Medly AI vs Up Learn
Up Learn is built around video courses, priced per subject. Medly is built for exam practice where every answer is marked, at one price for all its subjects.
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Up Learn teaches A-Level subjects and GCSE science through structured video courses, sold one subject at a time. Medly gives you exam-style questions across GCSE, A-Level and beyond, and marks every answer you write. Both are aimed at top grades, but they get there in different ways.
The short answer
Choose Medly if you take several subjects and want every answer marked for you, with one price covering all of them. Choose Up Learn if you want a structured video course in one of its six A-Level subjects or GCSE science, with human tutors on chat and a money-back guarantee.
How Medly and Up Learn differ
| Medly AI | Up Learn | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Exam practice for GCSE, A-Level, IGCSE, IB, AP and SAT, matched to AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC, Eduqas, CCEA and CIE specifications | Video courses in six A-Level subjects, and AQA GCSE Combined and Triple Science |
| How you learn | Thousands of exam-style questions across 14+ question types, with lessons and an AI tutor | Video lessons with embedded questions, on a course pathway that adapts as you go |
| Marking | Every answer marked, with annotations showing where each mark was won or lost | You mark your own answers against the mark scheme, and AI checks your marking on most exam questions |
| Handwritten answers | Write your answer on a canvas and have it marked | Write on paper and mark it yourself |
| Your own papers | Upload & Mark: upload a past paper and have it marked | Not listed |
| Mock exams | Medly Mocks: free mocks set by examiners and sat nationwide, with grade boundaries and a results day | Examiner-written practice papers; Up Master adds 2 papers marked by official examiners |
| Tutors | AI tutor that remembers what you've covered | AI tutor, plus human tutors by 24/7 chat |
| Published trial | Randomised controlled trial in GCSE science (biology, chemistry and physics): 22% higher post-test scores (details below) | No trial listed; reports that 97% of students who complete Up Learn get an A* or A at A Level |
| Free plan | 5 marked questions, 20 tutor messages and 1 uploaded paper a day, plus lessons, notes and flashcards with no daily limit | Free 3-day trial, no card required |
| Paid plan | £24.99 a month or £180 a year, covering every subject on Medly | Priced per subject: £79.99 a month for an A-Level on Up Core, or £104.99 on Up Master; £49.99 a month for GCSE Combined Science; £19.99 a month for each Triple Science subject |
| Three A-Levels, paid monthly | £24.99 a month | £239.97 a month on Up Core |
We checked Up Learn's details on its own website on 7 and 8 November 2026, using standard prices and leaving out time-limited offers. You can verify them on its home page, about page, pricing page, guide to AI exam marking and list of GCSE courses.
What Up Learn does well
Up Learn's courses are a sequence of video lessons with questions built in along the way, and the pathway adjusts to how you're doing, sending you back to topics that need another look. Each course includes exam-style questions by topic, examiner-written practice papers and progress tracking. At A-Level it covers Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Maths, Physics and Psychology, and its Maths course also covers the Cambridge International specification. At GCSE it offers AQA Combined Science and the three separate sciences.
Help comes from an AI tutor and from human tutors by 24/7 chat. On Up Core, the tutors answer questions on Up Learn's content. On Up Master they'll take any question in the subject, and you also get two practice papers marked by official examiners. Up Learn offers a money-back guarantee to students who complete their course, and scholarships for students on, or eligible for, free school meals.
Where Medly is different
One price across subjects
Up Learn prices each course separately, so the cost rises with each subject you add. Medly's £24.99 a month covers every subject on Medly, which means three A-Levels cost the same as one. On Up Learn's monthly Up Core plan, three A-Levels come to £239.97 a month.
Every answer marked for you
On most of Up Learn's exam questions, you answer on paper, mark your own work against the mark scheme, then use AI to check your marking. Medly does the marking. Each answer comes back annotated, showing which marking points you hit, where marks were lost and what to change, tied to the specification points and assessment objectives for your board.
Every result feeds a mastery score for that topic, so Medly can suggest what to practise next. If you're stuck, the AI tutor can work through the question with you, and it remembers what you've covered before.
Handwritten answers, marked
You'll sit most of your exams on paper, so Medly lets you practise that way. Write your answer on the built-in canvas with a pen, eraser and text tools, and handwriting recognition reads it so it can be marked. If you've done a past paper on paper, Upload & Mark lets you upload it and have that marked too.
More qualifications
Up Learn covers six A-Level subjects and GCSE science, and doesn't list IGCSE, IB, AP or SAT courses. Medly covers GCSE, A-Level, IGCSE, IB, AP and SAT, so you can keep using it from GCSE through sixth form.
Mocks run like the real thing
Medly Mocks are free mock exams set by examiners and sat by students across the country at the same time. They come with grade boundaries, a results day and a percentile showing where you sit in the cohort. Up Learn's practice papers are written by examiners, and Up Master includes two marked by official examiners.
Does Medly raise marks?
In a randomised controlled trial in GCSE science, students using Medly for 30 minutes a week for four weeks scored 22% higher on the post-test than classmates revising the same topic in their usual way, adjusted for where they started. That's 2.56 more marks out of 35 across 644 students, an effect size of 0.33.
The trial was designed, randomised and analysed by WhatWorked Education with Professor Steve Higgins of Durham University. You can read our summary of the trial or the paper on arXiv.
Price
Up Learn prices each course separately. An A-Level subject costs £79.99 a month on Up Core or £104.99 a month on Up Master. You can also pay once: £329.99 on Up Core or £429.99 on Up Master for access until the summer 2027 exams, or £569.99 or £709.99 until the summer 2028 exams. GCSE Combined Science costs £49.99 a month, or £249.99 until the 2027 exams and £399.99 until the 2028 exams. Each Triple Science subject costs £19.99 a month, or £119.99 and £199.99. There's a free 3-day trial with no payment details required.
Medly's free plan includes 5 marked questions, 20 AI tutor messages and 1 uploaded paper a day, with lessons, notes, textbooks and flashcards that have no daily limit. Medly Mondays unlock unlimited practice in one subject from 9am on Monday to 9am on Tuesday. You don't need a card to sign up. Full access costs £24.99 a month or £180 a year and covers every subject on Medly. For three A-Levels paid monthly, that's £24.99 on Medly against £239.97 on Up Learn's Up Core plan.
Frequently asked questions
Is Medly or Up Learn better for A-Level?
It depends how you like to learn and how many subjects you need. If you want a structured video course in one of Up Learn's six A-Level subjects, with human tutors on chat, Up Learn is built for that. If you want exam practice with every answer marked, across all your subjects for one price, Medly is.
Does Up Learn offer AI marking?
Partly. On most exam practice questions, you mark your own answers against the mark scheme, and Up Learn's AI checks your marking and explains any differences. Up Master also includes two practice papers marked by official examiners. Medly marks each answer itself, with annotations showing where each mark was won or lost.
Does Up Learn cover GCSEs?
Yes, for science. Up Learn offers AQA GCSE Combined Science and the three separate sciences. Medly covers GCSE, A-Level, IGCSE, IB, AP and SAT.
How much do three A-Levels cost on each?
On monthly plans, three A-Levels cost £239.97 a month on Up Learn's Up Core and £24.99 a month on Medly, which covers every subject on Medly. Up Learn also sells one-off access from £329.99 per A-Level until the summer 2027 exams.
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From Paul and Kavi at Medly