Gaia Learning

Gaia Learning is a UK education technology and online schooling provider, established in 2019, that delivers flexible online alternative provision for pupils aged 8-16 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including autism, ADHD, anxiety, emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), mental health difficulties and disrupted learning journeys. Provision is delivered through 1:1 sessions with SEND-specialist educators and small group classes, structured around personalised learning plans, taster sessions and initial learner assessments that draw on family input, EHCPs and prior academic records.

The company operates its own Bloom platform, described as a SEND infrastructure platform that captures and interprets learner activity, engagement and developmental progress in real time, giving parents, schools and local authority teams visibility of engagement and wellbeing trends, early identification of changing needs, and evidence for EHCP reviews, reintegration plans and interventions. Alongside direct provision, Gaia Learning offers a course library with free, individually purchasable and membership-based courses, plus workshops, lesson plans and reporting services for schools and inclusion bases.

Its curriculum is a three-year spiral framework rooted in the Cambridge curriculum and aligned to the English national curriculum and GCSE requirements, using project-based, interdisciplinary learning with learning objectives classed as Foundational, Core or Challenge and continuous competency-based assessment (Developing, Secure, Mastering). In November 2025 the company was approved as a Pearson Edexcel Online Learning Centre, enabling modular iGCSEs and more adaptable exam pathways alongside Functional Skills, interest-based learning and one-to-one mentoring.

Founding story

The company was established in 2019. Coverage of its 2026 funding round states the founder built Gaia Learning after her neurodivergent daughter thrived learning at home but struggled in the classroom, leading her to create a national online alternative provision for children unable to access mainstream education because of autism, ADHD, anxiety, school avoidance or other additional needs.

Business model

Gaia Learning sells online alternative provision and specialist SEND teaching to three buyer groups — families, schools and local authorities — through 1:1 and group sessions, with associated tuition fees and funding routes. It also offers online courses on an individual-purchase or membership basis, training and consultancy, bespoke content, workshops and lesson plans, and access to its Bloom platform for reporting and progress evidencing.

Revenue comes from tuition and session fees for online provision commissioned by schools, local authorities and families, from course purchases and memberships, and from platform/reporting and consultancy services. Press coverage reports 94% revenue growth in the year after its first investment round, with costs up 22%, and a forecast of 60% further growth for the year ending January 2027.

Traction

Reported traction includes growth to 24 full- and part-time staff by 2026 (from 12 staff and a tripling of learner numbers reported in 2024), 94% revenue growth in the year following its first investment round against a 22% cost increase, a forecast of 60% growth for the year ending January 2027, a strategic partnership with Pearson Edexcel, Bloom pilots in Northern Ireland with further school pilots from September, Assured Status across Portsmouth, and use by schools and local authorities in areas including Manchester, Birmingham, Croydon, Surrey, Norfolk and Oxfordshire.

Latest developments

In 2026 Gaia Learning raised £400,000 from GC Angels, NESTA and a syndicate of angel investors to extend its specialist education services and accelerate the rollout of Bloom, which is being piloted in Northern Ireland with additional school pilots starting in September and international expansion on the longer-term roadmap. The company reported 24 employees and a strategic partnership with Pearson Edexcel.