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Google has published findings from a 10-week UK math-tutoring trial and a yearlong study in 31 Italian schools examining Gemini in education. The company says UK students using AI tutoring performed similarly to students receiving human tutoring on platform tasks and quizzes, while standardized test gains were not observed; Italian teachers reported more collaborative lessons when using Gemini to plan.
Google on October 29, 2026, reported findings from two classroom studies examining how its Gemini AI tools were used in the UK and Italy. The company said AI math tutoring performed similarly to human tutoring on several UK classroom measures, while teachers in Italy reported more collaborative lessons after using Gemini to help plan them; the UK trial found no gains on standardized STAR test scores during its 10-week period.
The UK study was a 10-week randomized controlled trial involving more than 1,100 students aged 12 to 15. Conducted with education platform Eedi, it compared static hints, one-on-one human tutoring and interactive AI tutoring that combined Gemini capabilities with Eedi’s teaching resources. Teachers monitored progress and supported students, while human experts reviewed every AI response before it reached a student.
Google said students receiving AI tutoring performed similarly to those receiving human tutoring on Eedi assignments and intermediate quizzes. Expert reviewers approved 95% of AI responses outright, up from 76% in the prior study, which Google described as a nearly 25% improvement in pedagogical quality. The company also said Gemini guided students rather than supplying answers in nearly 99% of sessions, and students worked through the math themselves in more than 85% of chats.
Those classroom results did not translate into improved scores on the independent STAR standardized tests over the trial period. Google said students using AI tutoring solved about 14 problems per session on average, compared with 19 for students using static hints. The company suggested that the slower, step-by-step tutoring left students covering less curriculum during the 10 weeks, but that explanation has not been established as a separate finding.
Classroom Gains, With Limits
The studies address two practical questions for schools: whether AI can provide useful individual support and whether it can help teachers structure lessons differently. In the UK trial, the results suggest Gemini-based tutoring may support learning on classroom assignments and quizzes when teachers remain involved and experts check responses. The lack of a STAR score gain, however, means the findings do not show that this approach improved standardized test performance in the period studied.
In Italy, Google reported that Gemini-assisted lesson planning was associated with less lecture-based teaching and more group work. If replicated, such changes could affect how students spend classroom time and how teachers prepare lessons. But the findings are based on a study reported by Google, including teacher activity data and self-reports; they should not be read as proof that the tool alone caused the changes or that the outcomes will hold in other schools.
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How the Two Studies Worked
Google said it spent the previous year working with educators and researchers to examine AI in day-to-day education settings. The UK trial builds on an earlier exploratory study with Eedi, which tested an AI tutor designed to identify students’ mistakes and guide them toward correcting their own work. The current trial added a comparison with human tutoring and tracked students through platform assignments, quizzes and independent tests.
The Italian study followed an initial pilot in Northern Italy. Google worked with the Salesians of Don Bosco school network and the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome on a yearlong study across 31 schools. It involved 1,600 teachers and represented more than 24,500 students aged 13 to 18. Researchers collected classroom activities and teacher self-reports about lesson planning with and without Gemini for Education.
“Technology best serves education when it creates space for inspiring teaching and deeper learning.”
— Google’s report
What the Findings Cannot Show
The supplied report does not establish whether the UK classroom and quiz results would produce lasting learning gains or higher standardized test scores. Google said it plans to investigate the issue in longer trials, and its explanation that fewer problems were completed because step-by-step tutoring took longer is a proposed account, not a proven cause.
Details in the supplied material about the Italian outcomes are incomplete: it reports changes in lesson formats and teacher-reported creativity, but does not provide the full set of student engagement or teacher wellbeing results. The report also does not establish how the findings would compare across different curricula, school systems or implementations without the same level of human oversight.
Longer Trials and Further Results
Google said it is exploring follow-up UK trials spanning a full academic year and plans to expand the measures used to assess learning and its longer-term outcomes. That work could help establish whether the classroom gains persist when students cover more curriculum and sit broader assessments.
The company’s report points readers to a full technical report for additional study details. The supplied material does not give a publication date for that document or set a timeline for the next results. For now, the findings describe specific studies with human oversight, not a general guarantee of results from Gemini in every classroom.
Key Questions
Did Gemini tutoring improve UK students’ standardized test scores?
No improvement was observed on STAR standardized test scores during the 10-week trial, according to Google. Students receiving AI tutoring did perform similarly to human-tutored students on platform assignments and intermediate quizzes.
How many students took part in the UK study?
The randomized controlled trial included more than 1,100 UK students aged 12 to 15 and ran for 10 weeks using Eedi’s school platform.
What did the Italian study report?
Across 31 schools, teachers reported that lessons co-designed with Gemini involved fewer traditional front-of-class lectures and more workshops, group activities and peer discussion. Google also reported that 79% of teachers using Gemini said they felt more creative in teaching and planning, compared with 30% without it.
Were teachers or experts involved in the AI tutoring?
Yes. Teachers monitored students and provided classroom support, and human experts reviewed every AI response before it was delivered to a student in the UK trial.
Source: blog.google
