Check & Challenge
Designed to support students of all abilities, Check & Challenge does far more than just assess knowledge. Multiple-choice testing combined with our unique diamond reward system encourages motivation and improves retention and retrieval of key information, while instant feedback allows students to identify their areas of weakness and build understanding. Subjects currently covered include Maths, Science, English Literature, History and Geography. Click on the link below to find out more.
We have most recently published brand-new C&Cs for Biology & Chemistry as well as questions covering new set texts and poetry for IGCSE English Literature. There is a huge amount in the pipeline for Check & Challenge with even more GCSE subjects due to be added over the next year, including English Language, P.E., Religious Studies and MFL.
Accessibility
At GCSEPod we are all about making sure the learning sticks, and believe that learning and teaching technologies should enhance learning for everyone, and not limit access.
We ensure our pods are accessible, including by taking colour blindness into account, ensuring all text is easily readable, and through options to add subtitles and change playback speed.
We are committed to incorporating accessibility into our site too, and we now have a brand-new accessibility toolbar to ensure that our site is accessible for everyone. Accessibility controls include a reading guide, reading mask, colour options, the ability to change font type and size, highlight links, and translate text into almost 100 languages.
Accessibility tools can be layered to offer the most customisable experience possible. And, once chosen, the user’s selections will remain as long as they are using the same device, even if they leave and return to the site.
Exam-Style Assignments
Our Exam-Style Assignments offer an efficient and effective way for students to practice essential skills and test their subject knowledge.
Original, exam board-specific questions, all written by experts, are now available for more than 20 GCSE subjects.
Easy to set using our Ready-Made Assignments function and quick to mark, thanks to a partially-automated marking system backed up by clear marking support for every question, Exam-Style Assignments will save teachers valuable time.
Learning Activities
The new Student Learning Activities have been designed to help students actively use the knowledge they’re learning from Pods.
The activities help students to independently transform the information in the Pods into something new, cementing knowledge and enhancing recall.
Students can access the learning activities from their account without your assistance but you can also set a learning activity as an assignment beside any Pod you assign to students.
Assignments
Images for Assignments – you can now upload images to your assignment questions! Images will be displayed alongside a question you create.
Sharing Assignments with Other Schools – share your assignment templates with any other teacher from any school so long as they have a GCSEPod subscription. When publishing your assignment, you will be given an option to ‘share template with other teachers’, simply copy the link and send to another teacher.
Change or Extend Assignment Deadlines – giving students an extension or pulling forward an assignment deadline is now possible through GCSEPod. Once an assignment is published, if you need to change the deadline date, simply click on the three dot icon and select ‘change deadline’.
Ready-made Assignments
Setting assignments has never been easier with our pre-made assignments. Simply select an assignment template, choose the class you want to assign it to and click publish!
We have ready-made assignments covering all of our subjects, and you can filter by exam board and topic to find exactly what you need.
Our filters allow you to choose self-marking assignments with only multiple-choice questions, saving you time and effort, or ones that include freetext questions as well. Use our assignment templates exactly as they are, or customise them by removing questions or adding your own.
You can access them through Ready-made Assignments in the Assess area of your account.
Achieve Pods
We have added modules 11 and 12 to accompany our 10 existing Achieve modules. Achieve Maths and English are designed to stretch students who are striving for a grade 5.
The confidence building content, workbooks and ready-made assignments are perfect for KS3 and to challenge and stretch younger year groups.
You can access the Achieve content in the Teach area of your account.
Tips for Exam Success
Now available for English Language and Geography, these pods are designed to provide a quick and accessible way of revising for exams. The style is friendly and engaging, like a teacher working one on one with a pupil and guiding them through questions. The content is exam-board specific with bespoke pods for different boards.
Ideal for independent learning and revision, students can watch the Pods and then use the accompanying exam paper-style PDFs to apply their skills.
Assignment Reporting
Track your students’ progress over multiple topics and assessments on one screen and export for record keeping purposes.
- Multiple assignments set for a group can be viewed and compared, giving a wholistic view of student knowledge within a class across a whole topic, or even a whole topic
- Data on results across multiple assignments can be exported, and stored for evidence of attainment
- Results falling below a certain standard can be easily highlighted, showing patterns of missing work, or students falling behind
- Average scores across multiple assignments help the teacher to assess students that may require intervention.
Webinars
We provide a series of free webinars on multiple GCSEPod features for teaching staff and parents. They are a great opportunity to meet with like-minded individuals throughout the world and have your questions answered by a GCSEPod expert whilst learning about the best way to make full use of GCSEPod in the classroom, to support homework, revision, home learning and independent learning. So that all GCSEPod abilities are met, teachers can choose a webinar that suits their needs, from beginners to advanced, to a focus on key features and content to maximise impact.
We also host student webinars which are hosted by Cameron Parker throughout the academic year, these webinars provide students with the key tools they need to harness motivation, manage stress and achieve success. To book a slot or watch previous webinar recordings please click the button below.
Getting ready for...KS3/KS4
GCSEPod has recently produced a wealth of resources to support students moving into KS4 and KS5 including ‘Getting ready for GCSE/A Level’ workbooks, which contain a collection of activities. Each workbook includes ‘have a go at’ tasks, learning and skills required for the next key stage.
Subjects covered include, English Language and Literature, Maths, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, History, Geography, PE, French, German, and Spanish. As a subscriber to GCSEPod, you also receive exclusive access to complimentary playlists that have been designed to support students in completing tasks. The playlists and workbooks can be found in the Teach area of your account within the subject topic.
