In short
Performance Learning is a UK education company, founded by Dr Tej Samani in 2013, that provides evidence-led exam coaching and learning assessments. It starts with Foresight, a 25-minute online assessment (£50) of how a student feels, sees themselves and behaves in learning, then offers online learning, live group masterclasses and one-to-one coaching, plus programmes for schools and trusts.
What is Performance Learning?
Performance Learning is an evidence-led exam coaching and learning assessment company, founded by Dr Tej Samani and supporting learners since 2013. We help young people reach exam grades that reflect their true ability by tackling the root causes of underperformance: how students feel, how they see themselves and how they behave in learning.
We don’t re-teach subject content. We teach students how to learn: how to organise information, retain it, recall it under exam pressure and manage stress along the way. Those skills transfer to every subject, from technical maths papers to long comprehension exercises.
It’s not guesswork. It’s insight. Every programme starts with data about the individual learner, so support goes where it is needed.
How does Performance Learning work?
Performance Learning works in three steps: assess, coach and track.
- Assess with Foresight. Your child completes the Foresight assessment, a 25-minute online, non-cognitive assessment of learning behaviours, wellbeing and attainment factors such as recall. You receive one-page action plans for your child and for you, plus a 35-page report you can share with school.
- Coach and learn. Choose the support that suits your child: SOAR, our adaptive online learning platform; the Virtual Classroom with PL, two live small-group masterclasses; or Academic Transformation with Dr Tej, year-round one-to-one coaching with our founder.
- Track progress. SOAR includes monthly progress monitoring, and Academic Transformation includes meetings with Dr Tej throughout the year to review progress and fine-tune strategies, so you can see what is changing.
Support for parents and for schools
For parents
If your child is bright but their grades don’t show it, or stress, low confidence or poor revision habits are getting in the way, start with our support for parents. Options range from a £50 Foresight assessment to SOAR at £10 a month, the Virtual Classroom at £295 and application-only coaching with Dr Tej.
For schools
Primary, secondary and independent schools, colleges and multi-academy trusts use Performance Learning to capture pupil voice and act on it. Our programmes for schools and trusts combine pupil-voice diagnostics, trust-wide dashboards, metacognition programmes and teacher-supported interventions.
Why does Performance Learning work?
Performance Learning works because it targets the reasons a capable student underperforms, not just gaps in subject knowledge. Foresight shows where the barriers are, and coaching builds the learning skills, mindset and wellbeing habits that remove them.
The approach is backed by more than a decade of research. Students using Performance Learning improved by an average of 2.4 grades against their predicted grades (Thomas et al., 2024, an analysis of 940 students led by Birkbeck’s Centre for Educational Neuroscience). You can read the peer-reviewed papers behind the method on our research page.
Performance Learning was founded by Dr Tej Samani, whose doctoral research focused on improving exam results and assessments in schools. He has co-authored peer-reviewed papers presented at the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, and has partnered with UCL Institute of Education, Oxford Brookes University and Coventry University. Professor Michael Thomas, Director of the Centre for Educational Neuroscience at Birkbeck, University of London, is one of our special advisors.
Who does Performance Learning work with?
Performance Learning works with families across the UK and with state and independent schools, colleges and trusts. 300 institutions across the UK have used Performance Learning. Schools that have worked with us include:
- Eton College
- Rugby School
- St Edward’s Oxford
- Strathallan School
- Sunningdale School
- Scalby School
- The Appleton School
- Topcliffe Primary School
- Knole Academy
- The Gatwick School
From primary pupils preparing for SATs and the 11 Plus to students sitting GCSEs, A levels and further education courses, the aim is the same: turning “can’t do” into “watch me”.
