Gojimo is an
education software
Educational software is a term used for any computer software that is made for an educational purpose. It encompasses different ranges from language learning software to classroom management software to reference software. The purpose of all th ...
company headquartered in
London, United Kingdom
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, which produces a self-test exam preparation
mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...
for the
iPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
,
iPad
The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...
,
Android
Android most commonly refers to:
*Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human
* Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google
* Android TV, a operating system developed ...
and the web. The content spans mainly across the secondary school public exams syllabus in the UK and USA such as
GCSE
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...
,
A Level
The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...
and the
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...
.
As of January 2015 the app has been installed over 500,000 times.
Gojimo was founded by serial entrepreneur George Burgess. The app currently offers over 50,000 free multiple-choice, curriculum-based quiz questions and over 10,000 premium questions.
History
George Burgess came up with the idea for exam preparation apps while studying for his
A Level
The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...
exams. Media accounts have made light of his being caught emailing a freelance app developer by his Geography teacher, who resultantly became his first business adviser. Having established EducationApps Ltd. the EducationApps range grew to over a hundred subject-specific apps. The apps quickly took off and Burgess produced nine BBC Bitesize apps (in a deal with BBC Active, a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Pearson Education).
He continued to run the company while studying at Stanford University in America. In 2014 venture capital firm
Index Ventures
Index Ventures is a European venture capital firm with headquarters in both San Francisco and London. It invests primarily in tech companies.
History
Index Ventures has its origins in a Switzerland, Swiss bond (finance), bond-trading firm cal ...
and JamJar Investments, a fund set up by the founders of
Innocent smoothies, announced they invested over $1 million in Burgess’ company, which was rebranded as Gojimo and grouped into a single platform solution and launched at the 2014 BETT show.
Over the course of 2014 the Gojimo team began to develop in-house content, the teacher portal and launched on Android and the web in 2015. The team now has 14 members of staff. Gojimo was also a finalist of the Best App Category of
BETT
Bett or The Bett Show (formerly known as the British Educational Training and Technology Show) is a global series of education shows organised by Hyve Group marketing information technology in education. The flagship show is located in the UK ...
2015.
In March 2017, Gojimo was acquired by Telegraph Media Group.
Functionality
The in-app store is used to locate quizzes and study guides: users browse by subject or qualification. Study guides can be searched or navigated by topic.
Within each set of questions. users can take a random quiz or choose a specific topic on which to focus. Quizzes consist of multiple choice questions with four possible answers. After answering each question the user is given in-depth explanations of the answer and links to further reading. They can also track their improvement over time in the progress review section.
Content
The app currently offers content for various subjects for UK exams: 11+ Common Entrance, 13+ Common Entrance,
GCSE
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...
and
A-Level
The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...
; US Exams:
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...
,
ACT and
AP; and international undergraduate and
IGCSE
The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based secondary qualification similar to the GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognising ...
qualifications.
The subjects offered vary between qualifications but include Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geography, History, Maths, Law, Politics, Religious Studies, English, Latin, Spanish, German, Psychology and Design Technology.
In addition to content which is generated by in-house writers and fact-checked by teachers, external publishers such as
McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...
and
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
have created premium content for the app. There are currently 60,000 questions available across the different qualifications.
Aims
Gojimo aims to be the world's leading exam preparation application and to take a significant role in the transformation of education away from textbooks and towards digital sources.
George Burgess has participated in numerous public functions to help to spread this idea, such as when he was selected to take part in the UK's Great Tech Expedition to America, initiated by the then London mayor
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
Further reading
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References
{{reflist
Software companies based in London
British companies established in 2014
2014 establishments in England
Educational apps
Educational technology companies of the United Kingdom