Head of Department guide

1. What you're evaluating

Educator is a spaced-repetition platform for GCSE and KS3 subjects. The core loop is simple: students answer short-recall and multiple-choice questions on their phone or laptop, the algorithm surfaces each card at the optimal interval before they forget it, and mastery accumulates over weeks rather than in a single cramming session.

The value proposition for a Head of Department is threefold. Students do more revision, not because you set more homework, but because a 3-minute daily session is genuinely frictionless. You see exactly which topics each class is weak on, ranked and colour-coded, without waiting for a test. And you mark nothing: completion, accuracy and mastery data are up to date every time you open your dashboard.

2. Before the pilot

A pilot is 4 weeks, full app access, unlimited students, no credit card required. Before you start, confirm three things.

Is your subject live?

Food, History, Geography, Combined Science, Religious Studies, D&T, Business Studies, Computer Science, PE Theory, Drama, Sociology, and Psychology are all live at GCSE and KS3, each with a complete, fact-checked card bank. Music is available too, currently in Beta pending music-teacher sign-off.

Is your exam board supported?

AQA, Edexcel, OCR, and Eduqas are covered across most live subjects, and CCEA for D&T and Business; check the subject page for your board. When you create a class you select a board, and only cards relevant to that board are served. If your school runs a board not listed, email hello@educator-labs.com before starting.

GCSE only, or GCSE + KS3?

KS3 is bundled free with every matching GCSE licence. If you have Year 7–9 groups who would benefit from structured revision habits (particularly in History, Geography, or Science), include them. The KS3 card set is aligned to the national curriculum, not a specific board, and builds the prior knowledge students need arriving in Year 10.

3. Setting up and running the pilot

1. 1

   Confirm your subject is live

   Check the Educator homepage for subject tiles marked "Live". Food, History, Geography, Combined Science, Religious Studies, D&T, Business Studies, Computer Science, PE Theory, Drama, Sociology, and Psychology are all live at GCSE and KS3, each with a complete, fact-checked card bank. Music is also available at both levels, currently in Beta pending music-teacher sign-off.

2. 2

   Verify exam board support

   Each subject page lists supported boards. AQA, Edexcel, OCR, and Eduqas are covered across most subjects, and CCEA for D&T and Business. Check the subject page for your board: Food, for example, is Eduqas and AQA. If your school uses a less common board, confirm coverage before sending class codes to students.

3. 3

   Decide GCSE only or GCSE + KS3

   KS3 is always bundled free with the matching GCSE licence. If you teach Year 7–9 alongside your GCSE groups, include them. The data you gather on KS3 mastery informs your GCSE transition planning.

4. 4

   Create your school and first class

   Sign up at educator-labs.com as a Teacher. Before anything else you are asked whether your school is already on Educator, with nothing pre-selected. Choose "No - I'll set it up" if you are first, and you become the school's Head of Department automatically. If a colleague already registered the school, Educator will stop you creating a second one and name the existing school instead: get the invite code from them, or use "Yes - find my school in the directory" and ask its HoD to approve you. Then create a class: pick subject, exam board, class name, and year group. You get a 6-character code to share with students. Foundation/Higher tier can be set from class settings after creation.

5. 5

   Brief students in class (5 minutes)

   Show the sign-up flow on the board. Students enter the class code when they register. That links them to your class immediately. Tell them: one session per day, 3–5 minutes, builds a streak. That framing is all they need.

6. 6

   Week 2: check your class page and set homework

   Open your class page and review the 'Class accuracy by topic' section. Topics in red (<50% accuracy) or with no reviews need attention: either more classroom time or a targeted homework. Set your first homework assignment: pick a topic and a due date. Students see it on their dashboard; you see completions whenever you open the page.

7. 7

   Week 4: pull data for your SLT report

   Export or screenshot the class summary: session counts, accuracy by topic, mastery delta (Proficient + Mastered proportion at week 1 vs week 4), and streak distribution. This is your pilot evidence pack.

Two setup conveniences worth knowing: you can bulk-import a class roster from a spreadsheet (download the .xlsx template, add names and, optionally, emails, upload; accounts and temporary passwords are generated for you on a credentials sheet that is shown once, so save it, and Reset student passwords on the class page reissues them), and print the Print pack from any class page (three A4 portrait sheets: a wall poster, cut-and-fold revision cards, and a join-code QR card). The poster carries students' display names, which for imported students are their real names, so it belongs in the classroom rather than a public corridor.

Students join at educator-labs.com/join by typing the class code, or by opening the direct link (and QR code) the class launch screen and print pack both carry. Colleagues join your school with the school invite code from the School page, or the equivalent /join-school link.

4. Reading the data

Four metrics give you a complete picture of pilot health. They are read from the class pages at /teach, one class at a time, and from the school-wide /school dashboard, which shows a 7-day stat grid (total students, active this week, sessions, cards correct) alongside your classes, staff, department heads, and students, without drilling into each class individually. For department-wide struggling topics and the mastery trend, see the SLT report at /school/report instead. Your /dashboard is the weekly triage view described below, not where these four live.

Session count per student

Your primary engagement proxy. A student doing 5+ sessions per week is getting meaningful spaced practice. Under 3 per week suggests they haven't yet built the habit. A class conversation usually fixes it.

Average accuracy per topic

Sorted lowest to highest, this is your intervention priority list. Topics under 60% accuracy are the ones students are guessing on. They need classroom coverage, not just more practice.

Mastery delta (before/after)

Compare the proportion of cards at Proficient or Mastered at the start vs end of the pilot. A meaningful pilot should shift this by 15–25 percentage points across 4 weeks. That delta is your headline number for SLT.

Streak distribution

How many students have a streak of 7+ days? 14+? This is your consistency proxy. A class average streak of 10+ days after a 4-week pilot indicates the habit has formed and the revision will compound toward the exam.

5. Making the case to SLT

Educator sits comfortably within a school's intervention budget. These are the talking points that land with senior leaders.

6. Pricing tiers

All tiers are per-school per-year. Unlimited students and classes within each licensed subject. KS3 is always bundled free with the matching GCSE. All prices +VAT. Every figure on this page, including the worked examples and the cost-per-student talking point, is quoted excluding VAT, so budget accordingly.

7. Getting support