stylus, the education technology company pioneering AI-powered marking and feedback, has been awarded just under a quarter of the £1 million the Department for Education (DfE) is deploying as part of the second round of its AI Tools for Education programme.

The initiative, delivered through Innovate UK’s Contracts for Innovation, is designed to accelerate the development of advanced AI tools to support teacher workload across key stages, moving innovative solutions from prototype to classroom use. 

Transforming how writing is assessed

stylus is developing a groundbreaking AI-driven service for schools that reads and assesses handwritten student work, delivering better-than-human levels of consistency and accuracy in its marking judgements. This in turn enables detailed feedback without altering classroom practice. Students continue to write naturally on paper, while teachers scan work in bulk for stylus to process. The platform then produces personalised feedback reports for students and actionable data insights for teachers.

The new phase of development, supported by the DfE funding, will build on a successful prototype that has already achieved marking accuracy comparable to experienced teachers. 

Amplifying teacher expertise

“15 years ago, whilst still a classroom teacher, I realised that in order to improve my practice any further I would need to do more marking, not less. This felt like an impossible task on top of an already hard profession. I’ve been working on that problem in one way or another ever since,” said Dominic Bristow, CEO of stylus. “For the DfE to recognise the work we’re doing at stylus as having the potential to change this reality for teachers, and provide the holy grail of BOTH more insight AND more time to act on it, is incredibly exciting. We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved and can’t wait for schools to see the level of quality we can produce.”

Helen Williams, CEO of INMAT and a discovery partner of stylus, said:
“stylus is great for teachers, headteachers and trust leaders alike. Teachers, from the ECT to the most confident, can assess writing quickly and carefully to understand what pupils know and what they don’t. Headteachers know that children’s work is marked accurately, giving a clear picture of writing across the school. Trust leaders have confidence that writing assessment is robust, with the benefit of saving significant time on marking, giving teachers the time back to do what they do best: to teach. stylus does just what it says it does. No gimmicks, no snake oil or silver bullets. It just works.”

Driving innovation in education technology

The AI Tools for Education programme is part of a wider DfE initiative to reduce teacher workload and strengthen the UK’s education technology sector. Alongside a £3 million “content store” of curriculum data designed to support the development of educational AI models, the programme funds innovative tools to deliver practical, classroom-ready solutions.

With this investment, stylus is entering the next phase of development and is now recruiting schools to participate in pilot programmes and trials.

Schools interested in taking part can register their interest here.