Excel Academics is launching LearnCEL, a study platform for Australian students, following a 12-month beta programme involving 500 students.
LearnCEL is designed to help students decide what to study next by analysing performance, identifying gaps in knowledge, and adjusting practice tasks as they progress. It is positioned around Australia's senior school curricula, including HSC, VCE, QCE, WACE and SACE.
Sreeya Das, Director of Excel Academics, said the product was built to combine course content, revision and performance tracking in one system rather than sending students across multiple tools. The platform includes expert-led video lessons, adaptive practice sessions, study planning tools and an AI study companion called ARO.
"LearnCEL was built as an end-to-end predictive and adaptive learning system for all Australian students - not just as a content library or generalised AI tutor. It incorporates proven technique and pedagogy, so students know exactly what to study and how to study," Das said.
The launch comes as education providers seek to use more student performance data to shape revision and coursework. Excel Academics said its system draws on live student trials, data collection and tutor input gathered during the beta period to examine learning patterns and refine the platform's response to results.
Study patterns
Early findings suggest many students were spending substantial time studying without a clear view of which areas needed attention, Das said. That often led them to rely on broad revision methods rather than targeted work on concepts they had not yet mastered.
"The biggest gap we saw was that many students, despite working hard, don't actually know how to study effectively. They'll do past papers, re-read notes, and highlight textbooks, but there's no data-driven system telling them what they don't know, what they're about to forget, or what they should do next. It's something I personally struggled with in school as well," Das said.
At the centre of the platform is a concept mastery map that breaks subjects into more than 1,000 linked concepts. That structure, according to the company, allows the system to identify where understanding is breaking down at a more specific level than topic-based revision plans.
Rather than prompting students to revisit an entire subject area, the system directs them to underlying concepts that may be limiting progress. The map also shows how concepts connect across year levels, aiming to help students see how earlier material supports more advanced work.
"We then spent months mapping subjects across all the major Australian curricula, designing adaptive learning pathways, and building a mastery engine across 1000+ concepts. We also wanted to eliminate the fragmentation in how students study. Instead of jumping between multiple resources, LearnCEL keeps everything in one connected system, combining expert-led video courses, practice, revision, and performance tracking in a single platform," Das said.
Adaptive tools
Another core part of LearnCEL is its predictive analytics system, which forecasts learning progress from student performance and recommends revision accordingly, the company said. Practise sessions then change in real time based on how a student performs and engages with the material.
Excel Academics said the process was shaped during the beta phase, when more than 500 students used the system and generated data on how learning patterns emerged over time. Das said the company used that information to improve how the platform identifies gaps before they affect assessment outcomes.
"This capability has been shaped through an extended beta phase involving more than 500 students, where real-world usage has refined how the system detects learning patterns ahead of its August 2026 launch," Das said.
The company also pointed to an early example from Year 12 Chemistry, where the platform identified a gap in ICE table setup and interpretation. According to Das, that led to a rise in one student's mastery of equilibrium questions over a two-week period.
"Within two weeks, one Year 12 Chemistry student improved their mastery of equilibrium questions from 54% to 83% after the platform identified a gap in ICE table setup and interpretation. One of the clearest early insights has been how powerful visibility is in supporting learning. Students often think they understand a topic broadly, but when you break it down into concepts, the gaps become clear, and improvement becomes much faster," Das said.
Engagement focus
To support regular study habits, LearnCEL includes ARO, which guides students through study sessions with prompts and explanations. The platform also adds streaks, badges, challenges, state rankings and peer comparison features intended to make progress easier to track.
Early usage data suggests the AI companion has helped reduce drop-off between study sessions, Das said, while the wider set of engagement tools is designed to encourage consistency rather than one-off bursts of revision.
"So far, the interactive concept mastery map has had one of the biggest measurable impacts. The concept mastery map breaks a subject down into interconnected concepts so students can actually see where they're strong, where they're weak, and what needs attention first. Once that becomes visible, it becomes actionable," Das said.
"These features include streak-based tracking, achievement badges that mark learning milestones, monthly challenges designed to drive ongoing engagement, and state-based rankings alongside peer comparison insights. Together, they help students better understand their progress and build more sustained study routines," Das said.