Our first investment coincided with Brett witnessing the initial demand for the product. While attending a conference, every person he networked with was enquiring about the resource he was developing. Not only was interest high, but his peers also provided him with insight: what they really wanted and needed was a tracking system. Brett recalls, 'That was the moment... I'd been in two minds as to whether I was going to actually spend my life savings on this idea. It was that conference that confirmed that I absolutely needed to do it.' Additionally, it was at the same conference where he met Pupil Progress’ first investor. He was able to win him over by explaining the concept; the investor leaned back on his chair and said, 'Let's do it.' The investor mentioned there was another business he wanted to invest in, but he chose to invest in Pupil Progress instead.

Since the launch of our performance trackers in 2014, one of our fundamental aims has been to make our trackers easy to use, ensuring they save our teachers time so they can focus on what they do best: teaching. This is why product development has always been our top priority. When making enhancements, our customers’ feedback is the catalyst to affirm that any changes made benefit educators.  

“I think the Tagging feature that we added in December 2023 is probably the most game-changing one that I can remember. It makes it super easy for schools to create really specific intervention groups based on what the data is telling you, which definitely would have been much trickier before.” 

Tobi Davis, Customer Experience Manager

In 2023, Pupil Progress joined forces with PiXL to launch PiXL Waves Powered by Pupil Progress. This initiative offers PiXL member schools the opportunity to maximise their PiXL memberships with exam board-specific tracking for English and Maths for KS4-5 through the Pupil Progress platform. 

"To be able to partner and collaborate with a company as well respected as PiXL is something very special"

Brett Griffin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer

“We are delighted to be working with Pupil Progress on helping school leaders and teachers see what is happening with their students in real time, with a nuanced picture so that their help to young people is even more informed, helpful and impactful. This will help teams make informed decisions, see progress and maximise life chances and outcomes of students. Our work together is all about the students and leaders and the work with Pupil Progress will bring new support to schools”  

Rachel Johnson, PiXL CEO

A major milestone was our first whole-school sale at Oak Bank School. But no sooner had we secured one school than we had procured 100. 

"That was real confirmation and validation that this is something that will remain in the market. When we reached 100 whole schools, it helped us believe that this is something that should be in 2,000+ schools."

Brett Griffin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer

More than 700 schools now utilise our performance trackers. This means we’re saving thousands of teachers' time by leveraging our technology, allowing school leaders to ensure they’re nurturing their talent. It also means that students and parents have a greater understanding of their development and how their teachers can support their learning gaps.

“Having Pupil Progress in 700+ schools around the country was a hugely important milestone for us because we recognise the volume of students now receiving subject-specific reports that allow them to take control of their own educational trajectories.” 

Terry Burchett, Sales Team

We understand the importance of meaningful, actionable numbers, and we’re particularly proud that 97% of our customers resubscribe. We’ve received incredible feedback about why they love our product and how it has benefited their school. We recently spoke to Rachael Taylor, Head of Sixth Form at Manshead CE Academy, about how our trackers have meaningfully impacted their outcomes. They observed positive engagement from teachers, students and parents, an enhanced ability to analyse subject and student-specific issues, and experienced the benefit of centralised communication and meaningful data. 

“Pupil Progress is our centralised hub – a live tracking book that gives us a true picture. It’s taken away the fiction and provided the facts, which is what we were needing.” 

Rachael Taylor, Head of Sixth Form at Manshead CE Academy

In 2023, we received a grant from NCFE to aid us in the development of the first Pupil Progress App. We began with a trial across 14 schools to gain insight into how we could enhance its features. Now, the app is accessible to all schools, trusts and academies that track with us. With just a few clicks, teachers can share students’ results with them and their parents to keep them informed of their progress.

"Brett and I founded Pupil Progress with a clear focus on students. Assessment data, for us, must go beyond being a mere checkbox exercise; it should actively impact the learner's journey. The NCFE's assessment innovation fund aligns with our philosophy, recognising the importance of meaningful data over superficial grades. We aim to empower learners with actionable insights, enabling them to identify and address areas for improvement early on. By providing rigorous, detailed, and accurate information, we strive to prevent unpleasant surprises on results day. This approach not only benefits learners but also supports teachers and parents with the tools and information needed to guide students toward informed decisions and future success. This pilot marks a significant step forward in fulfilling our mission."

Barnaby Grimble, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer 

To consistently deliver a top-performing product, we’ve been growing our team. While this growth began steadily, in the past 12 months, we’ve accelerated it by 300%. Ensuring a fantastic company culture and a positive start for our employees has always been important to us. Therefore, our recruitment team has been working on our onboarding process to guarantee every new starter has a great experience. 

“On someone’s first day, they’ll receive a warm welcome from their line manager and have meet-and-greets with the team, including the founders, directors and heads of departments. They’ll also receive an Introduction to the company and their role to ensure they’re set up and comfortable. Additionally, we’ve started introducing team lunches so they can get to know their colleagues in a fun and relaxed environment.” 

Amy Bedborough, Brand Communications Coordinator 

Our company’s expansion has led to the evolution of our departments. The growth of our marketing team from one to four members has been fantastic, and our sales team has grown even more, now comprising nine members. Since expanding our teams, we’ve seen remarkable results.

Our sales team has successfully won new business, and we now have over 700 schools using our performance trackers. Meanwhile, our marketing team has driven an uplift of 60% increase year on year on one of our primary social media channels, driving both customer engagement and lead generation. 

"As our marketing team expanded from one member to four this term, it symbolised tangible growth for Pupil Progress. With each new addition, our capacity to reach and engage our audience increased and, with cleaner data and in diving deeper into our analytics, we can see that organic social, organic search, and direct traffic are now key revenue contributors for new business. All this reflects the company's evolution and commitment to expanding its presence in the market. Moreover, this growth has been complemented by our collaborative approach with the expanding sales team, fostering synergy and amplifying our impact across all fronts." 

Bethanie Lunn, Marketing Director 

Brett was invited to take part in the Department for Business & Trade campaign ‘Made in the UK. Sold to the World.’ The campaign targeted small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to help them expand their business by exporting their goods or services. Billboards promoting the campaign were displayed across the country and online. 

“Our EdTech service is in demand in hundreds of schools in eight countries” 

Brett Griffin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer

An evolution of this partnership led to us exhibiting on their podium as part of their international trade exhibition stand at the Bett Show at the beginning of 2024. It was fantastic to collaborate with them again, and to witness what began as our first digital out-of-home campaign evolved into our second appearance at the Bett Show. The Bett Show is a content, networking, and product discovery conference for the EdTech community. This presented a fantastic opportunity to connect with individuals in the EdTech world who share the same passion for improving education and empowering teachers and schools.

“Thank you to everyone who came by our stand and shared our excitement for supportive and empowering digital transformation in education.” 

Bethanie Lunn, Marketing Director 

Pupil Progress wouldn’t be where it is today without our dedicated team. The business started with just Brett, and then Barnaby Grimble quickly joined as Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer.

“The most significant moment for Pupil Progress was when Barney said ‘yes’ because we all know how smart Barnaby is, how great he is to work for and with, and it just transformed the business from there on. Before, it was just an idea, but now I had someone to support me and drive it forward.”

Brett Griffin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer

As sales grew, so did the Pupil Progress team, and consequently, the size of our office! We’re still rapidly growing as we go from strength to strength, and we know it’s our dedicated, hardworking, and loyal team who are helping us on this journey.