Does the teaching meet the pupil?
Review starting-point questions, factual accuracy, responses to misconceptions and whether SID steps back far enough when a pupil needs foundations.
School Companion
Tutoring that adapts as pupils learn
SID asks questions, listens to pupils’ answers and helps teachers see what to revisit.
What makes water evaporate?
The water cycle
Heat gives it energy.
Watch School Companion in action.
Follow Maya through a short lesson and a later check of what she remembers.
How SID guides a lesson
Schools choose the topics pupils work on.
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Find a starting point
SID asks a few questions to find out what the pupil already knows.
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Step back when needed
If a pupil gets stuck, SID can revisit the basics or try a simpler example.
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Leave a record for teachers
Teachers can review the pupil’s answers and decide what to revisit in class.
What teachers see
The knowledge wheel shows what a pupil has answered independently, where they needed help and what’s still to check.
Teachers can also review saved observations for individual pupils, including misconceptions and suggested next steps, and correct a judgement if needed.
Knowledge
wheel
wheel
Progress
- Evaporation
- Condensation
- Precipitation
Built on research.
Developed with schools.
These findings inform our design decisions. Each principle needs to be implemented well—and evaluated in the setting where pupils actually use it.
Evidence-informed design. Impact still to be tested. Research on teaching approaches is not proof that School Companion improves attainment. We are not claiming the EEF’s impact estimates for this tool, and the pilot is not an EEF evaluation or endorsement.
01FeedbackMake the next step useful.
The EEF finds that effective feedback focuses on the task, subject or learning strategy and gives pupils information they can act on. Its effects vary with implementation.
Our design direction
Read the evidence [1]Respond to the pupil’s reasoning, explain a misconception and check the next step, rather than simply announce a score.
02Prior knowledge & scaffoldingStart where the pupil is.
The EEF’s cognitive science review examines how approaches such as worked examples and managing cognitive load translate into classrooms. What works depends on the pupil, content and implementation.
Our design direction
Read the evidence [2]Check foundations, reduce the size of a difficult step and use a relevant visual. Withdraw support before checking independent understanding.
03Retrieval & spacingCheck what lasts.
Dunlosky and colleagues’ review identifies practice testing and distributed practice as broadly useful learning techniques. The EEF also cautions that classroom application needs careful judgement.
Our design direction
Read the evidence [2, 3]Ask pupils to recall and explain, then revisit ideas over time. Evaluate later retention separately from success during a supported conversation.
04MetacognitionHelp pupils explain their thinking.
The EEF supports explicitly teaching pupils to plan, monitor and evaluate their learning within subject content. Modelling and carefully chosen prompts can support this process.
Our design direction
Read the evidence [4]Ask “How did you work that out?” and model a useful strategy. Use the answer to explore understanding, not just whether the final result is correct.
05Targeted tuitionKeep support connected to lessons.
The EEF’s one-to-one tuition evidence concerns intensive individual support, usually from an adult. It emphasises the value of linking tuition with classroom teaching.
Our design direction
Read the evidence [5]Let schools set the focus and review the evidence. Findings about human tuition cannot simply be transferred to an AI tutor.
06Digital learningEvaluate the teaching, not the novelty.
The EEF’s digital technology guidance focuses on how technology can support teaching, assessment and practice. Its newer GenAI research programme highlights questions still to be answered about learning.
Our design direction
Read the evidence [6, 7]Test accuracy, appropriate challenge and independent learning alongside usability. Time spent talking to SID is not, by itself, a learning outcome.
We use Oak’s curriculum to check what we teach.
We’re using Oak National Academy’s newly released, machine-readable curriculum framework as a reference for checking our curriculum structure, coverage and links between topics.
Oak separates its interpretation of England’s national curriculum from its own teaching sequences. That distinction matters: a sequence is one approach, not a requirement for every school.
Our work includes checking mapped concepts, reviewing foundations and retaining source references. Oak’s release is still a draft. Our mapping is development work, not certification of complete coverage or a guarantee of lesson quality. School review remains essential.
Explore Oak’s framework [8] ↗National curriculum requirementsShared reference point
Oak’s structured curriculumSubjects, concepts & sequences
School Companion mappingCoverage checks & reviewed foundations
Your school’s chosen focusTeacher judgement stays central
Oak National Academy. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Use of the framework does not imply Oak endorsement. This reference relates to England’s curriculum; it is not a claim of alignment to Curriculum for Wales.
Let’s find out what helps.
And where we need to improve.
We want the pilot to inform development with evidence from real school use. The following is our proposed evaluation focus, to agree with participating schools.
Teacher review of sampled exchanges
Can pupils use the learning independently?
Compare an initial check with a later, fresh question and a delayed check. Separate answers given with help from independent answers; examine understanding beyond the original example.
Who can use it comfortably?
Explore speech recognition, accents, background noise, devices, typing and accessibility needs. Look at who struggles or stops using the tool, as well as those who engage.
Is it useful and manageable for staff?
Review whether the learning history supports useful decisions, how well the topics fit lessons, and the time needed to set up, supervise and review the tool.
How we’ll interpret findings: before-and-after changes can inform development, but do not establish that the tool caused an improvement. Stronger impact claims would need a suitable comparison and a planned evaluation. We will distinguish usage, pupil experience and evidence of learning.
Games for short learning breaks
When game breaks are enabled, pupils can take a short break with built-in games. They can also spend learning coins to customise SID and decorate their island.
Join the School Companion pilot
The pilot is free for SMID schools. Tell us which year groups and subjects you’d like to explore, and we’ll confirm what’s ready to try with your school.
Register your school’s interestWhat to expect
- Choose a pupil group and agree the timing and learning focus with us.
- Agree how staff will supervise access and review the safeguarding and data processing information before pupils take part.
- Share staff and pupil feedback during the pilot. We’ll discuss any arrangements beyond the pilot separately.
Research & further reading.
Selected sources informing the design. Reviewed 7 November 2026. These are references for the approach, not evaluations of School Companion.
- EEF · Teaching and Learning Toolkit: FeedbackEvidence synthesis on actionable feedback and the importance of implementation.
- EEF · Cognitive science approaches in the classroom (2021)Evidence review examining classroom applications, including retrieval, spacing and cognitive load.
- Dunlosky et al. · Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques (2013)Review in Psychological Science in the Public Interest. DOI: 10.1177/1529100612453266.
- EEF · Teaching and Learning Toolkit: Metacognition and self-regulationPlanning, monitoring and evaluating learning within subject teaching.
- EEF · Teaching and Learning Toolkit: One-to-one tuitionEvidence about individual support and its relationship with classroom teaching.
- EEF · Using Digital Technology to Improve Learning (2019)Guidance on purposeful technology use in teaching, assessment and practice.
- EEF · New research into generative AI and cognition (2026)A research programme addressing open questions about how GenAI affects learning.
- Oak National Academy · Making the national curriculum machine-readable (2026)Explanation of the draft framework, its layers and limitations. Explore the open repository.