What is it?
GCSEPod is a digital publisher of exam board-mapped content for 28 GCSE/IGCSE subjects and Functional Skills. As the winner of Bett’s Best Secondary Content in 2021, 2018 and 2015, the team behind GCSEPod continues to invest and evolve – dedicated to improving the working lives of teachers and making learning stick.
GCSEPod takes an evidence-based, cognitive learning approach, providing assessment and data alongside audio-visual ‘Pods’ that are differentiated by exam board and written by subject specialists.
Proud partners of industry bodies ASCL, CST and PiXL, GCSEPod was established in 2010 and is now trusted by over 1,700 schools in 40 countries.
We can evidence a clear correlation between GCSEPod usage and impact. Pod users achieve on average 1 grade higher than non-Pod users.
We achieve this using cognitive science with exceptional content, that focuses the learner’s attention on the ‘to be learnt’ objectives.
With over 10 years in the sector, GCSEPod has been leading the way in EdTech since the beginning of the sector’s development.
Teach
GCSEPod works with subject experts to ensure the user can trust the content that has been created and not just curated by our in-house publishing team.
GCSEPod is a whole school resource, particularly suited to a ‘blended learning’ model, and can be used from Year 7 to Key Stage 4 and beyond.
GCSEPod embodies ‘Education on Demand’. It is device agnostic so there are no barriers to using the platform which can be used on or offline.
Set Pods for topic introduction, flip the classroom, boost learning with interleaving, or even to support ECTs, supply teachers and those teaching outside of their specialism.
Assess
Diagnose your students’ weaknesses using our exam board specific, exam-style questions and ready-made assignments, or our award-winning Check & Challenge.
The latter is a formative assessment system that promotes learning – not just testing – by pinpointing areas of weakness and low confidence, together with content to support students’ knowledge acquisition and progress.
Students can elect to take a Check & Challenge after watching any Pod to check what they have learned independently.
Monitor and Manage
With GCSEPod, you can review usage by user (teacher or student), group (eg ‘Y11’ or ‘Form 7B’), individual or category (eg Pupil Premium).
Passing feedback data on to governors, SLT, parents and Ofsted is made easy, and our exam-style assignments can be used as grade evidence.
The data can even be subjected to further analysis, to help identify trends and patterns of usage over time.
Engage
GCSEPod engages students in a way that’s native to them. We’ve been called the ‘Netflix of GCSE content’, since our platform allows students to take ownership of their learning – helping them learn how to learn, not just what to learn.
Crucially, our videos have an average running time of three to five minutes, making for short, sharp bursts of learning that break down subjects in a way that’s manageable, easily understood and remembered.
Using Check & Challenge helps students gain a better understanding of the gaps in their knowledge with scaffolded support.
The diamond reward system additionally drives their intrinsic motivation, encouraging them to beat their previous scores.
In addition to all of this, GCSEPod subscribers receive support from our PodUp team, who will coach schools for the lifetime of their subscription on how to get the best out of GCSEPod, and how it can be used to meet the school’s objectives and targets.
“Check and Challenge is a great way for students to review what they know. It helps me to plan effective lessons, and it also serves as a knowledge retrieval exercise too. What sets it apart from other platforms is that if a student gets an element incorrect they receive guidance about why, which is a game changer!”
Anthony Mycock
Assistant headteacher, Baines School
Need to know
- Accessibility is our top priority. GCSEPod content is produced with accessibility in mind, most recently in the form of a new toolbar that enables the use of a reading pane, reading mask and subtitles. Viewers can also now opt to change the platform’s font, colours, speed and language
- Exam-style questions are available for all subjects and major exam boards and topics, enabling straightforward gathering of attainment evidence and essential exam practice for students. Pods can be hidden so students complete the questions without the support of the videos, and you can decide to set your own questions or customise the questions included in any given assignment, should you wish
- Prepare students for moving Key Stages with the help of our ‘Getting Ready for KS4/KS5’ workbooks, which are designed to ease the transition and enable students to prepare independently. Separate ‘Achieve Maths/English’ workbooks are available to support lower-attaining students or those having to resit.
See it in action
Get in touch for a demo at info@gcsepod.com or visit gcsepod.com to browse our free resources. Recently released complimentary resources include 25 pods celebrating the work of British and Irish authors of African and Caribbean heritage – discover them at gcsepod.com/caach
For more information call 0191 338 7830, email info@gcsepod.com or visit gcsepod.com.
