EDUCATE to host its second EdWards ceremony during Bett Show 2019

The EDUCATE programme is to host its second EdWards ceremony during the Bett Show 2019, recognising the achievements and success of the EdTech companies with which it works.

The event, which will be hosted by Sophie Bailey, founder of EdTech Podcast, will see more than 20 entrepreneurs, SMEs and start-ups receive the quality mark, following a stringent process of validation of its work on the programme.

Recipients will receive either an Evidence Aware or Evidence Applied EdWard, depending on the extent to which they have met the criteria. Those who receive the Evidence Aware mark have demonstrated an understanding of EDUCATE’s evidence-led approach, while the latter recipients have applied that awareness to the delivery or development of their concept.

It means that schools and organisations who deal with a company bearing the EdWard mark on its website or marketing materials can be assured that the product or service they offer has been developed with a sound basis in research, and is evidenced by what is effective in teaching and learning.

Since its inception in 2017, more than 160 EdTech companies have been admitted to the EDUCATE programme.

Professor Rose Luckin, Director of EDUCATE and Professor of Learner Centred Design at UCL Knowledge Lab, said: “The Bett Show is the perfect occasion at which to celebrate the achievements of our cohorts.

“We have been impressed with the level of commitment they have shown both to developing their own ideas and products, and to their enthusiasm for the programme.

“These recipients represent what makes the UK a world leader in EdTech development – innovation, creativity, commitment and enthusiasm – all of which are underpinned with an evidence base of what work sand is effective. They are among the very best in their field.”

The first EdWards ceremony was held at the London Festival of Learning, in June 2018, during which more than 30 companies received the quality mark. The EDUCATE programme now plans to make it a biannual event.