Cambridge-based Blutick online maths education platform uses AI

The program was developed in close collaboration with The Perse School in Cambridge, and backed by investment from the Cambridge Angels network.

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with Blutick to create this extra tool for teachers and students to use in class or at home,” said Perse head Ed Elliott.

Cambridge Angels co-founder David Cleevely said: “At a time when there is a STEM skills shortage, this scalable intelligent maths learning system offers schools more teaching time for little extra cost.”

Blutick gives students line-by-line feedback in real time as they work through maths questions. Every line of working is checked and, as well as correcting mistakes, the program gives advice, highlighting if there is a better way of doing a calculation.

Homework and classwork tasks are marked automatically, and teachers get detailed feedback on students’ progress. Blutick can tell teachers not only what topics a pupil finds difficult but also what kinds of mistakes they are making.

Regarding the program’s the AI component, Percival told EW “Blutick works as a reactive AI, applying a large number of algorithmic tests to the student’s input and then generating a probabilistic assessment of the best response if the student has made a mistake.

“Blutick also stores and processes the millions of lines of working that have been entered into the system, and generates suggestions for scenarios that currently don’t offer intelligent feedback.”

This system is subject to human oversight however: its suggestions are examined by teachers prior to being built into the system.

The success rate of each feedback message is measured by how likely the student is to enter a correct line of working after having received the message.

The program then tests different versions of the message to determine which is most effective in improving students’ results.

“Just as a human teacher improves their ability to identify students’ mistakes and give them appropriate feedback, Blutick learns what works best and what doesn’t” Percival says.

The program covers the full UK 11-16 maths curriculum, aligned to all major exam boards.

Tom Le Bas, senior commissioning editor for secondary maths at Hodder Education says “The platform is incredibly easy to engage with.”

Blutick costs between £600 and £1,200 per school, depending on the number of pupils. For parents who want their child to have additional personal tuition at home, the cost is just £5 per month.