraging language at the pupil's level. Never paste in names or identifying details: describe the work, not the child.
Adobe
Quick, tidy one-page designs for parents' evenings, trips and clubs. Its templates are a good alternative if Canva's feel crowded.
No free course we'd recommend yet. You'll learn this one fastest by using it, and the maker's own tutorials are the best place to start.
ChatGPT saves teachers the most time, because planning and adapting materials is where the hours go. Start with one recurring job, such as differentiating a worksheet into 3 levels, and use it for that every week before you add anything else.
Teachers should never put pupil names, grades, behaviour notes or anything identifying into a consumer AI tool. Describe the work instead of the child. Your school or trust may also approve specific tools, so check its policy before you use any of these with pupils.
Knowing what AI is good and bad at makes every tool above more useful. These reviewed courses teach that, with no code.
What large language models can actually do for you and your team, without writing a line of code. Andrew Ng teaches it in 6 hours on Coursera, certificate paid.
The gentlest way in: a University of Helsinki course with no code and no maths beyond school level. It takes about 24 to 48 hours and the certificate is free.
A free, no-code course on fairness, accountability and transparency in AI systems.
ChatGPT's free plan is the best place to start for lesson planning: it drafts objectives, activities and differentiated tasks quickly. If you want plans built from your own scheme of work, Gemini Notebook answers from the documents you upload.
AI can draft feedback comments, but you should make the judgement and the final mark. Models misread handwriting, miss subject nuance and can be inconsistent between scripts. Use AI to word feedback faster, not to decide grades.
Not by default. Keep names and identifying details out of every prompt, and use only tools your school has approved for pupil data. Describing the work without the child is enough to get useful feedback drafts.
Gamma turns a written outline into a designed slide deck in a minute or two. Canva is better if you want more control over the design or already have school templates there.
Detection tools are unreliable, so don't rely on them alone. Ask pupils to explain their work aloud, set tasks that use class discussion or local examples, and compare against work they wrote in the room.
Elements of AI is free and explains what AI can and can't do with no maths or code, which helps when pupils ask. Ethics of AI, also free, covers bias and privacy questions that come up in school.
If you teach and plan your own lessons, start with ChatGPT among AI tools for teachers for planning and differentiation, add Gamma when slides take too long, and keep pupil data out of every prompt.
The general-purpose AI you talk to. Most people should start here.
Answers with sources, and study partners for your own notes.
Presentations, posters and graphics without a designer.
Revise from your own notes, research with sources and polish essays without cheating yourself.
Script, voice, edit and package videos faster, without handing over your style.
Write, design and automate the admin that eats your week, for under the cost of one lunch a month.
Copy, creative, research and reporting: the AI tools a small marketing team gets the most from.
Coding assistants, research and local models: the AI stack that makes a working developer faster.
Edit, check, research and hear your work, while the words stay yours.
Every course we link is free to start and reviewed. Browse the catalogue to find one at your level.
