Gaia Learning Press Coverage

News April 2025

Gaia Learning Shortlisted for 2025 BESA Award for Outstanding SEND Resource or Service

Gaia Learning is proud to announce that we have been officially shortlisted for the prestigious 2025 BESA Awards in the category of Outstanding SEND Resource or Service.

The British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) Awards celebrate innovation, impact, and excellence in educational resources—and this recognition highlights Gaia Learning’s ongoing commitment to inclusive education that supports Special Educational Needs (SEN) learners to thrive on their own terms.

“We are absolutely thrilled to be shortlisted for this award,” said Kate Longworth, CEO of Gaia Learning. “This recognition from BESA is a powerful affirmation of the work we’re doing to create meaningful, accessible learning pathways for SEN learners. It’s a huge testament to our team, our learners, and the families and schools we work with.”

The final round of judging will take place over the coming weeks, with the winners announced at the BESA Awards Ceremony later this year.

About Gaia Learning
Gaia Learning is an award-winning digital education provider supporting SEN learners worldwide. Through live classes, digital courses, and expert coaching, Gaia helps young people thrive by tailoring education to their interests, needs, and goals.

News April 2025

Gaia Learning Recognized Among Europe's Top 200 EdTech Startups by HolonIQ

Gaia Learning is proud to announce its inclusion in the 2024 Europe EdTech 200, HolonIQ's prestigious annual list highlighting the most promising EdTech startups across Europe. This recognition underscores Gaia Learning's commitment to delivering innovative, inclusive, and accessible education solutions tailored for learners with Special Educational Needs (SEN).LinkedIn+2newsletters.holoniq.com+2HolonIQ. Global Impact Intelligence+2

The Europe EdTech 200 list identifies young, fast-growing, and innovative learning, teaching, and upskilling startups across Europe. HolonIQ's selection process involves rigorous evaluation based on criteria such as market potential, product innovation, and impact on education. Gaia Learning's inclusion reflects its dedication to transforming the educational landscape through personalized and flexible learning pathways.LinkedIn+3HolonIQ. Global Impact Intelligence+3HolonIQ. Global Impact Intelligence+3

"Being named among Europe's top EdTech innovators is a significant milestone for Gaia Learning," said Kate Longworth, CEO of Gaia Learning. "This recognition validates our mission to provide tailored educational experiences that empower SEN learners to thrive. We're excited to continue our journey, leveraging technology to make education more inclusive and effective for all."

Podcast: March 2025

Why Distance Learning?

Traditional classrooms can be overwhelming for neurodivergent students. Rigid schedules, sensory overload, and one-size-fits-all approaches leave many feeling anxious, disconnected, and unable to thrive.

Parents often ask: Is online education a viable alternative?

In this episode, we sit down with Kate Longworth, CEO and founder of Gaia Learning, a global online school designed for neurodivergent learners. Kate shares how personalised online learning can reduce stress, increase accessibility, and help students build the confidence they need to succeed—whether in virtual or in-person settings.

Watch & Listen here

Press Release: 7 October 2024

EdTech company Gaia Learning secures over half a million VC investment

Online learning provider, Gaia Learning, has secured its biggest investment to date landing £550K in venture capital funding this week, enabling them to support even more neurodivergent children across the UK.

The NW-based EdTech has just started its latest academic year, delivering live, online learning classes and courses for neurodivergent children aged 8-16 with ADHD and autism. International and UK enquiries are reaching record heights, with its latest investment allowing its continued growth nationally and internationally.

“We’re so pleased to have our new investment partners on board and them acknowledging the potential in all we do at Gaia Learning to help school partners, learners and their families. We have tripled our learners this academic year, grown our team to 12 staff members and seen huge demand from children who are struggling in mainstream education. Now, more than ever, schools need flexible, digital solutions that can scale within budget supporting each neurodivergent child’s needs,” says Kate Longworth, CEO of Gaia Learning.

Since 2019 Gaia Learning has gone from a small, specialist tuition business to an award-winning Cambridge Registered International School Online and the first online learning provider to be awarded the ADHD Friendly School award from the ADHD Foundation in 2023.

Nesta Impact Investments (Nesta) led the investment round with Manchester-based GC Angels also co-investing. Nesta brings both investment capital to support the business' growth and strategic focus on narrowing the education outcomes gap. GC Angels is focussed on making direct purpose led investments to support the growth of early-stage businesses like Gaia Learning.

“We backed Gaia learning as both a promising high growth business and as a solution to tackle the acute gap between education outcomes of students with special educational needs and the average. Students with an Education Health and Care Plan, who Gaia Learning typically supports, at a national level have outcomes at GCSE eight times worse than the average. One of Nesta's key areas of focus is to narrow the education attainment gap and Gaia Learning provides a compelling solution to tackle this,” says Lisa Barclay, Executive Director of Investments at Nesta.

Marc Shirman, Head of Investments at GC Angels, said: “Gaia Learning is exactly what GC Angels is all about. The teams purpose-led approach is helping children who would otherwise be left behind in education to thrive, and the growth they’ve so far achieved is commendable. As the team continues to grow, and with enquiries on the up, we worked with Kate and the team to ensure Gaia Learning has the necessary investment and resources to drive further expansion and, ultimately, deliver incredible results for young people.”

Press Release: 23 July 2024

Gaia Learning appoints new COO as growth continues

Online learning provider Gaia Learning ends its most successful academic year to date with the appointment of Kelly Davis as its Fractional Chief Operating Officer, as demand continues to increase.

Davis brings with her a wealth of experience from education and EdTechs, with a background of teaching English across the globe and being one of the leading pioneers within online schooling. She was the Co-Founder of the successful American online school Kubrio and has since been an educational technology consultant working with various EdTechs globally enhancing their growth.

“We are really excited to welcome Kelly to Gaia Learning as our Fractional COO at this key time of growth for our pioneering EdTech organisation, as we look ahead to the next academic year. With our international and UK enquiries reaching record heights, we are continuing to invest in our expanding team to meet demand, working together to keep helping neurodivergent children love learning with personalised education online. We know that now, more than ever, schools need flexible, digital solutions that can scale within budget supporting each neurodivergent child’s needs,” says Kate Longworth, CEO of Gaia Learning.

Gaia Learning was set up in 2019 and delivers live, online learning for neurodivergent children aged 8-16 with ADHD and Autism. It is a Cambridge Registered International School Online and the first online learning provider to be awarded the ADHD Friendly School award from the ADHD Foundation in 2023.

“Gaia Learning has been on my radar for a while, and I’m really pleased to now be a part of the team at this key point of growth. I am particularly impressed with the relationships the Gaia Learning educators have with their pupils – from onboarding to creating personalised learning plans. They really lift them up and elevate their achievements and embrace the power of communities, which is so vital to online education success.

“I am looking forward to adding my experience to the team looking at how we continue to enhance and develop to accommodate the growing number of pupils, families and partners wanting to be part of our Gaia Learning community,” says Kelly Davis, Fractional COO of Gaia Learning.

Last month Gaia Learning was crowned as the second-best online school in the UK, being shortlisted alongside just four others in the ‘Online School of the Year’ category of the National Tutoring Awards for their “unique approach to designing and delivering their curriculum whilst working in partnership with schools and MATs to support teachers, SENCO’s and those who care about the future of education and young people as passionately as they do”.

Summer 2024
Praetura Ventures has shortlisted 12 companies for a new initiative designed to identify the most promising start-ups in the North of England and support them with equity funding.

This exciting news comes at a time of significant growth for Gaia Learning as the team support more schools families across the UK and worldwide.

Announced in March, the PraeSeed programme (pronounced ‘pre-seed’) received more than 200 applications from start-ups in a wide range of sectors, including AI, healthcare, hospitality, leisure, manufacturing, robotics and SaaS.

Gaia Learning are amongst a shortlisted list of 12 businesses who will attend a series of workshops from later stage founders and experts in their field.

The sessions will focus on helping the founders across Praetura’s ‘6Ms’ model, helping them develop their future plans, fundraising roadmap, financial model and go to market strategy, alongside specialist sessions in marketing, leadership, sales and HR.