London Bureau

Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Startups

Edinburgh Edtech Startup 'Learnly' Raises £60m to Bring AI Tutoring to State Schools

EH
By Eleanor Hartley
Published 11 May 2026

Edinburgh-based education technology startup 'Learnly' has closed a £60 million Series B funding round to deploy its AI-powered personalised tutoring platform across state schools in England, Scotland, and Wales.

The platform uses large language models fine-tuned on the national curriculum to provide one-to-one tutoring sessions that adapt in real time to each student's learning pace and style. Early trials in 50 pilot schools showed a 22 per cent improvement in GCSE maths scores.

"Every child deserves a personal tutor, but the economics have never worked," said the Learnly CEO. "AI changes that equation completely. We can provide world-class tutoring at a fraction of the cost."

The Department for Education has expressed interest in a national rollout, though teaching unions have cautioned against over-reliance on technology and called for continued investment in human teaching staff.