Students said Ascent affected their grades…

“I’ve seen with my mock grades, I went from, I think three C’s in the January ones, and then five months later, with Ascent, I’ve gone to A*AA. So I think it’s definitely got a massive part to play in that.” 

“I usually get quite, not the most admirable scores in Biology, but I did okay in the mock. Definitely, I remembered stuff a lot more because I was being either taught by my mates or learning it alongside them.”

“I think Ascent very likely helped my grades, because before the mocks, I was using it a lot, and I got, like, the most revision done that I had done through the use of the app”

Students said Ascent helped them get organised…

“It’s sort of taught me how to study more efficiently. And I think it’s sort of got me studying in a way that’s better for higher-level education, because I think you need to do a bit more in-depth study than before.”

“The time periods, because I could set it in advance, I’d know what time I was going to be doing what. And that really put more structure into my day, instead of not knowing what I was doing and when I was doing it. It like it made me know what my aim was for the day, and it made me know what I wanted to get out of it.”

“Ascent helped a lot with setting goals, but I didn’t really set my own, I kind of followed other people’s.”

“Well, it links directly to the Google Calendar. I could just see way more easily when I should be working. I could set myself sort of actually time starts instead of procrastinating, and it encouraged me to do work when I had planned it previously.”

“I liked how easy it is to set a session and how simple it is for you to add people to your session. The way it links to, obviously, Google Calendar, and how easy it is to just join up to one [Session] or make one yourself, I think that was really good..”

“Yeah, definitely helped compared to before. We had mocks in January and then some in June as well. Yeah, January ones, I couldn’t really get myself to revise. I probably started a week before the exams, and then with these ones using Ascent, I sort of set regular times building up maybe a month or two before the exam started, to help me to actually have a plan where I could get everything covered in time, and then have more time to actually go over it again”

Students said Ascent motivated them…

“Sometimes where I, like, what’s it called procrastinate, and I put it off. But obviously, when I have a time set and I’ve got other people waiting to do it with me, it makes you feel like, Yeah, let’s actually do it.”

“I thought it really helped, because when I sit down to revise, I don’t usually think ahead or have a plan. I sort of just dive into it, which is, it’s not as helpful and like sustainable. But when I used Ascent you could set what you wanted to do, like you set it as a thing at a specific time. So it sort of made you more motivated to do it, and you knew what you were getting into when you went into the session to revise”

“Especially if it was my idea to set that session, I feel like if I don’t turn up, then it’s sort of wasting their time and making both of us miss out on learning more.”

“I had more accountability for revision. So if I set something up, I had to be there. I couldn’t just think ‘I’m going to revise later’”.

“Before Ascent I would do all my work, but I wouldn’t have done it ahead of when I probably should have. I sort of left it to the last minute, because I always just felt I had more fun things to do, but sort of with the allocated time slots, I could choose times where it fitted my schedule, and I could sort of build it in more easily and do it bit by bit”

Students said Ascent helped them collaborate…

“Usually when you’re by yourself, just learning that it can get a bit boring. But if you’re with someone else who’s in the same position as you, it’s more reassuring in a way, and it makes you feel more comfortable that like you’re not the only one struggling with it, and then it makes you more open to like helping each other with it.”

“[Before using Ascent] I used to like be on call with my mates and revise, but I think Ascent was a lot easier, because you could sort of just put your phone away and in a different place, while still talking to them. And then, like, I had no reason to get distracted because I was revising with my mates, so like, I had no other reason not to.”

“I would use Ascent over the longer term. I think one of the best things about it is the other people on there.”

“I think without Ascent, I wouldn’t have, but with it, it was fairly easy to set up the meeting and get quite a few people to talk while you’re revising. It’s a good way to club people together that are all doing the same thing.”

“I think the best feature is that, even though we’ll all are in different classrooms, everyone is in the same place. If you need help, you know exactly where to go, and it’s just people learning the same thing as you. So with, let’s say [Person A] and [Person B]: all of us take Biology, but we’re all in separate classes, but the Ascent app can bring everyone together to work on the same thing no matter what.”

“Using Ascent was definitely way, way easier… if I made a session, it would be in all of their calendars, and they joined the Google Meet in just a couple of minutes. It definitely helped. I feel like, when you suggest doing it to other people, they sort of feel like, oh, yeah, I should probably be doing it as well. It helps you to sort of get ideas from others and teach others as well.”

Students said Ascent helped everyone move up together…

“Some people, still don’t know how to revise properly. I think Ascent could help those struggling students.”

“I used the sessions to try and get people to work with me so I could get us both to work more productively, because there are people that weren’t really doing much,.”

“I think it happened like once or twice. Usually it was all fine. We knew what they wanted to do. But once or twice, we’d be like, someone would be a bit behind, for example, when we were doing Biology, and then we’d sort of aim more questions at them to see where they really were, and then see where they were struggling. And we try focus a bit of the session on that, and see what everyone knew, and just try to help each other understand bits that others may not.

Students said Ascent created a nurturing environment…

“I don’t think it put pressure on. We didn’t, like directly say ‘Oh, you’re falling behind’. We just sort of realized a bit, and then we’d be like, ah, for example start asking him a bit more and get a rough outline of what he really knew, and then aim stuff towards him a bit, and then focus on the topics he was struggling a bit. So that way we’d still be reassuring our learning, but also helping him without it, making it feel that we’re all centred on him and that he was holding us behind.”

“I quite liked the face camera, for example, it sort of shows that everyone has got their books out. People aren’t just like in it to just talk. It sort of shows that everyone is getting on with it. And then also the fact that you can set a deadline for everyone else to see and then people can join and look at what you’re doing. And it sort of shows, even if you didn’t want to join it, if someone else in your class had that, you’d be a bit like ‘Oh, he’s revising now. That’s motivated me’ or ‘Oh, I didn’t think about that part of the subject. That’s reminded me, I’ll join that call now’, and I’ve got a time where I can specifically be with people that are also on the same path as me.”