About the application 
The Children’s Commissioner for England is Dame Rachel de Souza. Her role is a statutory position created by the Children Act 2004. The purpose of her role is to promote and protect children’s rights in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.  

The Department for Education is partnering with the Children’s Commissioner’s office to set up a new advisory group of young people. This advisory group will give children and young people a direct say in the government's work on AI in Education. The Children’s Commissioner’s office will be running the advisory group, and we are looking for a group of up to 16 young people aged 16 to 18 from across England with a wide range of experience – whoever you are and wherever you live, we would like to hear about what you think about how schools, government and technology should approach AI in education. 

As part of this Advisory Group you will:  
- Have an introductory in person meeting in London (in July - date to be confirmed) 
- Meet every six-weeks between July 2026 and until December 2027 with the other young people on the advisory group. Four of these will be day-long in-person meetings, the others will take place online for up to 90 minutes
- Help the Department for Education understand the realities of young people’s experiences with AI 
- Help shape policy advice to improve children’s lives in the future  

Who can apply   
   
Applicants should:   
- Live in England    
- Be 16- to 18-years-old in July 2026.   

How to apply   
   
In this application form:   
We will ask you to tell us a little bit about yourself and why you want to be a part of this advisory group, as well as your experiences of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI in education.  

You will be asked to answer some questions via the form and one of the questions in by submitting a video. You can look through the questions first and come back to finish your application later.  

You can spend as much time as you need on the application, but we think it should take around 10-15 minutes to complete.  

We want to hear about you in your own voice, and so encourage you to avoid using AI to draft your replies to these questions.

Once you have completed the form, you will be able to print or download a copy of your answers for your records. You will be prompted to do this at the end of the form. 

We want everyone to be able to apply. If you require any help or special arrangements during this application process or if you are selected for the programme, please let us know by contacting us at youth.voices@childrenscommissioner.gov.uk. This will not impact our decision making. 

We are looking for a wide variety of people to be part of the advisory group, however we particularly welcome applications from young people with lived experience of the care or health system, those with a disability or additional learning need and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.    
  
Please complete this application form by 23:59 on Sunday 21st June 2026.   
  
Next steps  
You will be updated on the progress of your application by early July. If we receive a high volume of applicants, we may ask you to meet with a member of the team to further discuss your application in a short informal interview.  

The office is unable to provide feedback on unsuccessful applications.  

The Department for Education: The AI in Education Youth Advisory Group is undertaken on a voluntary basis, and you will not be considered as an employee of the Children’s Commissioner’s office at any time. However, your expenses and travel for the duration of the programme will be covered, and The Department for Education will make a small payment to you for your time in an advisory capacity. Payments are optional and can be refused or requested at a lower amount. 
   
Please see our privacy policy for how the Children’s Commissioner manages sensitive data.   


If you need this application in an alternative format or have any other questions about this opportunity or how to complete the form, please contact us at youth.voices@childrenscommissioner.gov.uk.