UNESCO’s AI competency frameworks for teachers and students: a practical guide
UNESCO’s AI competency frameworks set out 15 competencies for teachers and 12 for students. Their dimensions, progression levels and a teacher self-audit.
Key takeaways
- UNESCO published two AI competency frameworks in 2024: one for teachers and one for students.
- The teacher framework has 15 competencies across five dimensions and three levels: Acquire, Deepen and Create.
- The student framework has 12 competencies across four dimensions and three levels: Understand, Apply and Create.
- Both begin with a human-centred mindset and the ethics of AI, not with tools.
- Teachers can use the dimensions as a self-audit to plan their professional learning.
UNESCO released its AI competency frameworks for teachers and for students in 2024 to help countries support students and teachers to understand both the potential and the risks of AI. They complement the OECD–European Commission AI literacy framework.
Teacher competence is the gap to close. A rapid review commissioned by the Royal Society reports that over half of UK teachers already use AI for planning and marking, but only 14% are confident across elements of AI literacy. A shared framework gives professional learning a clear structure.
The framework for teachers
The teacher framework describes 15 competencies across five dimensions:
- Human-centred mindset: keeping human agency, accountability and wellbeing at the centre of decisions about AI.
- Ethics of AI: understanding and applying ethical principles, safe use and responsible practice.
- AI foundations and applications: knowing how AI works and how to choose and use AI tools appropriately.
- AI pedagogy: integrating AI into teaching and learning in ways that support learners.
- AI for professional learning: using AI to support one’s own continuing development.
Each dimension progresses through three levels. Acquire covers foundational knowledge and guided use. Deepen means applying AI purposefully and critically in your own context. Create means innovating and supporting others to use AI responsibly.
The framework for students
The student framework describes 12 competencies across four dimensions: human-centred mindset, ethics of AI, AI techniques and applications and AI system design. Students progress through three levels: Understand, Apply and Create. The emphasis moves from knowing what AI is towards critically using it and, eventually, designing with it.
A self-audit for teachers
Rate yourself on each question from 1 (not yet) to 4 (confidently), then choose one dimension to work on this term.
| Dimension | Ask yourself |
|---|---|
| Human-centred mindset | Do I decide when AI should and should not be used, and keep final judgement about my students? |
| Ethics of AI | Do I know what data a tool collects, and do I avoid entering students’ personal information? |
| AI foundations and applications | Can I explain in plain language why AI sometimes produces confident but wrong answers? |
| AI pedagogy | Have I designed a lesson in which AI supports student thinking rather than replacing it? |
| AI for professional learning | Do I use AI to reflect on and improve my practice, such as by analysing patterns in student responses? |
Putting the frameworks to work
- For professional learning: use the teacher dimensions to structure a year of short, practical sessions. The SparkSchool Academy covers AI foundations for teachers.
- For curriculum planning: map the student competencies to year groups and subjects alongside the AILit domains.
- For policy: use the human-centred and ethics dimensions to frame your school AI policy.
Frequently asked questions
How many competencies are in the UNESCO AI framework for teachers?
Fifteen competencies across five dimensions: human-centred mindset, ethics of AI, AI foundations and applications, AI pedagogy, and AI for professional learning.
What are the levels in the UNESCO teacher framework?
Acquire, Deepen and Create.
What does the UNESCO AI framework for students include?
Twelve competencies across four dimensions: human-centred mindset, ethics of AI, AI techniques and applications, and AI system design, with three levels: Understand, Apply and Create.