Why we built SATs Arcade
Funding is not the problem. What happens at home is.
The UK spends £122 billion a year on education and has dedicated teachers. Yet every summer, 38% of children leave primary school below the expected standard. We built SATs Arcade for what happens after 3:30pm.
UK education spending since you opened this page
£10,955
Based on £122 billion per year (DfE, 2024/25)
The unfair advantage
53% of affluent families pay for private tutoring. Only 31% of disadvantaged families do. A private tutor costs £200+ a month — and they only cover one subject. Children at private schools get structured practice built into every evening. State school children get a worksheet and a “good luck.”
The gap between those who can afford help and those who can’t is not closing. It is widening. Teachers cannot close it alone in a class of thirty, and no parent should have to buy their way out of it. What has been missing is a tool that costs less than a tutor and still does the job.
The unfair advantage is now £24.99 a month
SATs Arcade gives every child the same structured, adaptive, curriculum-aligned practice that private school pupils get built into their week — for less than the price of a single tutoring session. Three subjects. 25,050+ questions. Timed mock tests. A parent dashboard that shows you exactly where your child stands.
You already know the hour after school is where the difference gets made. This is simply a way to use it that your child will actually agree to.
Sources: DfE National Curriculum Assessments, 2024/25; Sutton Trust, 2026
The parent moment
We are parents. Four kids between us. We have sat at that kitchen table more times than we can count, trying to make revision happen. We bought the workbooks. We printed the past papers. We tried bribes, timers, and the kind of cheerful encouragement that makes everyone involved feel slightly deranged.
And we watched the same pattern every time. Five minutes of effort, then the pencil tapping starts. The staring out of the window. The sudden, desperate need to use the bathroom. The tears — sometimes theirs, sometimes ours.
Then we would walk past the living room and see the same child who “can’t concentrate” locked into a game for two hours straight. Learning complex systems. Mastering new mechanics. Choosing to repeat difficult challenges until they won. Not because anyone told them to — because they wanted to.
That was the moment everything changed. Not the child. The question.
“We stopped asking ‘how do we make our children revise more?’ and started asking ‘why does revision have to feel like punishment?’”
The reframe
What we ask children to do
- Sit still for an hour
- Complete worksheets
- Repeat until memorised
What children choose to do
- Play for hours voluntarily
- Learn complex systems
- Master through repetition — by choice
20.4 hours/week
Average time UK children spend gaming
Ofcom, 2024
34 hours/week
Teenage boys \u2014 more than school itself
Ofcom, 2024
Same child. Same brain. Same capacity for focus, persistence, and mastery. The only difference is design. When something is designed to be engaging, children don’t need to be forced. They choose it.
The chain
What happens at age 11 doesn’t stay at age 11.
- Age 11KS2 SATsPrimary school exit
- Age 16GCSEsSecondary outcomes
- AdultLifetime outcomesEarnings, health, opportunity
£157,500
More in lifetime earnings, linked to a one-standard-deviation rise in KS2 English and maths
DfE, July 2025
£104,400
The share of that gain linked to KS2 maths alone — the single biggest lever
DfE, July 2025
Children who meet the expected standard at KS2 are around six times more likely to go on to strong GCSE passes, and 93% of secondary schools use KS2 results to set Year 7 groups. But every chain has links — and the one at Year 6 is the one you can still reach.
What we built
So we built something different. Not another resource. A reason.
They'll choose to do it
Gamified practice that feels like play. XP, streaks, achievements, and battles make revision something children actually want to do.
You'll know where they stand
Real-time progress tracking across every subject and topic. See strengths, spot gaps, and watch confidence grow week by week.
Everything SATs covers
Arithmetic, reasoning, reading comprehension, grammar, punctuation, spelling. 25,050+ questions mapped to the KS2 curriculum.
Less than a single tutoring session
From £24.99/month — unlimited access for less than an hour with a tutor. Family plans cover up to four children. No hidden costs, cancel anytime.
Reading is step one. Practising is step two.
SATs Arcade applies immediate feedback, visible progress, and genuine competition to the exact curriculum your child will face in May.
Let Your Child Try It FreeWhat we believe
Every child is already a brilliant learner.
Motivation is a design outcome, not a character trait.
Primary school performance shapes life outcomes.
Access to effective preparation is a right, not a privilege.
Preparation should build confidence, not anxiety.
Parents shouldn’t need a teaching degree.
Built by a parent who got tired of watching brilliant kids hate learning.
Try SATs Arcade free. See if your child agrees.
Let Your Child Try It FreeNo credit card needed. Free plan available. Cancel anytime.
Only 30 weeks left at school before SATs 2027