Your Bloom is a subject-specific AI tutor, not an open chatbot. You control what it answers in four ways: the documents in the Knowledge Base, the wording in Context and Instructions, a list of Blocked Content for assessment questions, and the Stay On Topic classifier. Used together, these keep students focused on your subject and protect graded work from being looked up through the tutor.
How Bloom decides what to answer
Every student message is classified into an intent before the AI replies. Three intents matter for topic control:
- content, the standard Socratic tutoring path. Bloom retrieves relevant material from your knowledge base and replies.
- off-topic, when the question is not related to the subject. Bloom is told to “politely redirect them back to relevant subject topics” and to “DO NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION under any circumstances.”
- blocked, when the question matches something on your Blocked Content list. Bloom is told the same: “DO NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION under any circumstances”, and to offer help with the underlying concepts instead.
Step 1: Scope with the Knowledge Base
The single biggest control on what Bloom can discuss is what you upload. Open your Bloom, go to the Knowledge Base tab, and add only the documents you want students to be able to ask about. If a topic is not represented in the materials, Bloom will fall back to general subject knowledge for that area, which is shallower and more easily redirected.
Step 2: Narrow with Context and Instructions
Open the Initial Setup tab and scroll to the Context and Instructions field. This text is included in the system prompt for every conversation, so it is the right place to state scope rules in plain language. Examples:
- “Only discuss content from weeks 1 to 5 of MATH1120. If a student asks about later weeks, tell them the topic is not yet covered.”
- “Do not provide direct answers for Assignment 3. Instead, help students plan their approach and check their reasoning.”
- “This Bloom is for Year 11 Biology. Politely decline questions about other subjects.”
Up to 100,000 characters are allowed, but most Blooms work best with 200 to 800 words here. Keep the rules short and unambiguous, the model follows specific instructions more reliably than vague ones.
Step 3: Block specific assessment questions
For exact assessment questions you never want answered, use the Blocked Content section in the Content Moderation tab. The in-product description reads: “Add questions or assignment content that students should not receive direct answers to. When a student asks something similar to blocked content, the tutor will recognise the match and politely redirect them to explore the underlying concepts instead.”
To add an entry:
- Click Add Blocked Content. A dialog opens.
- Optionally give it a title, for example Midterm Exam or Assignment 3. The placeholder text in the field is “Title (optional), e.g. Midterm Exam, Assignment 3.”
- Paste a single question, a set of questions, or an entire assignment into the content field.
- Click Add. The entry appears in the list with a count badge next to the section header.
Bloom uses semantic matching, not exact string matching, so paraphrased versions of a blocked question are still caught. When a match is detected, the tutor responds along the lines of: it cannot help with this specific question because it appears to be an assessment question, but it can help with the underlying concepts.
Step 4: Turn on Stay On Topic
At the bottom of the Content Moderation tab is a switch labelled Stay On Topic. Its description reads: “The tutor will more strongly recognise if students go off-topic and politely redirect them back to the subject material. This helps keep conversations focused on learning.”
Turn this on for tutors used in class or during revision, where you want students to stay focused on the subject. Leave it off for general-purpose Blooms where casual conversation is fine. With the switch on, questions about unrelated subjects, current events, or chit-chat will trigger a polite redirect rather than an answer.
Common issues
Bloom answers a question I expected it to refuse
Two likely causes. First, the question is close to your subject but not on your Blocked Content list, so the off-topic classifier let it through. Add an explicit instruction in Context and Instructions, or add the specific question to Blocked Content. Second, the question is loosely related to material in your Knowledge Base. Remove the document if you do not want students drawing on it.
Bloom refuses a legitimate question
Usually caused by Blocked Content being too broad (a whole textbook chapter pasted in) or by Context and Instructions including an overly strict rule. Tighten the blocked entries to the specific questions, and re-read your instructions for absolute words like never or any.
The Stay On Topic switch is greyed out
You do not have the Configure Bloom permission. Ask a Bloom Admin or Manager to make the change, or have them grant you the role.
What’s next
- Shape how Bloom communicates with students → Set up a teaching persona
- Use the AI to draft your own materials → Use Assistant Mode for educator tools
- Open Bloom and update your Content Moderation settings → Manage Blooms