Where It Started
From the start, what we wanted to build was straightforward: something teachers could actually trust, because it was rooted in good pedagogy first and technology second. If we got that right, the reward would be time. Time back for teaching, rather than marking.
In January 2024, that mission earned its first bit of external recognition: a Bett Award for Primary Digital Learning Product – Language & Literacy. At that point, we were still early in our journey: focused on simple student feedback, and mainly on primary schools. The core idea was there, but a lot of what we do today simply didn’t exist yet.
2025: Iterating at Speed
Throughout 2024 and into 2025, we moved quickly. We expanded into secondary and GCSE assessment, building OlexAnalytics to generate the detailed, quantified assessment data that would form the backbone of our Insights dashboard. We built the Imaginator to help engage reluctant writers of all ages. We added automated lesson planning, so teachers can turn class-wide gaps straight into a targeted next lesson. We introduced bespoke rubrics, so schools and trusts could mark against their own frameworks as well as nationally recognised ones. We extended into more subjects beyond English, and built out OlexInsights to give trust leaders real visibility across every school, class and assignment.
That pace of development showed throughout 2025, when we picked up five further award wins across Bett, ERA and BESA, recognising our work in both primary and secondary, for teachers and for trust leaders alike, including being named BESA’s Best Use of AI in Education.
2026: From Idea to Evidence
2026 has continued in the same vein, with five more wins so far, including a Bett Award for Assessment, Planning & Monitoring: recognition not just for the original idea, but for a platform that had grown to cover the full picture, from a single essay to trust-wide insight. But the reason this year feels different, though, is that we can finally show what all of that development adds up to. Our most recent award, BESA’s Evidence & Impact Award, isn’t really about us, it’s about what’s happened in schools that have been with us long enough to see the results.
A few examples give a sense of it:
- At The Kemnal Academies Trust, 14 secondary schools now mark every GCSE English mock through Olex: over 41,200 essays marked, 6,870 hours of teacher time saved, and in one school, students achieving Grade 5+ in English Literature at bronze mock stage increased 19 percentage points.
- At The Challenge Academy Trust, consistent, exam-quality feedback across departments has driven a 13% uplift in students reaching Grade 5 in GCSE English Literature.
- At The Prescot School, a school-wide writing rhythm from Year 7 has taken the average class grade from a 4 to a 6, with particularly strong engagement from boys and disadvantaged pupils.
- At Hummersknott Academy, students performing above expectation in GCSE English Language rose by 143% once Olex was introduced.
- And in one school at the Xavier Catholic Education Trust, the number of Year 3 pupils at ‘Working Towards’ level has reduced from 15 to just 5 children.
From Promise to Proof
Earning the trust of schools willing to build alongside us is what made this second part possible: being able to point at real numbers and real time given back to real teachers, across primary and secondary, in trusts of every size.
And the numbers only tell part of it. They don’t capture the pupils staying in at break to finish their writing, or the teachers who’ve said the job feels more enjoyable again now marking isn’t eating every evening. That’s the impact that doesn’t show up in a stat, but it’s just as real.
So more than anything, this is a thank you. To every teacher who trusted us with their students’ work, and every trust leader who backed us across a whole school or MAT: this progress is as much yours as it is ours. We’re looking forward to building the next chapter with you too.
