Sparking STEM - Training and Tuition Site

You can join (and leave) the hub any time and complete the course at your own pace, according to your own timetable.

The Hub content grows week by week as we progress through the journey live, but you can join any time to follow the journey at your own pace. 

We will complete the live teaching in October 2027, at which point the Hub will contain everything needed to succeed in Edexcel  IGCSE Biology exams, through all the components of the Hub collectively. There will be over 100 hours of lesson recordings, and over 300 videos in the Practical Skills, Maths Skills, Exam Skills and Biology Is Everywhere libraries, as well as worksheets, quizzes, keyword flashcards and the community for support. 

Approximately ten hours of recorded lessons and videos are added to the Hub every month as we progress through the course, as well as all associated supportive resources.

Live tuition takes place once a week (Tuesdays, Term time only, see full programme and dates here). Lesson recordings are added to the Hub afterwards. Every week of the year, new videos are added to the Biology Is Everywhere, Practical Skills, Maths Skills and Exam Skills video libraries. New Keyword Flashcards are added at the end of each 'Topic Pod'.

Every video in the Hub is categorised, ordered and searchable so that you can follow them all through in order (to work through the Topic Pod story) and easily search for any specific topic, keyword, skill or specification reference number.

Whenever you join the Hub you have access to everything that has been added since the journey began, and there's already plenty in there! 

You can catch up then join live, work through the recordings in order according to your own pace and timetable, or just pick and choose the aspects you want to suit your objectives. Some join the Hub to follow the whole course from beginning to end (live or recorded), some use it for revision, some for enrichment, some for inspiration and real world biology and some to supplement other learning.

Subscription 

Your subscription gives you continuous access to all Hub content for as long as your membership is active. This means you can work through the materials at your own pace, whenever it suits you.

Monthly subscription payments continue throughout the year, including during holiday periods when live tuition is paused. This is because your membership covers access to the whole Hub, not just the live sessions. All existing resources remain available during these breaks, and new content continues to be added across the Hub each week until November 2027.

Your monthly subscription is completely flexible: you can join or cancel at any time. If you would prefer not to pay during a period when live tuition is paused, you can simply cancel your membership and rejoin when you’re ready. You can manage this easily through the ‘Billing’ area of your Hub dashboard.

You can join (and leave) the Hub whenever you want. There is no cohort, no start date and no commitment. 

Whenever you join the hub you will gain access to all the previous recordings and videos in the libraries so that you can catch up or complete the course according to your own timescale. You can join on a flexible monthly basis (£32 per month) so that you can join and leave whenever you want, or you can purchase a 6 month or annual membership at a discounted rate (£29 per month).

You can also explore the whole Hub for £1 for one day to see if it's the right fit for you.

If you join then leave, you can rejoin with the same email address to pick up where you left off. All your progress will still be there so you can take a break when life gets in the way.

See 'How does it work An overview' for further details.

The hub focuses on the Pearson Edexcel International Biology GCSE (IGCSE) specification (Linear).

Students studying other exam boards are likely to benefit from the hub for revision, supplementation or enrichment, but will not find the whole specification is covered in the hub.

Collectively by October 2027, all the components of the hub provide the full specification content for students studying

• IGCSE Biology 4BI1 - Biology Papers 1 and 2, and those studying

• Double Award IGCSE in Science 4SD0 - Biology Paper 1 (Note that Chemistry and Physics are not included in the hub)

All Single Award (Biology Only papers 1 and 2) content is clearly marked throughout and searchable. Simply type "Biology only" or 'Single award' in the search box in each of the Hub areas, to see all content that is only relevant to those studying for both papers 1 and 2.

Where content is relevant only to those students studying 4BI1 and not 4SD0 (given in bold in the specification), there may be additional live or recorded sessions offered occasionally specific for that content (you can see the details in the full programme below). 

Exam fees and registration

Please note that Sparking STEM is not an exam centre and cannot enter your child for exams, so you will need to make your own arrangements with a suitable exam centre. Exam fees are not included in hub membership.

The hub focuses on the Pearson Edexcel International Biology GCSE (IGCSE) specification (Linear).

Students studying other exam boards are likely to benefit from the hub for revision, supplementation or enrichment, but will not find everything they need for their specific exam board learning in the hub.

Live tuition takes place via Zoom on Tuesdays from 11.30am to 1pm with a short break approximately midway through.

Live sessions are approximately term time only, you can see the full schedule of provisional dates in the course programme here.

Recordings of the live sessions are available in the hub within approximately 24 hours for you to watch in your own time and at your own pace (student’s images are not shown in the videos)

All you need is a reliable internet connection and device to join. You may find that the best experience is on a larger screen (desktop) and through the Zoom Workplace App rather than the browser. You can download the app for free here.

Subscription 

Your subscription gives you continuous access to all Hub content for as long as your membership is active. This means you can work through the materials at your own pace, whenever it suits you.

Monthly subscription payments continue throughout the year, including during holiday periods when live tuition is paused. This is because your membership covers access to the whole Hub, not just the live sessions. All existing resources remain available during these breaks, and new content continues to be added across the Hub each week until October 2027.

Your subscription is completely flexible: you can join or cancel at any time. If you would prefer not to pay during a period when live tuition is paused, you can simply cancel your membership and rejoin when you’re ready. You can manage this easily through the ‘Billing’ area of your Hub dashboard.

Once you've join the hub, you'll be able to log in to your account where you'll see each of the seven areas (Tuition, Practical Skills, Biology Is Everywhere, Exam Skills, Maths Skills, Keyword Flashcards and Community). 

What you see in each of those areas depends on when you join, as new videos are added to each area on a week by week basis, to form searchable video libraries as your student is guided through the Topic Pods to complete the course (October 2027. See the full programme here). 

You'll find a welcome video in each area, telling you how it all works. Each week a new video, or two, will appear in each area to form four searchable video libraries with over 300 videos altogether, as well as all the live tuition recordings, Quizzes, Keyword Flashcards, associated worksheets and exam questions.

I am a SEND parent and so I understand how anxiety and pressure can affect children who learn differently. I have designed everything with kindness and flexibility at its core. Students can engage in whatever way works best for them. There is no pressure to speak, perform, or answer questions on the spot. There are no countdown timers or sudden demands for responses. Children are invited into the learning rather than pushed. 

All videos continuously show key learning points clearly written at the side of the screen, as well as the relevant section of the Edexcel specification. 

These key words, concepts, phrases and learning points, that are most likely to get exam marks, can be used to make notes afterwards or to complete any accompanying resources provided, so that students can simply enjoy the video and focus on the content without worrying about writing things down as they watch.

Students can watch the videos to suit their learning style: All videos include captions and can be sped up or slowed down, paused and watched however many times they want. You have access to all available videos for as long as your hub subscription is active. 

The video libraries can be searched by key word and exam specification index numbers so that you can find any available videos at any time to support and enrich, wherever you are in your IGCSE Biology journey.

To change membership plans, for example from monthly to annual membership, simply cancel your monthly subscription and purchase the new membership plan. 

By logging into your account to purchase using the same email address and password, you will regain access to your same account and retain your progress markers.

Simply log in to your Hub account. Look for the Billing section from the account menu and you can manage your subscription there.

If you have a question and can't find the answer just ask here and I'll get back to you