YOUNGSTERS have welcomed technology that helps them revise and do their homework on the move.

New science app Educake allows them to log in using a tablet or smartphone to answer set questions.

It then gives instant feedback on how they are doing.

Fifteen-year-old Kate Humphries, studying GCSEs at Cranford House School near Wallingford, said: “It’s a different way of learning and testing yourself and encourages working independently.”

And fellow Cranford House pupil Bethan Bache, 15, added: “It’s a nicer way to revise because it’s more visual.”

Charley Darbishire, of Magdalen Road, East Oxford, came up with the idea after years of writing traditional paper-based exam revision guides.

He said: “Most educational software is a bit dated and won’t work on tablets or mobile phones.

“Knowing that digital products and resources for teachers weren’t very good, I realised there was a gap in the market.”

The 37-year-old, who is married to Cherwell School teacher Polly Cotterill, had little technical know-how when he started work on the project three years ago.

He added: “I know nothing about coding, so got a web designer to build a prototype then taught myself to expand it. It was really difficult while I was developing it, as we didn’t have any money.

“My wife was still a trainee teacher, so we were living off baked beans.”

There are four versions of Educake to tie in with different exam boards and teachers can download pupils’ results to see where they need more help.

Mr Darbishire said: “The average teacher spends 10 hours a week marking or planning homework.

“But teachers have brilliant knowledge and expertise, so why ask them to waste all that time ticking and crossing their way through a massive pile of books?

“And working on a tablet or smartphone is more fun than doing it on paper for students, too.”

Educake, which covers Key Stage 3 and GCSE science, costs £899 a year for an unlimited number of student and teacher accounts.

Apart from Cranford House, Bloxham School and Banbury Academy have signed up, plus more than 30 schools in the rest of the UK.

Mr Darbishire employs three full-time sales reps and hopes to take on more staff soon.

Director of science at Cranford House School Rupert Barker, who uses Educake for his Year 9, 10 and 11 students, said: “Students can analyse their own work and see where they are struggling and, as a teacher, you can download the data into your own spreadsheet.

“We started trialling it this year and the feedback has been very positive.”