Our DNA

From start to finish every new GCSEPod title:

Involves the contribution of over 10 different individuals
Takes an average of 8 weeks to create
Is designed in collaboration with customer feedback

Here’s just a taster of the unique five stage process behind every GCSEPod audio title.

Research & Design

Every GCSEPod begins life at the drawing board with Jane. Jane is responsible for breaking down each chosen subject into bite-sized revision chunks. Consulting each exam board specification individually, Jane and GCSE teachers tailor our content to make it both varied and highly relevant:

“Revision has never been more important. Our work at the design stage ensures the quality of each GCSEPod as a uniquely powerful resource and crucially, its relevance by exam board” – Ian

Specialist Scriptwriting

The process now moves on from the drawing board to the scriptwriting. Jane takes the research and design work as a blueprint in the search for our specialist scriptwriters — experienced teachers with a passion for their chosen topics.

We only ask the teachers to write about their specialist areas. They know the content really well, which means they can also concentrate on bringing it to life with interesting facts and novel ways for the listener to remember information. Once the script has been written by a teacher, it goes to a specialist editor who casts a fresh pair of eyes over it to ensure that it reads well and is ready to be sent to the narrator for recording.

“Teachers can bring the script to life in many different ways. I’m often impressed by the use of real-life examples and facts that will really help the memory! The editors are also an integral part of the process, ensuring that the product is the best that it can be.”- Jane

Illustrations and Icon art

Following editing, each script is reviewed by Jo who creates album art to help the users identify each title. Then she sets about briefing our artist to create images which will bring the audio to life. In addition to this, Jo also designs icon art, a visual reminder of key things the listener will have just heard — for example relevant facts, names of characters, people or key quotes. These enhance the learning experience, as when something important is heard, it is seen (and learnt) too.

“The visual content works with the audio to enhance the whole revision experience. It’s crucial to select the important information so that the right stuff sticks in the brain. I go through each script carefully and really try and put myself in the student’s shoes.” - Jo

Ad-Ministry of Sound

After Jane has finished with the scripting, Chris and the sound team set to work bringing the product to life. Unlike some other audio available for GCSE students we never use synthesised voiceovers — actors and familiar dialects give our products a human quality like no other. It’s like revision advice from a close friend!

“By the time a subject reaches the recording stage all the hard work has been done already, allowing us to concentrate on the fine particulars of the script. Our narrators really do bring something else to the materials — I often find myself listening at home!” - Chris

The Final Touches

With the sound recording and editing stages complete each GCSEPod returns to Jo. Each title is listened to in its entirety and checked for accuracy before publishing. Then it’s Anthony’s task to apply our unique digital watermark as a signature of the quality, authenticity and security which comes with every title we offer.