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Guest article by Jono Ellis, Chief Product Officer at Cognito.
Captain Bobcat readers get 20% off Cognito Pro with the code BOBCAT20 if you decide it’s worth it. You can find the platform at cognitoedu.link/captain_bobcat.
If you’ve got a child heading into GCSEs, or you can see them coming, you’ll have noticed there’s a huge amount of revision content out there and very little of it your teenager will use. Most platforms either look like they were built in 2008, bury the useful bits under an hour-long video, or nag your child into resentment with streaks and notifications.
I work at Cognito. Eva very kindly let me put together this guest post rather than asking her to review the platform herself, because I think honest explainers from inside a product tend to be more useful than reviews written by someone who got the product for free. So here’s what Cognito is, where it’s strong, where it falls short, and how families actually use it.
What Cognito covers
Cognito is a UK revision platform. The core is Sciences and Maths at GCSE and A-Level, and that’s what most families come to us for. Alongside that we cover English, Geography, History, Psychology and a growing set of other subjects, which we’ve been building out over the last two years.
We have Key Stage 3 content too, so if your child is 11 or 12 and just getting into secondary school, there’s already something there for them. Most families use KS3 as a light-touch confidence layer for topics that keep resurfacing later (photosynthesis, algebra, forces and so on), then step up to full GCSE prep in Year 10.
You log in, pick the exam board (AQA, Edexcel, OCR and so on), and you get a clean topic-by-topic dashboard of the subject.
What people like about Cognito
The bit parents mention most is video length. Cognito videos are about five minutes each on average, mapped to a specific exam-board topic. That’s short enough that teens will watch three or four in a session, which is the difference between revision happening and revision being avoided.
For children who’d rather read than watch, we also have a strong set of written revision notes for every topic. So the platform works whether your child is a visual, auditory or reading-preference learner.
After a few sessions, the dashboard surfaces the topics your child is weakest on. Parents tell us this quietly ends the “what should I revise tonight” argument, because the answer is already on the screen.
We also map content to the actual specification rather than a generalised one. A Cell Biology question written for AQA is not the same as one written for OCR, and using the wrong resource in the run-up to exams wastes hours.
If you want a wider read, our Trustpilot reviews(uk.trustpilot.com/review/cognitoedu.org) are a good place to start.
Where Cognito falls short, honestly
We’re strongest in the sciences and Maths. That’s where we started, and it’s where the platform is deepest. For subjects like English Literature we’re a good place to learn and understand the content (plot summaries, character analysis, key themes and so on), but your child will still need to do essay practice at school with their teacher. Cognito doesn’t replace that side of the work. It’s necessary to point out at this point, there aren’t essay writing services available on Cognito in line with the UK law.
More broadly, we’re not a tutor replacement for children who are seriously behind. If your child has fundamental gaps from earlier in school, video content alone won’t fix that. They’ll likely need targeted help from a person. Cognito is better at filling in specific topic gaps once someone has flagged them.
How families use Cognito
A typical revision session in the families who get the most out of Cognito looks something like this. 25 minutes on a single topic, one or two videos plus the practice questions. 15-minute break. Repeat. Three or four of those a week for Science, two for Maths. Past papers from school for the heavier exam practice closer to the exams themselves.
For an essay subject like English Literature, the pattern shifts a bit. Use Cognito for the content side (understanding what happens in the text, what the key themes are, what the important quotes mean), and lean on school essays and your child’s teacher for the writing practice. The two together cover the whole subject.
It’s a routine more than a tool. Most of the parent work is at the start of the term when you’re setting up the topics and helping build the habit. After that it runs itself.
How much Cognito cost
Cognito is free to use, and the free tier alone covers a lot of ground. There are some limits, and if your child wants more out of the platform, the Pro upgrade is reasonable compared to most paid revision platforms, and significantly cheaper than even one hour of one-to-one tutoring.
Captain Bobcat readers get 20% off Cognito Pro with the code BOBCAT20 if you decide it’s worth it. You can find the platform at cognitoedu.link/captain_bobcat.
An honest closing thought
No revision platform fixes a lack of motivation, and Cognito doesn’t claim otherwise. What we try to do is take the “I don’t know what to revise tonight” friction out of the evening, so your teenager gets more done in the time they’ve set aside.
If that sounds like the gap in your house, the free content is a good place to start before paying for anything. Have your child watch two or three videos on a topic they know they’re shaky on, work through the practice questions, and see whether it clicks. You’ll know pretty quickly whether the format suits them.
Guest article by Jono Ellis, Chief Growth Officer at Cognito.
In partnership with Captain Bobcat Blog.
Cognito is free to use.
Readers get 20% off Cognito Pro with the code BOBCAT20 at cognitoedu.link/captain_bobcat.