Starlight Now Lets Schools Choose Their AI Model

Choice matters — just like colours on a palette, Starlight now lets schools pick the AI model that best fits their needs.

At Starlight, we’ve always believed that trust, transparency, and flexibility should be built into every decision we make. Today, we’re excited to announce a new layer of choice for the schools and organisations we work with.

As you know, AI is moving fast. New capabilities emerge every month, and we’re committed to making sure Starlight users can benefit from these advances—without compromising on security, privacy, or alignment with your values.

Following the recent release of high-quality open-source models from OpenAI, we can now offer schools the option to decide which large language model powers their coaching reports:

Option 1: OpenAI’s GPT-5 (Flagship Model)

We recently upgraded to GPT-5, OpenAI’s most capable model yet. It offers exceptional reasoning, nuanced language understanding, and reliable outputs across a wide range of lesson contexts. Importantly, our agreement with OpenAI guarantees that no data passed through Starlight is ever used to train the model. Every lesson recording and transcript remains fully protected, processed only to generate your coaching report.

Option 2: Starlight’s Secure Open-Source Deployment

Our own installation of OpenAI’s new open-source model (gpt-oss-120b) runs entirely on our servers, ensuring complete data isolation — no information ever leaves our secure infrastructure. For some schools, this additional safeguard offers extra peace of mind, knowing that lesson recordings and transcripts remain fully contained within Starlight’s own environment from start to finish.

While the model’s capabilities are comparable to leading proprietary options, running it in-house means there’s no dependency on third-party processing. This can be especially valuable for schools with heightened data-protection requirements, stricter compliance policies, or stakeholders who want full assurance over where and how their information is handled.

Why Choice Matters

Every school’s context is different. Some want the raw power of GPT-5. Others value total in-house data handling and model customisation. This new optionality means you can choose the route that feels right for you—balancing capability, control, and peace of mind.

Our mission remains the same: to deliver specific, timely, actionable, and regular feedback - STAR feedback - that supports professional growth while protecting teacher autonomy and privacy. This update is simply one more way we can do that—on your terms.

Get in touch:

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 📧 Email: info@starlightmentor.com

The Insight Engine is written by Adam Sturdee, co-founder of Starlight—the UK’s first AI-powered coaching platform—and Assistant Headteacher at St Augustine’s Catholic College. This blog is part of a wider mission to support educators through meaningful reflection, not performance metrics. It documents the journey of building Starlight from the ground up, and explores how AI, when shaped with care, can reduce workload, surface insight, and help teachers think more deeply about their practice. Rooted in the belief that growth should be private, professional, and purposeful, The Insight Engine offers ideas and stories that put insight—not judgment—at the centre of development.