School Atlas exists because UK school information is scattered, inconsistent, and hard to compare. Our data comes from official sources, verified field by field. Our guides are written to help parents make sense of that data. This page explains exactly how those guides are produced — what we draft with AI, what a human reviews, and where the line falls.
In plain English
Most of our editorial guides are drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed by a human before publication. We do not use AI to invent facts, fake expert quotes, or generate data. When we interview someone, you will see their name. Every guide ends with the date of its most recent review and links back to this page.
Three types of content
We publish three kinds of content, and we want you to know which is which.
1. Editorial guides (AI-drafted, human-reviewed)
The long-form guides at /guides— topics like SEND rights, grammar school entry, independent school fees, autism and school, admissions appeals. These are drafted with AI assistance using the official sources listed below, then reviewed by Stephen Spence (founder) before publication.
Review means: every factual claim, statutory citation, date, and body named is cross-checked against the primary source. Where the AI draft included anything that could not be verified, it was rewritten or removed.
What we do not do in these guides: invent parent testimonials, fabricate expert quotes, paraphrase case studies without consent, or present personal opinions as lived experience. If you see a first-person story or a named expert in a guide, it is real, attributed, and consented.
2. Location guides (data-generated)
Pages like Best Primary Schools in Wandsworth or Grammar Schools in Kent are generated from our verified dataset. They are not editorial articles. The school lists, inspection grades, and counts come directly from the relevant inspectorate (Ofsted, Estyn, Education Scotland, ETI). The ranking logic is documented on each page.
3. Blog posts
Posts at /blog are labelled by source. Every AI-drafted post carries an “AI-drafted, human-reviewed”badge in its byline — you will see it next to the publication date, linking back here. Data-driven posts (for example, “inspection updates this week”) are generated from our data pipeline and clearly flagged as such. We do not publish unreviewed AI blog posts.
The sources we draw on
Every claim in an editorial guide traces back to one of the following. Where a specific fact is cited, the guide links to the source directly.
- Primary legislation — e.g. Children and Families Act 2014, Equality Act 2010, Education Act 1996, Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018, Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, SENDO (NI) 2005.
- Statutory guidance — SEND Code of Practice 2015, School Admissions Code, Keeping Children Safe in Education, exclusion guidance.
- Department for Education (DfE) — GIAS register, Explore Education Statistics, admissions and appeals statistics.
- Inspectorates — Ofsted, Estyn, Education Scotland, ETI (Northern Ireland), ISI (independent schools).
- Specialist bodies — IPSEA, Coram Children’s Legal Centre, SENDIASS, Autism Education Trust, National Autistic Society, PDA Society, Sutton Trust, Education Policy Institute, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
- Our own data — aggregated from the sources above. See /data-sources for the full list, licences, and update cadence.
The review process
- Draft. AI drafts the guide from an outline and a reference pack assembled from the sources above.
- Fact-check. A human reviewer (Stephen) checks every statutory citation, date, numeric claim, and named body against the primary source.
- Trim. Generic filler, weasel phrasing, and anything that reads as overclaim is cut.
- Ship with a date. Every guide publishes with the review date visible at the end.
- Revisit. Guides are re-reviewed when a cited source changes (for example, a new School Admissions Code) or on a rolling quarterly basis, whichever comes first.
What guides do not do
A School Atlas guide is a starting point. It is not legal advice, not medical advice, and not a substitute for speaking to the school, the local authority, or a professional who knows your child and your circumstances. For complex SEND cases, consider contacting IPSEA, Coram Children’s Legal Centre, or your local SENDIASS. For immigration, pupil premium, or legal questions, consider a solicitor or Citizens Advice.
Corrections policy
We get things wrong sometimes. When we do, we want to know quickly and fix it visibly.
- If you spot an error in a guide, email feedback@schoolatlas.co.uk with the page URL and the claim you want us to check.
- We aim to respond within 3 working days. Substantive corrections update the guide’s review date and are noted in the source block at the end.
- If a source we rely on changes (for example, a statutory instrument or inspection framework), we update the guides that cite it.
Why we publish this page
Parents deserve to know where the advice comes from. “An AI wrote it” is a fair question in 2026, and hiding the answer does not serve readers. Our position: AI is a useful drafting tool when paired with real sources and a real reviewer. The value we add is the verification, not the prose generation.
If you think this framing is wrong, or the review process is not rigorous enough, tell us. We will either change the process or change this page — but we will not pretend.
Questions about a specific guide? Email feedback@schoolatlas.co.uk. For data provenance and licensing, see /data-sources.