Education apps for GCSEs and A Levels: 7 of the top-rated free Apple apps for studying

• Depending on the app, phones can be useful study tools - not just distractions
• Many top education apps use some sort of AI these days
• But those among the most popular help students learn to learn, rather than just giving them the answer
• There are plenty of free education apps aimed at helping with revision, although they often have paid, premium versions available.

Whether it’s homework help, exam revision, or learning a new skill - there really is an app for that.

Secondary school pupils studying towards their GCSEs and A Level exams in summer 2025 will already be hard at work. But information learned in the early part of the school year can be tough to hold onto, as they are taught new topics and challenged in new ways throughout the rest of the school year.

Most teens have phones these days, and many will turn to them to help them both study and revise for their exams. But it can be tricky filtering which apps will really help them learn, and which are more likely to give answers without allowing them to put in the work.

We’ve sorted through the most popular free ‘education’ apps in the Apple App Store for Great Britain (as of Tuesday 3 December), and curated a list of those aimed specifically at revision or perfecting skills that might come up in exams. This means that we’ve excluded some high-rated education apps, including brain training apps aimed at adults, classroom apps, and those that are more game than study tool.

Here are seven of the top-rated education apps for Apple devices which can help teens with their GCSE and A Level studies:

1. Gauth: AI Study Companion

Gauth: AI Study Companion is Apple’s top free education app for iPhones in Great Britain - and is in 11th place for iPads. It is rated 4.8 stars out of 5 by more than 94 thousand users.

You might assume an AI app would be used for finding homework answers and little else, but Gauth is the top education app in Great Britain for a reason. Formerly a maths-oriented app, it can now be used across different school subjects - including physics, biology, and chemistry - and at different levels. While it will give highly accurate answers to homework questions (you just have to snap a photo) all answers are “accompanied by animated instructions and detailed explanations”. This is essentially a tutoring function, teaching kids how to break down and work out similar problems in the future.. These can also be saved in the app’s Question Bank, for easy revision later.

One user wrote: “It’s better than other homework help apps because... it gives you a step by step guide of the question and how to solve them, making it useful for revision. Something I love about this is that it isn’t all just AI, it also gets answers from previous exams and specialised experts.”

While classified as free, it does offer in-app purchases. Gauth is suitable for children aged 4 and up. You can find it in the Apple App Store here.

2. Duolingo

Duolingo is now a household name when it comes to free language learning apps, and it shows. The app has a rating of 4.7 stars out of 5 by more than 675 thousand users, and is 2nd overall in free iPhone education apps (4th for iPads).

Teaching more than 40 different languages, Duolingo now also offers maths and music theory lessons - which can be great for building a strong and flexible foundation of knowledge to complement your classwork in these subjects (or for keeping it fresh during the school holidays). Its famously bite-sized lessons are rooted in a firm, science-based teaching methodology, its developers say, which include speaking, listening, reading and writing exercises to master all facets of a new language. The lessons are also fun and game-like, and the app (and its quirky owl mascot) are infamous when it comes to motivating users to turn learning into a daily habit.

One user wrote: “With its friendly approach and awesome updates, Duolingo’s long been one of our favorite apps for learning another language. Its secret: making the process genuinely fun. Engaging mini-games test your reading, writing, and speaking skills, and joining a club (where you can encourage and compete with others) adds a great social element.”

While classified as free, it does offer in-app purchases. Duolingo is suitable for children aged 4 and up. You can find it in the Apple App Store here.

3. Gizmo: AI Flashcards

Gizmo is the number 3 app in the education category when it comes to free iPhone apps (9th for iPads). It has a rating of 4.7 out of 5, by about 2,400 users.

A relative newcomer compared to some of the others on the list, Gizmo is a neat revision app. It allows students to make flashcards on nearly any subject to help them study, and even has features built in for scanning handwritten notes or converting PowerPoints or YouTube videos. If you don’t have time, there are about a million flashcard sets created by other students available for free, which you can use to quiz yourself - and test your knowledge.

“If you are someone who hates usual cue cards and finds it monotonous. THIS IS THE APP FOR YOU,” one user said: “I have 100% seen results with using this app everyday. Alongside blurting on a whiteboard and practice questions, I went from Cs and Bs to A*s... I wish I had this for my GCSEs!”

While classified as free, it does offer in-app purchases. Gizmo is suitable for children aged 4 and up. You can find it in the Apple App Store here.

4. Quizlet: AI-powered flashcards

A similar app, Quizlet is in eight place for iPhones in the education category (12th for iPads). It is rated 4.7 stars out of 5, by about 93 thousand users.

Also largely an AI flashcard app, Quizlet can even be used by teachers to test their pupils’ knowledge - by uploading class notes. But it can also use notes to create practice test questions or essay prompts, for “any subject imaginable”.

One user described it as “a vital tool for me whilst studying during my GCSEs and A Levels”. However, recent reviews did point out that some of what they found to be the app’s most effective tools were now only available to paying users.

While classified as free, it does offer in-app purchases. Quizlet is suitable for children aged 4 and up. You can find it in the Apple App Store here.

5. Kahoot!

Kahoot! has a rating of 4.6 stars out of 5, and is in 12th place overall for free education apps on iPhone (24th for iPads).

Some young people might have used Kahoot in class, with the app famous for its live quiz function. But it also has many features that make it great for studying at home. These include flashcards, the ability to form ‘study groups’ with classmates - where you can compete with them using the quiz function - and the ability to add photos, diagrams, or videos to questions, just like you’d see in many exam questions.

One user said: “You can make your own quiz or pick a ready made one! There are TONS!!! Education ones to improve your knowledge in a certain area, or fun ones for friends to enjoy! It’s a really useful app.”

While classified as free, it does offer in-app purchases. Kahoot! is suitable for children aged 4 and up. You can find it in the Apple App Store here.

6. Photomath

Similar to Gauth in some ways, Photomath is the 15th education app overall in the App Store for iPhones. It is rated 4.6 stars out of 5 by nearly 22 thousand users.

The app allows users to scan any maths problem and find the answer. But as its developers say, “maths isn’t just about an answer. It’s about every step along the way”. Using teacher-approved methods, Photomath says it breaks problems into bite-sized steps to help users understand the ‘what’ and ‘why’, along with the ‘how’. It can help with anything from algebra to trigonometry (both on the curriculum for the GCSE maths exam) and even has a ‘textbook’ feature available for people wanting to take a deep dive into a topic.

One recent user called is a game changer. “This app changed my life, literally. I was so bad at maths for a long time, it took me 3 attempts to pass my GCSEs,” they wrote. “I originally got this app to cheat in class, I won’t lie. And used to take pictures when my tutor wasn’t looking and then let the app work it out. But the more I used to app, the more I actually learnt how to solve the equations.”

While classified as free, it does offer in-app purchases. Photomath is suitable for children aged 4 and up. You can find it in the Apple App Store here.

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7. Seneca

Rated 4.6 out of 5 stars by a little over 2,000 users, Seneca is in 18th place in the education category.

Seneca is a free revision tool which has specific content for students studying towards their GCSE and A Level exams, although it also provides content for younger schoolchildren too. It has exam board-specific courses available, including AQA, so pupils can make sure they are learning what they need to, and gamifies studying by allowing you to gain ‘XP’. It also has different revision and testing modes available.

One user wrote: “It’s the best revision app I’ve ever had honestly and I love that it tracks my progress because I like seeing exactly how much I’ve done... I’ve been using it since the start of year 10. I would advise buying premium during exam [season] but honestly it’s fine without.”

While classified as free, it does offer in-app purchases. Seneca is suitable for children aged 4 and up. You can find it in the Apple App Store here.

Special mention: BBC Bitesize

It didn’t make the top of the Apple chart, but BBC Bitesize also has a revision app available for students studying towards their GCSEs. It has perhaps the most comprehensive coverage of what students will actually need to learn and be tested on throughout the course of their studies - and is great for subjects not necessarily covered by more general learning apps too - like English Literature.

You can find it in the App Store here.

Have you tried any of these apps, or do you have another favourite that your child uses for studying or learning new skills? Let us know by leaving a comment below.