Today, families all over the UK have woken up to a VERY new kind of routine. Homeschooling. For many, this will prove a huge challenge as they try to juggle a job, financial uncertainty, different emotions among family members and the normal day-to-day tasks.

Today, on the first day that schools are shut nationwide, Seneca Learning — a site that is free to pupils and teachers — reports that the total number of users on the platform has grown to 3.15 million since the Prime Minister’s announcement on Wednesday.

That includes 3million students and 120,000 teachers. This is already a THIRD (30.5%) of the UK’s 10.3 million pupil population. Interest in the site began climbing steadily from 2.5 million users a fortnight ago once self-isolation became commonplace and some schools with confirmed cases of Covid-19 began shutting their doors. 

However, it’s not all plain sailing for the company, which was only founded in 2017. The growing use of Seneca’s free platform is drastically increasing its costs, at a time when its revenues, which are tied to exams, have taken a nosedive after this year’s exam cancellation. Consequently, the platform faces collapsing revenues this year at a time of skyrocketing consumer interest.

Seneca Learning specialises in homework help and exam prep, gamifying the learning and revision process to help students learn faster right through Key Stage 2 and 3 to GCSEs and A levels. Courses are interactive and responsive, automatically adapting the way concepts are taught based on how well the pupils score when tested and what pupils’ weaknesses are. The entire curriculum for pupils aged 8 to 18 is catered for.

Seneca Learning’s co-founders Stephen Wilks and Lukas Feddern feature in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list of entrepreneurs for 2020, alongside Greta Thunberg. 

One of the company’s main investors is Lord Stanley Fink, former Conservative Party Treasurer and hedge fund pioneer.

Stephen Wilks, founder and CEO of Seneca Learning, said:

“These are strange times but we’re pleased to be able to help parents, teachers and pupils continue focusing on education as best they can. 

“Many people will face painful challenges as loved ones contract the disease and the country joins together to beat this pandemic, but it’s also really important that education doesn’t stop. 

“The site will always remain free to use and we’ve taken extra steps behind the scenes to ensure the platform can cope with increased demand in the coming days now that all schools are closed.”

Have you signed up to use Seneca Learning? If not, it might be worth taking a look. Let us know how you get on.