The University of Law (ULaw) has today announced that it is has entered an exclusive partnership with online learning platform, Synap.
Synap will form an integral part of an exciting suite of new programmes developed by the University to prepare students for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) which is due to be launched by the SRA in November 2021. This will also provide training in the recently introduced Bar Practice Course (BPC) due to start in July 2020.
The design of Synap specifically enables students to personalise their learning in order to focus their studies according to their own preferences. The online learning tool is underpinned by learner analytics to help both tutors and students’ measure their progress throughout the course.
Founders James Gupta and Omair Vaiyani initially created Synap in 2015 during their time studying Medicine at Leeds University. With a core focus on personalisation and the learner experience, the premise was to minimalise wasted time and effort, evolving the programme to the point at which maximum learning could be achieved according to each student. By the time James and Omair graduated, 25% of UK medical students were revising using the platform.
The Synap platform is accessed by a wide array of users in many sectors beyond medicine, owing to its unique personalised learning algorithms and its notable rates of improvements in users’ learning. Most renowned are Synap’s quizzes, which students create and tailor to their strengths and areas of required improvement. Users can then monitor the analytics from their quiz results and adapt their studies and future quizzes accordingly, helping them to learn more in less time.
The educational partnership will enable ULaw students to access Synap through any mobile device, comprising SQE 1 assessment practice. This will be free of charge as part of the students’ study programme.
ULaw committed to the agreement on the grounds of the unique learning provision from Synap and the benefit this would have for students, in practice and in assessment, with a direct aim of enhancing pass rates for the SQE.
Professor Andrea Nollent, ULaw Vice-Chancellor and CEO, said: “The University is delighted to announce Synap as our exclusive partner in providing the online learning platform for the SQE 1 assessment and our new BPC programme. Innovation for the improvement of learning is central to ULaw’s ethos and our students expect the best and latest tools, such as Synap, to enable them to achieve their goals.”
James Gupta, Founder and CEO of Synap, said: “We always knew that Synap had potential in different fields. We’re incredibly excited to be working with The University of Law to bring this new approach to legal education and help their students to learn more in less time. Our own analytics have shown that users who follow our algorithms, perform twice as well as those who are also using Synap, but largely self-studying, and it would be very exciting to see this trend continue with ULaw students.”