A Surrey secondary school will test whether an AI app can help pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) catch up on lessons, backed by a £75,000 government innovation grant.
Dr Sarah Rudebeck, a senior NHS clinical psychologist and co-founder of Recallify, won the Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award to adapt the company's existing memory and organization app into a classroom version called Recallify Classroom. The 12-month project began in July, and Rudebeck was one of 61 winners from 1,590 applicants. Each receives the grant plus 12 months of business support and networking opportunities.
More than 1.8 million pupils in England receive SEN support or have an Education, Health and Care Plan, according to Department for Education figures published in June. That represents more than one in five students.
What the tool does
Recallify Classroom is designed for young people with memory, attention and organization difficulties. The proposed tool will use AI to create short summaries, practice quizzes and reminders from materials captured during lessons-including student notes, recordings, photos of the board, and staff-created resources.
School use will be supervised and restricted to materials provided by students or staff, with consent and oversight rules. The company says the tool is not meant to replace teachers, but to reduce the time staff spend prompting students and helping them catch up.
Rudebeek described the core question: "Recallify Classroom will test whether AI can support their independent learning and memory through something simple as transcribing and summarizing their own discoveries."
For educators exploring similar tools, resources are available on AI for Education.
Clinical experience shapes the project
Rudebeek has 15 years of experience as a clinical psychologist and holds a PhD in memory disorders. She said her clinic work formed the project: "In clinic I saw young people with SEND return to school without the support they needed, unable to keep up, and some stop attending altogether."
Recallify's existing app has been available through the App Store and Google Play since January 2025, supporting around 3,000 people with additional cognitive and learning needs.
Technical development is led by Dr Basket Sesen, co-founder and CTO. Dr Gemma Costello, a consultant educational psychologist, advises on co-design and pilot. The team plans to build a browser-based version that runs on school devices, complete an independent safeguarding and data protection review, and then pilot the tool at the SEND department of an unnamed Surrey secondary school.
Why this matters for education professionals
The pilot tests whether AI can address a practical, persistent problem: SEND teachers spend significant time prompting individual pupils and helping them catch up. If the tool reduces that load, it could free teachers to focus on instruction rather than administrative catch-up. The award structure also means policymakers get independent data from a controlled trial, not a vendor's claim.
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