To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQW 31232/22-27, to detail the findings of the initial assessment, into the Reading with AI research project.

The Reading with AI Research Project is being taken forward as a Cross-Cutting Initiative within the RAISE Programme.

Oxford Brookes University is leading the study to evaluate the effectiveness of evidence-based AI literacy tools on improving reading outcomes in Northern Ireland.

Training sessions were offered to teachers participating in the project by Oxford Brookes University in September 2025 to help teachers with preparation for benchmark assessments.

The participating pupils in Years P3, P5, P7 and Y8 will first complete a brief 15-minute benchmark assessment to evaluate their reading skills and identify potential challenges. This will provide a clear understanding of each pupil’s reading level and enable progress to be measured. Over the duration of the study, pupils will engage with Amira Learning for frequent reading sessions totalling 20-40 minutes weekly during which ongoing assessment data will be collected. A similar assessment will also take place at the end of the data collection period in six months.

Schools will have access to live and actionable data throughout the project. However, evidence-based findings on reading outcomes based on the assessments will not be available to the Department until after the completion of the project following the end of the academic year 2025/26.