About us
How we check, and how you can check our work
The School AI Guide helps Australian schools use AI safely, together and for learning. This page explains who we are and exactly how we check each tool, so you can check our work.
Who we are
The School AI Guide is an Australian service of ReVerbal Intelligence. We give schools plain facts about AI tools and help them agree on rules as a staff.
Our guiding idea is simple: AI helps learning when the design keeps the thinking with the student.In our training and advice, we look at whether a task lets the student try first, or lets a tool do the work for them. (Our tool checks cover privacy only.)
Why we started
In Victorian government schools, the Department of Education's generative AI policy sets requirements for schools that use these tools. Each school still puts them into practice: checking each tool's terms, getting parent consent where the policy asks, and managing the risks. We help with that step. Catholic and independent schools can check their sector's or their own rules.
The policy was last updated on 18 June 2024. We read it on 25 September 2026.
Our independence rules
- Schools pay us. Our paid work is advice and training for schools. AI vendors do not pay us.
- No paid listings. No vendor can pay for a listing, a higher place or a better result.
- No affiliate links. We earn nothing when you click a link or buy a product.
- Our own products stay out. Products we build are not listed here and are never recommended in our paid advice. If we have any other link to a product, its page says so in full, above the result.
- Fixed rules. The same published rules set every result. We cannot change one result by hand.
We use and pay for AI tools, including Claude, as ordinary customers. No vendor, including Anthropic, has any say in our results.
How we check
We read the vendor's public terms, privacy policy and help pages. We record six facts. Each tool page links the source for each fact, so you can check our work.
In Victorian government schools, check the tool's Safer Technologies 4 Schools (ST4S) report in Arc, the department's software catalogue, first. Our check does not replace it.
Two scope rules
We check a plan, not a brand
Free and education plans of one product often have opposite terms. "ChatGPT Free" and an education plan are two entries, each with its own label.
We check the default settings
A school may be able to turn off training, but the result shows what happens if nobody does. That is the setting a new account starts with.
The six facts
Fact 1: Needs student data
Does the tool need student information to work?
A tool that needs no student information carries far less risk, wherever it stores data.
Answers we record
- (Meets the green rule)No
- (Needs a check)No, but users can enter it
- (Needs a check)Yes, to work
Fact 2: Where data is stored
Where does the vendor store the data?
Data held outside Australia sits under other laws. It is fine for tools that need no student data.
Answers we record
- (Meets the green rule)In Australia
- (Needs a check)Outside Australia
- (Not confirmed)Not confirmed
Fact 3: Trains AI on your data
Does the vendor use prompts and uploads to train its AI, by default?
Training copies what staff and students type into the model. We check the default, because few people change settings.
Answers we record
- (Meets the green rule)No
- (Needs a check)Yes, unless you turn it off
- (Makes the tool red)Yes, and you cannot turn it off
- (Not confirmed)Not confirmed
Fact 4: Ads, or data sold or used for ads
Does the plan show ads, or does the vendor sell the data or use it for advertising?
Yes if the plan shows ads, or the vendor sells personal information, or the vendor uses what people type or upload, or any student's data, for advertising. A vendor that advertises its own product to adult account holders, without using their content, does not count. We note it on the tool page.
This is the most serious risk to student data. Any "yes" makes the tool red.
Answers we record
- (Meets the green rule)No
- (Makes the tool red)Yes
- (Not confirmed)Not confirmed
Fact 5: School or education terms
Does the vendor offer education terms or a data agreement for schools?
School terms give the school rights that personal accounts do not.
Answers we record
- (Meets the green rule)Yes
- (Needs a check)No
- (Not confirmed)Not confirmed
Fact 6: Data deleted on request
Can users or the school get the data deleted?
If a student or parent asks, the data must be able to be removed.
Answers we record
- (Meets the green rule)Yes
- (Needs a check)No
- (Not confirmed)Not confirmed
The shapes: Meets the green rule, Needs a check, Makes the tool red, Not confirmed.
Four outcomes
The rules run in this order. The first rule that fits sets the result.
Rule 1
Not for student dataRed if the vendor trains its AI on the data by default with no way to turn it off,or the answer to fact 4 (ads, or data sold or used for ads) is yes. This applies even when other facts are unknown. Each red tool page says which rule applied.
Rule 2
Not confirmed yetNot confirmed yet if any of facts 2 to 6 is not confirmed. Unknown means the result is Not confirmed yet. Vendors that want a result can publish their terms.
We could not confirm at least one fact from public sources. Do not use it with students until your school checks it.
Rule 3
Lower riskGreen if all of these are true: the vendor does not train on the data, offers school terms and deletes data on request, and the data is stored in Australia or the tool needs no student data.
The vendor does not train on your data, does not sell it or use it for ads, offers school terms and deletes data on request. Data is stored in Australia, or the tool needs no student data.
Rule 4
Check before student useAmber for everything else. Every fact is known, but at least one needs a check.
The facts are known, but at least one of them needs a check. Read the facts marked with a triangle before students use it.
Account age
Account age is a separate question from the result. A tool can be safe for staff and still wrong for students. The minimum age in the vendor's terms sets it:
| Minimum age in the terms | What the label says |
|---|---|
| 18 or over | Staff only (vendor terms say 18+) |
| 1 to 17 | Staff and older students, with the age |
| 1 to 17, younger with parental consent | For example "Staff and students 13+ (younger with parental consent)" |
| 0 (no limit) | Staff and students of any age |
| Not given | No minimum age stated |
Reading a label
This specimen label is not a real product. It shows how the parts fit together.
- Name, plan and vendor. One label for each plan.
- The result stamp. A shape and words, never colour alone.
- The six facts. The answer, and a shape that shows whether it meets the green rule. The key is at the foot of the label.
- Account age and last checked. Who can hold an account, and when we last read the terms.
- Not an approval. The label describes the vendor. Your school still decides.
In this specimen, training is on unless you turn it off, and data is stored outside Australia. So it is amber: check those facts before students use it.
Specimen. Not a real product.
Sample Writing Helper
- Plan
- Free
- Vendor
- Sample Vendor Pty Ltd
- 1Needs student data
- No, but users can enter it(Needs a check)
- 2Where data is stored
- Outside Australia(Needs a check)
- 3Trains AI on your data
- Yes, unless you turn it off(Needs a check)
- 4Ads, or data sold or used for ads
- No(Meets the green rule)
- 5School or education terms
- Yes(Meets the green rule)
- 6Data deleted on request
- Yes(Meets the green rule)
- Account age
- Staff and students 13+
- Last checked
Not an approval. Check ST4S or your sector's process first.
schoolaiguide.com.au/about
Rechecks and errors
We recheck each plan at least every 12 months. A label shows "recheck due" when its check is older than that. Vendors change their terms, so read the current terms before you approve a tool.
Found an error? Email hello@schoolaiguide.com.auwith a link to the source. We check every report, and we fix the label if the source supports it.