How do you put real teachers at the heart of AI tutoring?

The potential of AI in education is huge. But in such a crowded industry, how do you create something genuinely groundbreaking?

Bridging the teacher-AI gap

Our client, TLC LIVE, knew there was room to raise the tutoring bar—not by replacing teachers, but by enhancing their work. They wanted to bridge the gap between traditional tutoring and AI-driven tools—creating accessible, high-quality teaching available anytime, anywhere.

Introducing Manda – the first AI tutor trained exclusively by UK teachers

Our AI team’s solution: Manda.

The world’s first AI tutor trained exclusively and continuously by fully qualified UK teachers.

Named in honour of TLC LIVE’s co-founder, Manda Barnes, Manda is built on a powerful 8-billion-parameter Llama 3 model from Meta. But what makes Manda truly stand apart is its unique training: the AI has learned from more than 550,000 minutes of transcribed tutoring sessions from over 300 qualified UK teachers who deliver tutoring for TLC LIVE.

This means that Manda’s tutoring aligns perfectly with the UK national curriculum for Key Stage 3 and 4 maths and English.

Manda’s development, spearheaded by our AI team, wasn’t only pioneering—it was meticulous and ethical too. All personal data was stripped out from the 90,000 tutoring sessions used for training. And the model follows strict privacy and safety protocols.

Results

Manda cracks multiple edtech challenges:

  • Spot-on curriculum alignment: unlike generic AI tutors, Manda’s explanations are trained specifically on the UK national curriculum.
  • Affordability: at just £9.99 a month per student, Manda democratises access to top-tier tutoring.
  • Real teaching, real engagement: Manda uses the expertise of real teachers to provide educationally sound and effective explanations.
  • Unlimited reach: there’s no geographical barrier. Manda can instantly tutor students on the UK curriculum, anywhere in the world.
  • Keeps on getting smarter: TLC LIVE’s academic team regularly updates Manda, building on its explanatory capabilities.

And don’t just take our word for it—Meta themselves showcased Manda on their Llama community stories site, celebrating the tech’s innovation and real-world educational impact.

Meet Manda here.

“Manda gives parents a better option for high-quality AI tutoring. With so many generic tools flooding the market, we saw an opportunity to deliver something truly aligned to the UK national curriculum, yet still affordable.

 “Definition realised we were sitting on a wealth of high-quality training data and worked out how we could use it to increase access to our industry leading tuition services – they explained how the process would work and helped deliver an amazing AI tutor on time and on budget.

“Manda channels the expertise of our human teachers into accessible, consistent, and effective tutoring for everyone.”

Josh Blackburn, CEO of TLC LIVE

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