Responsible AI Toolkit Service
Does your institution have AI governance that keeps pace with AI use?
If staff are already using tools, you need a policy. If you have a policy, you need everything else that makes it work.
The Responsible AI Toolkit gives higher education providers a complete, ready-to-deploy governance package: six documents, purpose-built for the HE context, covering policy, risk assessment, staff guidance, procurement, governance oversight, and senior leadership briefing.
AI use is already outpacing governance in most institutions
Staff across your institution are using AI tools right now. Some of those tools are processing personal data on external servers. Some are influencing decisions about students. Most haven’t been risk-assessed.
This isn’t a future consideration. UK GDPR obligations apply today. The ICO is actively publishing guidance and expects compliance. OfS scrutiny of data quality and student outcomes is increasing. And when something goes wrong — a data breach, a biased output in assessment, an academic integrity incident — the question will be: what governance did you have in place?
Generic AI policy templates don’t cut it in higher education. Your institution handles student records, research data, and regulated data returns. Your governance needs to reflect that.
Six documents. One coherent governance package.
Each document is fully editable, brandable, and comes with section-by-section guidance notes so the people responsible for implementation know exactly what they’re doing and why.
📄Responsible AI Policy
The foundational document: scope, guiding principles, permitted and prohibited uses, and governance structure. Written for SLT or board approval, with the right regulatory references already in place (UK GDPR, ICO guidance, EU AI Act, OfS, Equality Act).
📄AI Use-Case Risk Assessment Framework
A structured pre-deployment assessment covering data protection, bias and fairness, human oversight and accountability, and technical security. Includes an appendix of common HE use cases with indicative risk profiles – from lecture transcription to AI in admissions.
📄Staff Guidance and Acceptable Use
Plain-English guidance for all staff: what they can and cannot do, how to sense-check an unfamiliar use case, common scenarios answered, and what to do if something goes wrong. Written to be understood by staff with no data protection background.
📄AI Procurement and Supplier Checklist
What to ask before signing any AI supplier agreement. Covers data processing, model training opt-outs, sub-processors, security accreditations, contract terms, and AI-specific risks. Includes a red flag / amber flag / good sign system so procurement teams know what they’re looking for.
📄AI Governance and Oversight Checklist
A self-assessment across six governance domains for senior leaders and committees. Covers policy, regulatory compliance, accountability, approval processes, training, student-facing use, and incident management – with an action plan template for committee presentation.
📄Senior Leaders Briefing
A concise, committee-ready overview of the AI governance landscape: the key risks, what good governance looks like in practice, the HE-specific dimensions (OfS, access and participation, research, student experience), and questions the governing body should be asking of the executive.
Choose the level of support your institution needs
STARTER
£550
The complete toolkit, ready to adapt and deploy
Everything you need to build a coherent AI governance framework from scratch:
- Complete six-document toolkit
- HE-specific throughout — not generic templates adapted from other sectors
- All documents fully editable and brandable
- Section-by-section guidance notes throughout
- Data protection and information governance considerations summary
- Review trigger checklist
STANDARD
£950
Tailored to your institution’s context
Everything in Starter, plus contextual tailoring so the documents reflect your specific governance structures, committee names, existing policies, and regulatory context:
- Everything in Starter
- Scoping call to understand your institution’s context, existing policies, and priorities
- Contextual tailoring of all six documents
- Staff communications guidance — how to introduce the toolkit to your team
COMPREHENSIVE
£1,600
Toolkit plus embedding support
Everything in Standard, plus the support to make implementation stick:
- Everything in Standard
- Half-day staff briefing session (online or in-person)
- DPO and governance lead walkthrough of the full document suite
- 30-day follow-up support
Why work with me?
I’m Martha – a data and governance specialist with over two decades working in and with higher education providers.
I’ve worked as a DPO and Head of Data at HE organisations, I know the OfS regulatory framework and HESA data infrastructure inside out, and I’ve built governance documentation that’s had to stand up to real scrutiny.
This toolkit was built from that experience. It isn’t a generic document set with “higher education” added to the title. Every section reflects the actual governance landscape HE providers operate in: the OfS dimension, the student data sensitivities, the research IP risks, the access and participation implications, and the specific regulatory obligations that apply to your sector.
If you want governance documentation that your DPO, your procurement team, your committee, and your staff can actually use – this is it.
Questions
How quickly will I receive the documents after purchasing the Starter tier? You will be redirected to a download page as soon as your payment is confirmed.
Can I adapt the documents to our institution’s branding and governance structures? Yes – that’s the point. All documents are fully editable Word files. The Starter tier includes guidance notes that explain what needs to be adapted and why. The Standard and Comprehensive tiers include contextual tailoring as part of the service.
We’re a small HE provider. Is this appropriate for us? Yes. The documents are designed to be proportionate – a small specialist provider has different governance structures to a large research-intensive university, and the guidance notes reflect that. If you want to talk through what’s right for your context before purchasing, book a free 30-minute discovery call.
We already have a responsible AI policy. Do we still need the full toolkit? Possibly. A policy alone doesn’t give you the processes, oversight mechanisms, and practical tools that make governance work. The procurement checklist, risk assessment framework, and governance self-assessment are where institutions typically have the biggest gaps. Book a call and we can work out what would actually add value for you.
Is this suitable for further education providers? The toolkit is written primarily for higher education, with specific reference to OfS, HESA, and the HE regulatory context. Some documents (particularly the policy, staff guidance, and risk assessment) are readily adaptable for FE. Get in touch to discuss.
Ready to get your AI governance in order?
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