90-second recaps for the bits that aren't really about the subject you're studying
The Synoptic Tutor surfaces inline 90-second recaps when an A-Level Physics question quietly assumes log laws from Maths, or a Chemistry rate equation needs natural logarithms. Live on every A-Level STEM lesson.
The hardest part of A-Level isn't the new content. It's the moment a Physics question quietly assumes you remember log laws. Or a Chemistry rate equation suddenly needs natural logarithms. Or a Biology practical wants you to fit a straight line and read off the gradient. The skill isn't the lesson's topic — it's the prerequisite. And the prerequisite came from a different subject, or a year ago, and it's exactly where students get stuck.
How it works
Every A-Level and GCSE STEM lesson on LearningBro is tagged against a skill graph covering Maths, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology at both levels. Each lesson has 'teaches' tags (what it develops) and 'requires' tags (what it assumes you already know).
When you open a lesson, we look at its 'requires' skills, find lessons elsewhere that 'teach' those skills, and rank by same exam board first, then same level. The best candidate appears as an indigo banner above the chat — before you spend 20 minutes stuck.
The recap is generated on demand from the source lesson's actual content. Not a generic explanation of logarithms — a tight 150-word précis of how log laws specifically appear in the Physics lesson you're on, in your exam board's notation.
Like the rest of the AI suite, every Synoptic recap plays in voice mode. Two minutes of someone walking you through the prerequisite skill, in your ears, before you read the question.
Three places it lands particularly hard
A-Level Physics — Capacitors
Surfaces GCSE standard form (because μF, nF, pF live in standard form), GCSE solving linear equations (rearranging the capacitor equations is half the question), and GCSE V/I/R basics. Three of the most common reasons students get stuck on capacitors, flagged before they even read the question.
A-Level Chemistry — Collision Theory and Rates of Reaction
Surfaces a recap of A-Level Maths natural logarithms (Arrhenius is ln k = ln A − Eₐ/RT), GCSE rates of reaction (the foundation), and GCSE energy changes for activation energy graphs.
A-Level Biology — Photosynthesis: Light-Dependent Reactions
Surfaces GCSE respiration and photosynthesis fundamentals plus GCSE cell biology for the chloroplast structure groundwork. The synoptic links the AS specification quietly demands.
Why this needs LearningBro's content breadth
This kind of feature only works if you have the source lessons to pull from. Khanmigo doesn't really do UK exam boards. Skye is maths-only. Most AI tutoring tools assume you'll bring your own context. LearningBro has 800+ courses across the UK curriculum, including 200+ A-Level and GCSE STEM courses tagged against the skill graph. When the Physics lesson says "you'll need log laws here", the recap comes from a real Maths lesson on log laws — same site, same exam board, same explanatory voice.
How it differs from "ask the AI tutor"
Answers the question you ask. Great if you already know what's confusing you.
Answers the question you didn't know to ask: "you might have forgotten how this bit works."
Stop getting stuck on prerequisites you covered last year
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