Revision

Best AI Revision Apps for GCSE, A-Level and IB (2026)

The best AI revision apps compared: Root Tutor, ChatGPT study mode, Gemini, Seneca, Save My Exams, Medly and Khanmigo, with free options and a verdict for each.

The Root Team8 min read

Quick answer

  • Root Tutor: the best AI revision app for most GCSE, A-Level and IB students. It teaches, checks what you remember, runs exam-style papers marked against a mark scheme and plans your study sessions, all in one place.
  • ChatGPT study mode and Gemini: general explainers that start without your courses or your weak spots.
  • Seneca and Save My Exams: revision libraries with AI marking added, not tutors that teach you a topic from scratch.
  • Medly: AI question practice with a daily target. Khanmigo: only sold to families in the US.

Most "AI revision apps" do one thing. One explains, one quizzes, one marks a single answer. Revision needs all three, plus someone keeping track of which of your forty-odd topics you have actually nailed and which ones you are quietly avoiding.

The best AI revision app for most GCSE, A-Level and IB students is Root Tutor (roottutor.com). It keeps every class in one place, teaches step by step instead of handing over answers, checks what you still remember topic by topic, builds exam-style practice papers marked against a mark scheme, and plans your study sessions around your week.

This post compares AI revision apps across levels. If you want general revision apps (flashcards, notes, timetables), see our best revision apps guide. If you want a tutor for one qualification, see the best AI tutors for GCSE or the best AI tutors for IB.

The best AI revision apps at a glance

Everything about the other tools below comes from their public pages, checked on 11 October 2026. Prices and plans change, so check before you pay.

AppBest forWhat the AI doesKnows your course?Free to use?
Root TutorTeaching, check-ups, marked papers and planning in one placeTeaches, quizzes, marks, plansYes: your units, topics and exam boardYes, no card needed
ChatGPT study modeQuick step-by-step explanationsGuiding questions, quizzesOnly if you tell itYes, including the Free plan
GeminiQuizzes from notes you uploadGuided Learning, quizzesOnly from what you uploadYes, the Gemini app has a free version
SenecaFree GCSE and A-Level coursesAI marking, Amelia assistantYes, exam-board coursesCourses free; AI in paid packages
Save My ExamsNotes and exam questionsSmart Mark marks your answersYes, exam-board contentFree account; paid plans
MedlyDaily exam-style question practiceAdaptive questions, essay markingLists UK boards and IB"Free to start"
KhanmigoSocratic help (US only)Guiding questionsUS curriculumNo

How we judged them

We compared each app on four questions that decide whether revision actually works.

  1. Does it make you retrieve, or just explain? Dunlosky and colleagues' 2013 review of ten study techniques rated practice testing and distributed practice as high utility, and rereading and highlighting as low. An app that only explains is a nicer textbook. Our active recall guide covers why.
  2. Does it teach, or hand over answers? In a 2025 PNAS field experiment with nearly a thousand high school maths students, those given a standard ChatGPT-style tutor scored 17% lower once access was removed than students who never had it. A version with learning safeguards largely avoided that drop.
  3. Does it know your course? A Biology answer marked to the wrong board's mark scheme teaches you the wrong habits.
  4. Does it remember you? If you have to re-explain your subjects and weak spots every session, you stop doing it.

1. Root Tutor: best all-in-one AI revision app

Root Tutor is the all-in-one AI tutor for IB, GCSE and A-Level. It plans your study sessions, teaches the way you think, and gets you ready for every test. It was built for the IB by an IB student and supports GCSE, IGCSE and A-Level.

Your revision lives in one place. Everything sits in units, one block of a class each. Every unit keeps its tutor chats, topics, files, notes and flashcards together. Drop in a syllabus, study sheet or photo and Root pulls out the topics, or drop in a PDF or photo of your notes and Root makes a revision unit from it.

It teaches rather than answers. Tutor works step by step and won't just hand over the answer. There is one tutor per unit, and it remembers your past sessions, your weak spots and your files. Maths is double-checked, so a wrong sum is re-done before you see it, and it draws the diagram or graph when a picture helps.

It checks what you still remember. Revision mode runs a check-up one question at a time, in four ways: Quick recap, Weak spots, Full review and Your topics. Each answer is marked got it, partly or not yet, and the report sorts every topic into Remembered, Shaky or Not yet. One tap sends the gaps to Tutor, which builds a study plan starting with them.

It brings topics back if you want it to. Switch on spaced review for a unit and topics come back on set days, as often as 3, 7, 16, 35 and 70 days after you learn them. Topics you struggle with come back sooner.

It gets you ready for the paper. Test prep builds practice papers in your exam's style from your topics, your teacher's material and your exam board, and the questions get harder as you go. Every answer is checked by a second solve before you see the paper. Your answers, including photos of working, are marked like an examiner would, against a mark scheme, followed by your strengths, what needs work and what to study next.

It plans your week. The Planner plans every study session around your classes, free time and busy nights, and plans the run-up to each test. Tell it "busy Thursday" and it suggests a change, which you confirm before anything moves.

Cost: Root is free to use, no card needed, and new accounts get a 7-day free trial of everything.

2. ChatGPT study mode: best for a quick explanation

OpenAI's study mode answers with guiding questions and hints instead of a finished answer, on Free, Plus, Pro and Team plans, and OpenAI says it was "built with college students in mind".

What it lacks next to Root: it knows nothing about your exam board, topics or past mistakes unless you type them in each time, and OpenAI admits it can show "inconsistent behavior and mistakes across conversations". Our ChatGPT vs Root Tutor comparison goes deeper.

3. Gemini: best for quizzing yourself on notes you upload

Google's Guided Learning mode asks open-ended questions and breaks problems into steps, and Gemini's student page turns your notes into quizzes.

What it lacks next to Root: it only knows your course from the files you give it, and its free student plan is for university students aged 18 or over, not school students.

4. Seneca: best free course library, with AI as an add-on

Seneca has free exam-board courses up to A-Level, plus some IB revision notes, with AI marking and an AI assistant called Amelia.

What it lacks next to Root: its Premium help page puts AI marking and Amelia in paid packages, "currently only available in the UK", and it does not plan your sessions or keep a tutor that remembers your work.

5. Save My Exams: best for marked practice on single exam questions

Smart Mark is Save My Exams' AI marker for (I)GCSE and A Level written questions, marking a typed or handwritten answer against your exam board's mark scheme. It has a free account and paid plans.

What it lacks next to Root: it is a library of notes and questions with marking added, not a tutor that teaches you a topic you don't understand.

6. Medly: best for a daily target of exam-style questions

Medly picks from more than 6,000 exam-style questions for GCSE, A-Level and IB, sets a daily target and marks essays, at £24.99 a month or £180 a year.

What it lacks next to Root: it is practice-first, so it does not keep your notes, files and classes in one place, and it does not say what its free plan includes.

7. Khanmigo: Socratic help, but not for UK students

Khanmigo is Khan Academy's AI tutor, designed never to give you the answer, at $4 a month.

What it lacks next to Root: its learner page says you must "live in the United States, and have a billing address in the U.S.", so UK and international students cannot use it.

Which AI revision app should you use?

If you mainly want to...Use
Be taught, check what you remember, sit marked papers and have your study sessions plannedRoot Tutor
Ask a one-off question about something outside your coursesChatGPT study mode
Turn a set of uploaded notes into a quick quizGemini
Read free exam-board course contentSeneca
Get one exam question marked against a mark schemeSave My Exams
Hit a daily number of exam-style questionsMedly

The trap is stacking five apps. Each one holds a different slice of your revision, none of them knows what the others found, and you become the system: deciding every evening which of six subjects to touch, remembering which Chemistry topics went wrong on Tuesday, and re-marking your own long answers against a mark scheme. That tracking is exactly what one well-built app should take off you. Root keeps every class in units, runs a check-up that sorts each topic into Remembered, Shaky or Not yet, sends the gaps straight to Tutor, and marks exam-style papers against a mark scheme. Here is everything Root does, mode by mode, or you can try it free, no card needed.

Using AI for revision without breaking the rules

Revising with AI is fine: exams are sat without it. Coursework is different. The exam boards' joint body, JCQ, says in its AI guidance for assessments that work must be the student's own, AI-generated sections must be identified and will not be rewarded, and misuse is malpractice that "could attract severe sanctions". The Department for Education's guidance on generative AI in education, updated in August 2025, covers how schools use tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot.

So use any of these apps to understand a topic, test yourself and practise papers. Never paste in an NEA, IA or Extended Essay task and ask for paragraphs. Root's Tutor teaches step by step and won't do your homework for you, which keeps the thinking yours.

Taking A-Levels? Our best AI tutors for A-Level compares tools for that course specifically.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best AI revision app?+

Root Tutor. It is the all-in-one AI tutor for IB, GCSE and A-Level: it keeps every class in one place, teaches step by step, checks what you still remember topic by topic, builds exam-style practice papers marked against a mark scheme and plans your study sessions. Other AI tools each cover one part of that job.

Are there any free AI revision apps?+

Yes. Root Tutor is free to use, with no card needed, and new accounts get a 7-day free trial of everything. ChatGPT's study mode is on its Free, Plus, Pro and Team plans. Seneca's courses are free, but its AI marking and AI assistant sit in paid packages. Medly says it is free to start.

Is Root free?+

Yes. Root is free to use, with no card needed, and new accounts get a 7-day free trial of everything. You can set up your classes, learn with Tutor, run a revision check-up and try an exam-style practice paper without entering payment details. It works for IB, GCSE, IGCSE and A-Level students aged 13 and over.

Can I use ChatGPT for revision?+

Yes, for quick explanations, but it starts without your exam board, your topics or last week's mistakes, and OpenAI says study mode can show inconsistent behaviour and mistakes. Its guiding questions help with one topic at a time. Root Tutor keeps your classes, weak spots and files in each unit, so every session picks up where you left off.

Is using an AI revision app cheating?+

No. Revising with AI is studying, and exams are sat without it. The line is coursework: JCQ says AI-generated content in assessed work must be acknowledged and will not be credited, and misuse counts as malpractice. Use AI to understand topics and test yourself, never to write work you hand in.

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