School Scout AI Use Policy

Effective Date: 1st September 2025
Last Updated: 5th August 2025

This School Scout AI Use Policy (“Policy”) governs your use of School Scout AI, an automated conversational assistant operated by School Scout Ltd ("School Scout", "we", "us", "our", or "the Platform"). By accessing or interacting with Scout AI, you agree to be bound by:

If you do not agree with these terms, you must not use School Scout AI.


1. About School Scout AI

School Scout AI is an artificial intelligence-based service designed to assist families in navigating the UK independent school search process. It provides general guidance and information through natural language interactions based on:

  • OpenAI’s large language model (LLM) infrastructure;
  • School Scout’s curated school data, including summaries, policies, and inspection reports;
  • User-generated questions, behavioural insights, and engagement data from the Platform;
  • Publicly available datasets such as those published by the UK Department for Education.

Conversations with School Scout AI may be monitored, reviewed, and stored to improve performance, accuracy, and safety.


2. Purpose of School Scout AI

School Scout AI is intended to:

  • Support parents, guardians, and prospective families in researching UK independent schools;
  • Provide general information about schools, fees, locations, specialisms, academic performance, and admissions processes;
  • Facilitate the discovery of schools that match specific user-defined criteria.

School Scout AI is not a decision-making tool, admissions authority, or substitute for professional advice.


3. Limitations of AI

You acknowledge and understand that:

  • School Scout AI responses are generated by machine learning models and may contain inaccuracies, omissions, or outdated information;
  • Responses should be used for informational purposes only and not as the sole basis for any educational, legal, financial, or personal decision;
  • AI outputs do not constitute professional advice and must always be independently verified, especially where consequences may be significant;
  • Responses may vary depending on the phrasing of user prompts.

School Scout Ltd accepts no liability for actions taken or decisions made based on School Scout AI responses or outputs.


4. Acceptable Use of Scout AI

When using School Scout AI, you must:

  • Use the service lawfully, ethically, and in good faith;
  • Avoid submitting prompts or inputs that are:
    • Defamatory, discriminatory, threatening, or abusive;
    • Inaccurate, misleading, or deceptive;
    • Pornographic, sexually explicit, or offensive;
    • Promoting violence, hate, or illegal activities.
  • Not interfere with or attempt to bypass moderation or safety controls;
  • Not exploit or reverse-engineer the model or functionality for malicious or competitive purposes;
  • Not use, distribute, or reproduce AI-generated content for commercial purposes without prior written consent.

Breach of these conditions may result in temporary or permanent suspension of access to School Scout AI and/or the wider School Scout platform.


5. User Inputs and Ownership

By interacting with School Scout AI, you agree that:

  • You retain ownership of the content (e.g. prompts or enquiries) you submit;
  • You grant School Scout Ltd a non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, and worldwide licence to use your inputs for the purposes of:
    • Training, fine-tuning, and improving School Scout AI;
    • Conducting internal research and moderation;
    • Generating anonymised or aggregated insights for School Partners.
  • You acknowledge that inputted data, including open-text messages, is not confidential and may be accessed and reviewed by authorised personnel for security and training purposes.

You are solely responsible for the legality, accuracy, and appropriateness of the content you submit.


6. Data Collection

School Scout AI interactions are subject to the School Scout Privacy Policy, which explains your rights and how your personal data is handled in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

Data We May Collect via School Scout AI:

  • Parent/guardian name, email address, phone number, country, postcode;
  • Child’s name, date of birth, and current school (where voluntarily submitted);
  • AI prompts, enquiries, and chatbot conversation history;
  • Behavioural data such as search queries, frequency of use, and selected schools.

Purposes for Collection:

  • To provide accurate, personalised responses via School Scout AI;
  • To improve the model’s performance and service relevance;
  • To generate anonymised usage insights for School Partners.

Data Handling and Safeguards:

  • All chatbot logs are encrypted at rest and in transit;
  • Personal data is retained for no longer than 12 months, unless longer retention is required for legal or operational reasons;
  • Child-related data is flagged for privacy-enhanced handling and subject to data minimisation;
  • Only authorised staff have access to chatbot data;
  • Aggregated, anonymised usage data may be shared with School Partners, but no personally identifiable information is disclosed without your explicit consent.

For more details, please refer to our Children’s Data Policy.


7. Third-Party Technologies

School Scout AI is powered by OpenAI’s large language model technology. Accordingly:

  • Your use of School Scout AI is also subject to OpenAI’s Terms of Use and OpenAI’s Privacy Policy;
  • School Scout Ltd has implemented technical safeguards and prompt filtering to reduce harmful or unsafe outputs, but cannot guarantee absolute accuracy or safety;
  • OpenAI may process interactions for safety and compliance purposes, subject to its own privacy obligations.


8. Service Availability and Modifications

  • School Scout may modify, suspend, or discontinue School Scout AI at any time without liability or prior notice;
  • Capabilities, data integrations, and response quality may evolve as the model is improved over time;
  • We may implement usage limits or feature restrictions for individual users to manage platform performance or misuse.


9. Liability and Disclaimers

School Scout Ltd shall not be liable for:

  • Errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in School Scout AI responses;
  • Loss or damages resulting from reliance on AI-generated content;
  • Outcomes of school searches or application processes influenced by AI suggestions;
  • Temporary unavailability or interruption of the School Scout AI service.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability to any user in relation to School Scout AI shall not exceed £100.


10. Suspension, Termination and Enforcement

We may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access to School Scout AI without notice if:

  • You breach this Use Policy or any other applicable School Scout policies;
  • You engage in prohibited behaviour (e.g. abusive prompts, system abuse);
  • School Scout AI is being misused in a way that creates legal or technical risk.

Repeated or severe violations may result in permanent suspension from the platform and reporting to relevant authorities where necessary.


11. Changes to School Scout AI or This Policy

School Scout reserves the right to:

  • Modify, pause, or discontinue the School Scout AI service or any of its features at any time;
  • Update the capabilities or training of the model based on user behaviour or technological advances;
  • Revise this Use Policy to reflect legal, operational, or product changes.

Material updates will be communicated via our website. Continued use of School Scout AI following an update constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.


12. Contact

For School Scout AI support enquiries contact: support@schoolscout.uk
This School Scout AI Use Policy was last updated on 5 August 2025.


This School Scout AI Policy was last updated on 29 October 2025.