UpGrades vs Educake

How does Educake compare to UpGrades?

Educake is a quiz platform designed for science teachers to set and auto-mark homework for secondary school students. It provides a bank of science questions organised by topic, with teachers selecting which questions their students answer.

Educake has built a focused, effective tool for science teachers who want to set regular homework quizzes without the burden of manual marking. The platform provides a large bank of science questions covering Biology, Chemistry, and Physics at GCSE level, and teachers can select specific topics or let Educake generate quizzes automatically. All answers are auto-marked, saving teachers significant time.

The teacher-driven model is Educake's defining characteristic. Rather than students choosing what to practise, teachers curate the questions and set deadlines. This gives teachers direct control over what their classes are revising and ensures homework aligns with the current scheme of work. The platform provides class-level results that help teachers identify common misconceptions and adjust their teaching accordingly.

Educake's question quality in science is genuinely strong. Questions are written by experienced science teachers and cover a range of difficulty levels and question types, including short answer, multiple choice, and longer explanation questions. For science departments looking to streamline homework setting and marking, Educake delivers real value.

However, Educake has several significant limitations. It is exclusively focused on science subjects -- there is no coverage for English, Maths, History, Geography, Languages, or any other GCSE or A-Level subject. There is no student self-study mode where students can independently practise areas they find difficult. The platform relies entirely on teachers to set work, which means revision stops when teachers are not actively assigning quizzes.

UpGrades is designed as a student-driven adaptive platform that works across all subjects. While Educake requires teacher intervention to assign every quiz, UpGrades allows students to revise independently with AI that adapts to their individual weaknesses. UpGrades also provides parent dashboards, covers A-Level and international qualifications, and uses spaced repetition to ensure long-term retention -- features that extend well beyond Educake's focused science homework tool.