16th June 2026

Meet the teachers

Rachel Williams is a science teacher and assistant principal at South Molton. She leads the science team and holds a whole-school view on teaching and learning, as well as day-to-day science delivery.

Mark Lee is a physics teacher and assistant director of curriculum for the science faculty. Working alongside Rachel, Mark has focused on how homework and independent study can better support students’ learning across the year.

The challenge

South Molton had used a range of online revision tools in the past. The problem was consistent: by the time students reached Year 11, they were disengaged with other learning platforms. Knowledge gaps weren’t closing, and instead, students were losing motivation.

Mark was equally frustrated with passive revision habits. Students would reach for a past paper or a mind map rather than targeting the specific topics they struggled with. Revision wasn’t matching the precise, concept-focused approach the team adopted during class.

The science team needed a tool that would do more than test students. It had to reteach them and give teachers the visibility to act on what students didn’t know.

How they embedded Up Learn

South Molton introduced Up Learn for Year 11 partway through the academic year, with Year 10 following shortly after. From the start, the team deployed it in multiple ways.

For Year 11, Up Learn was used for targeted homework and as a science intervention during tutor time. Where some students were pulled for English or maths support, others used Up Learn as a structured science session.

For Year 10, the focus is currently assignment-based homework, with plans to embed it far more holistically from September.

Rachel has also begun drawing on the platform for lesson planning, using its questions as starters in class.

Why Up Learn’s GCSE Science course?

For Rachel, the standout feature is Refresh Knowledge. The school already teaches students about the forgetting curve in their dedicated learning skills lessons, and Up Learn’s built-in retrieval practice reinforces exactly that.

For Mark, the ability to differentiate homework by class has been a significant shift. Instead of setting the same assignment for everyone, he can now target specific topics for specific groups depending on where they need support.

What has surprised him is how the platform is driving independent behaviour beyond what’s been set. He shared that Year 10 students started revisiting content independently before their mock exams, without being told to.

Impact on students

The most consistent feedback from students has been about confidence. Where they previously felt uncertain about a topic, they now feel equipped. Consistent use of the platform means relearning the material instead of simply being told what is right.

Rachel highlights the importance of questions embedded within videos: students can’t simply skip through the content. They have to engage with it. The explanations are, in her words, crystal clear.

Looking ahead to results day

Both Rachel and Mark are feeling optimistic heading into exam season. Mark believes there are students who will pick up marks they might otherwise have missed, and he is particularly confident about physics.

Rachel points to two further benefits that have emerged: subject-specific vocabulary and parental engagement.

Up Learn reinforces precise scientific language, something the team is consciously prioritising given the weight examiners place on terminology. And for parents who didn’t enjoy science themselves and don’t know how to help, Up Learn gives them a clear, simple role: direct their child to the right topic and trust the platform to do the teaching.

In their own words

Asked what they would tell another science teacher considering Up Learn, Mark cut straight to what makes it different:

What South Molton found

About the school

South Molton Community College is a comprehensive secondary school in North Devon. The science team has a strong track record and commitment to improving outcomes for all students, regardless of their starting point. In the past year, the school has shifted its focus away from generic revision towards a more targeted approach: identifying individual knowledge gaps and helping students close them.