Supporting students with SEND in Sparx Science

For the accessibility features built into the platform see Our approach to accessibility.

Sparx Science personalises homework difficulty to each student's level, adjusting the questions they're set based on prior performance so that both struggling and high-attaining students are working at an appropriately challenging level within the same class and scheme of learning. This means that all students should expect some form of challenge within their homework each week, as this ensures the most meaningful learning is happening.

Adapting homework for an individual student

If a student is really struggling with their homework, it may be best to work through it with them and see how they use the built-in support. After you do this you may have a better idea of adaptations that are needed to support them. There are a number of adjustments you can make at a student level to support students.

Some of these settings adjust automatically, but these can be overridden to allow you to provide adaptations for your students. Some options you have:

Initial Homework Level: If you are setting up Sparx Science or have a new student you anticipate will struggle, we recommend that you set their initial level to 1. This means they will see our most accessible content first, supporting them building confidence from the start.
Homework Level: If your students have already been working on Sparx Science for a few weeks they will have a level. If you feel this level does not match the ability of your student, you can choose to override it here. This is a permanent setting, so in these cases we encourage you to revisit these levels periodically to ensure all students are being challenged at the right level. Note: It's always worth establishing why a level looks wrong before changing it. A student receiving help at home may be assessed as more capable than they are.
Set homework:
- Length: If students need additional processing time or work more slowly through questions, you can choose to set them to have a “Half-Homework”. This means they will receive half the amount of questions other students do for the same target homework length.
- Optional and Off: In some rare cases, Sparx Science may not be the right way to set students' work or you would like to offer them the ability to attempt some work without needing them to fully complete it. For these, you can use our optional or off settings.

You can change the student settings in Student Manager - more detail on these can be found here.

Designing a scheme of learning for SEND and alternative provision

For students working below Key Stage 3 expectations, the most effective approach is to keep them on the KS3 scheme but set a lower homework difficulty level. Our level 1 questions are written with lower reading ages in mind and contain more link box, short answer, and multiple choice questions to help make them as accessible as possible.

For students with very mixed prior attainment within a single class, Independent Learning allows individual students to work on a different curriculum or level to the rest of their class (for example, a KS3 student practising GCSE content, or vice versa). This is useful where a single scheme can't fully capture the spread of ability in an AP group. If you are able to, you could consider creating separate groups for these students in your MIS system to allow you to set them the most aligned Schemes of Learning.

Using Sparx Science in school

Many schools use Sparx Science during the school day as well as, or instead of, at home — in supervised homework sessions, or a homework club.

You can run these sessions in two ways.

Focus on specific content using independent learning:

Give students the topic codes: Independent Learning is particularly well suited to small-group and 1:1 sessions, since students can work on precisely the right content without a teacher needing to set formal homework first. Topic codes let you direct a student straight to the skill an session is built around.
Ask students to gradually increase their difficulty: Because students also have free choice over difficulty level in Independent Learning, independent of their homework level, a session can start deliberately low to rebuild confidence and step up only once that's secure, all without affecting their usual homework level or workload.

Focus on their set homework:

Set hand-out and hand-in around the session: If students are completing Sparx homework within school, you could set the hand-out just before the session when students will work, and hand-in after it, so you can easily see the progress they have made in that session. They will still be able to complete any work after the hand in time if they do not complete it there.
Use the Hand-in page during the session: The Hand-in page shows you who needs help. Clicking a student's completion bar shows their detailed question history, including how many incorrect attempts they've made on each question, which can be useful for deciding who to sit with.

Schools where most students have additional needs

In alternative provision, PRUs and specialist settings, it's usually more effective to build adjustments into your setup from the start rather than applying them student by student. You could consider::

Setting all or most students to an initial homework level of 1 at the outset
In some cases you may wish to manually control student homework levels instead of using the automated level adjustment.
Using a shorter homework length as default, for example 30 minutes
Running a supervised first homework in school time, so students have a successful first experience and staff can resolve any login problems
CLosely monitoring your classes planner each week to ensure that the topics set align with what has actually been taught in lessons.
Building homework time into the school day, rather than relying on it happening at home

Frequently asked questions

Can I print homework for a student instead of having them complete it online?

Due to the personalised nature of Sparx, homework must be completed online. This allows us to set each student their own questions at the right level, and gives them immediate support where they are struggling. The accessibility features in Our approach to accessibility give you advice on how to make homework accessible on screen.

Does Sparx Science work with screen readers?

Most screen readers can navigate the platform, though some symbols and notation may not render perfectly.

Do accessibility settings transfer across devices?

Yes. Accessibility settings are linked to the student's account, so they apply across all devices.

Is there a separate version of Sparx Science for students with SEND?

No. All students use the same platform. The settings in this article let you adjust the level and length of a student's homework.

A student needs an adjustment that isn't listed here. What should I do?