About the school
Laureate Academy is part of the Future Academies schools trust. The school has been on a clear upward trajectory, recently upgraded by Ofsted to Good. That progress is reflected in improved behaviour and rising quality of education across the school, with the team's sights set on reaching Excellent next.
About the team
Andre Morgan is a Science teacher at Laureate, jointly leading the science department alongside Catherine Lee in a dual Head of Department role.
The challenge
Laureate serves a community where many families haven't had the chance to continue into further or higher education themselves, and the team have responded by building strong scaffolding into how they teach and support their GCSE students. They hold a particular focus on building consistent independent study habits, including homework, as a foundation for success.
'Getting students on board with homework at the minute can be a struggle at the school. But it's something we're working on, and something Up Learn can definitely help with'
Andre has used other learning platforms with previous students self-marking their own answers, a system he found was often inaccurate, leaving students with misconceptions and moving on too quickly rather than having a real understanding.
How they embedded Up Learn
Up Learn is currently used primarily as KS4 homework, reinforcing content already taught in lessons, and Andre sees further potential to build it into independent study too. The team have found that tailoring the approach by student profile gets the best results: some students naturally take to independent work, while others thrive with a bit more structure built in.
To set students up for success, the team invested time getting everyone familiar with the platform, including dedicated sessions in the computer lab to make sure no one was left behind.
'I think it works well as something students do alongside their learning in school, as well as afterwards as homework. That's definitely the direction we want to move in.'
That groundwork is paying off: Laureate has been recognised as a green usage school, reflecting strong, consistent engagement across the cohort. Looking ahead, Andre is excited about the potential for quicker wins along the way, making it even easier for Laureate's students who need the most support to stay engaged all the way through to success.
Why choose Up Learn?
For Andre, the standout difference from other learning platforms he’s used is the immediate, accurate feedback built into Up Learn. Students know instantly whether they're right or wrong, rather than relying on self-marking.
‘The questions gauge mastery and identify if a student understands the topic or not’
Along with supporting the students that might struggle with a topic, Andre's top-set and triple science students have used the platform independently to revise, targeting the specific topics they find hardest and using it to build mastery ahead of exams.
‘It's probably the easiest platform to help guide a student to mastery. The function of helping them with retrieval, constantly going over and refreshing knowledge, we have found really useful as well.'
Supporting parents who don't have the subject knowledge
For many GCSE parents, science can be an intimidating subject they don’t often feel equipped to help with directly. Andre sees Up Learn as removing that barrier entirely, parents don't need to understand the content themselves to support their child's learning.
‘All it involves is watching videos and doing quizzes. Personally, if I were a parent, I'd sit with them and guide them through it, make sure they're doing it, and make sure they're actually thinking while they do it and not distracted.'
Building genuine understanding
For students, the value of Up Learn lies in how it responds to what they actually know. Rather than moving on once an answer is submitted, he’s seeing the platform retest students on anything they get wrong, helping them build real understanding rather than just getting through the material.
'If they give it their best shot, actually listen to the videos and think about the questions, I do envision them getting a very good grade. It will retest you if you don't get something right.’
What sets it apart for teachers
Asked what he'd tell another science teacher considering Up Learn, Andre was direct about what sets it apart:
'It's exceptional. It's probably the best platform I've seen for helping students: one, immediate feedback; two, retrieval practice through the refresh knowledge topics; three, ensuring mastery. There are lots of platforms that will test students, but one that gives immediate feedback as well as videos? Up Learn has the whole package.'
Benefits for schools
- Replaces self-marking with immediate, accurate feedback
- Helps close the gap for cohorts with lower academic confidence and higher apathy
- Designated customer success manager assisting you with onboarding and engagement
- Supports both guided homework and independent study, depending on student profile
- Retrieval practice keeps knowledge fresh ahead of exams
Benefits for parents and students
- Gives parents without subject expertise a clear, simple way to support revision
- Reteaches content rather than just testing it
- Builds genuine confidence through mastery, not guesswork
- Lets students target the exact topics they find hardest
- Fits around family routines, without requiring a parent to relearn the subject themselves
