NHS psychologist wins £75,000 to test AI learning support for pupils with SEND
Recallify Classroom will be co-designed with students and education staff before a secondary school pilot in Surrey.
Dr Sarah Rudebeck has received a £75,000 Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award to develop and test Recallify Classroom.
Dr Sarah Rudebeck, Co-Founder of Recallify and a senior UK NHS clinical psychologist, has won a £75,000 Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award to adapt the company’s AI memory and organization app for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England.
The 12-month Recallify Classroom project began in July 2026. Rudebeck was selected as one of 61 award winners from a record 1,590 applications. Each winner receives a £75,000 grant and 12 months of business support, alongside training, networking and role-modeling opportunities.
Recallify Classroom is designed for young people with memory, attention and organization difficulties. The proposed tool will create short summaries, practice quizzes and reminders from materials captured during lessons, including student’s notes, recordings, photographs of the board and resources supplied by staff.
School use is planned to be supervised and restricted to materials provided by learners or staff, with rules covering consent and oversight. Recallify says the tool is not intended to replace teachers. Its stated aim is to reduce the time staff spend prompting pupils and helping them catch up.
The funding covers the development and testing of the classroom product. Rudebeck describes the question at the center of the project: “Recallify Classroom will test whether AI can support their independent learning and memory through something as simple as transcribing and summarising their own lessons.”
Department for Education figures published in June 2026 show that more than 1.8 million pupils in England receive SEN support or hold an Education, Health and Care Plan. This represents more than one in five pupils in the country.
Clinical experience shapes Surrey school pilot
Rudebeck has 15 years of experience as a clinical psychologist and holds a PhD in memory disorders. She says her clinical work shaped the project: “In clinic I saw young people with SEND return to school without the support they needed, unable to keep up, and some stop attending altogether.”
The existing Recallify app has been available through the App Store and Google Play since January 2025. The company says it supports around 3,000 people with additional cognitive and learning needs.
Technical development of Recallify Classroom is being led by Dr Berkan Sesen, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Recallify. Dr Gemma Costello, Consultant Educational Psychologist, is advising on its co-design and pilot.
During the project, the team plans to build a browser-based version that runs on school devices and complete an independent safeguarding and data protection review. It will then pilot the tool with the SEND department at a secondary school in Surrey. The school has not been named.
