The government is sandboxing AI. The research says the real problem is implementation.
The Regulating for Growth Bill frames regulatory frameworks as the barrier to AI adoption in education. Six years of UK EdTech evidence from RAND Europe finds a different constraint: implementation quality. Removing regulatory friction does not solve the problem that has actually been limiting outcomes.
By Wistl Newsroom · · Labs
The Regulating for Growth Bill announced in yesterday's King's Speech will create AI sandboxing powers allowing EdTech companies to test products in real-world educational settings with certain regulations temporarily disapplied. The government's stated intent is to remove regulatory friction that slows responsible AI adoption. RAND Europe's analysis of six years of large-scale UK EdTech randomised controlled trials, published in January and available at rand.org , documents where the actual friction has been located in every major trial to date: implementation, every time. Across multiple tri