Brainscape vs Save My Exams: Full Comparison

Brainscape and Save My Exams both help students prepare for exams in a variety of subjects. However, while Brainscape’s content is split between flashcards and articles, Save My Exams provides flashcards alongside a wider range of resources.

This article compares Brainscape with Save My Exams, helping you to decide which is best for your own exam goals.

Key Takeaways

• Save My Exams is a comprehensive revision platform, providing notes, AI-powered study tools and resources to help you improve your grades 

• Brainscape is a web and mobile flashcard app, featuring certified and user-generated flashcards alongside articles for students and teachers

• If you want detailed, expert-written, specification-aligned coverage of a wide range of subjects, Save My Exams is the stronger choice

• If you enjoy fast-paced learning with flashcards and want to develop science-backed study habits, Brainscape is well worth considering

What Is Save My Exams?

Save My Exams is an online revision platform that helps IGCSE, GCSE, A Level, IB and AP students prepare for their exams. It combines a library of revision resources with AI-powered study tools.

Students gain access to revision notes, exam questions, past papers and mock exams. A Premium membership adds AI tools that mark your answers, explain where you went wrong and suggest what to revise next.

Everything on the website is made by trusted examiners, and is matched to your exact specification. On average, students improve by 2.6 grades using Save My Exams.

What Is Brainscape?

Brainscape is a web and mobile flashcard app that uses revision techniques from cognitive science, including spaced repetition. It helps students learn faster, stay motivated, and build stronger study habits. 

Flashcards cover a wide range of levels, including IGCSE, GCSE, A Level, IB and AP. There are also articles with study tips for students and guidance and resources for teachers. Pro features include unlimited study content and flashcards.

Some flashcards are Brainscape-certified, whereas others are user-generated. Certified flashcards, such as those for AQA A Level Biology, are made and vetted by panels of experts.

Save My Exams vs Brainscape: Feature Comparison

The table below compares key characteristics of the two platforms:

Revision Notes and Content Quality

Save My Exams features clear, comprehensive and exam board-aligned content. Using simple definitions, diagrams and worked examples, revision notes break down lengthy specifications into student-friendly topics. Unlike many textbooks and other revision resources, you’ll only revise what you could be tested on in the exam. You can use revision notes in combination with flashcards, exam-style questions and past papers.

Brainscape provides a mixture of certified and user-generated flashcards. All flashcards feature a prompt or question, which you can click to reveal the answer. You then rate how well you knew each answer from 1 (not at all) to 5 (perfectly). Brainscape uses this rating to avoid repeating cards you know perfectly, and to bring up cards you’re less confident on instead. This is an efficient way to prioritise your revision and work towards mastering each card.

All Save My Exams content is written and checked by subject specialists, but Brainscape only creates and vets certified flashcards. Since they are not subject to the same checks, Brainscape’s user-generated flashcards vary in quality.

Exam Board and Specification Coverage

A key strength of Save My Exams is its exam board-specific approach. Resources are organised by qualification, subject, exam board and topic, so you won’t waste time revising content you don’t need to know. Notes are tailored to individual GCSE, IGCSE and A Level specifications.

Brainscape provides some exam board-aligned flashcards, but coverage varies significantly. For example, GCSE Biology flashcards are Brainscape-certified and cover major exam boards (AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR and WJEC Eduqas). GCSE English Language, however, only has Brainscape-certified flashcards for AQA. IGCSE and A Level flashcards are similarly made up of a mixture of certified and user-generated content.

Practice Questions and Exam Technique

Save My Exams has various ways of improving exam technique, including exam-style questions, mocks and past papers. You can use available mark schemes and examiner reports, such as those for AQA GCSE English Literature, to check your answers and avoid common mistakes. All students, whether they subscribe or not, have free access to the Learning Hub. Here you’ll find subject-specific guidance and tips on how to improve your exam technique.

Brainscape provides flashcards and articles for exam preparation. Flashcards feature different question types, including true or false statements, fill in the blanks, and broader ‘why’ questions. Articles include ADHD test-taking strategies and how to use exam stress to improve performance. Though some flashcards include past paper questions, you won’t find a comprehensive past paper library or dedicated exam practice outside of flashcards.

Personalisation and Study Support

Save My Exams personalises your revision through tools such as Smart Mark, Strengths & Weaknesses, Target Test and Study Planner. Together, these features help you identify knowledge gaps, prioritise weaker topics, and build a more structured revision plan.

Brainscape lets you select which flashcards you’d like to add to your dashboard. You’ll see information tailored to your profile, like class mastery (a percentage of your average self-assessed confidence for a flashcard deck). You can also track your progress against your peers with the leaderboard feature.

Ease of Use and Student Experience

Save My Exams works well on smartphones, tablets and laptops alike. You can easily navigate between different levels, exam boards and subjects, which is ideal when you’re juggling revision for multiple GCSEs or A Levels. I tell my students to use the past paper library, as it labels everything more clearly than exam boards themselves!

Brainscape can also be used on multiple devices, both through an app and a web browser. I found the app simple to navigate; the home page contains all your flashcards, and you can easily find articles. The web browser, on the other hand, was a bit less intuitive for me. For instance, when I clicked on IGCSE Economics, I was instead presented with a list of A Level Economics flashcards.

Brainscape showing me A Level Economics flashcards under IGCSE Economics Notecards

I also found the free version to be very limited. AQA GCSE RS (Religious Studies), for example, only had two available flashcard decks: a warm-up deck and Buddhist beliefs and teachings. I tried the free warm-up decks for History, English and RS, but they weren’t separated by topic. This meant that the warm-up decks contained questions that weren’t relevant for all students. For example, my GCSE RS students only study Buddhism and Christianity. It would therefore be a waste of time for them to answer the Sikhism questions in the warm-up pack. You can get around this by creating your own flashcards, but this is time-consuming and therefore not ideal for last-minute revision.

Level Coverage

Save My Exams and Brainscape both cover the same levels:

• KS4 (GCSE)

• A Level

• IGCSE

• IB

• AP

Subject Coverage

Save My Exams’ coverage includes most major subjects, as well as past papers for additional subjects. Our full subject list groups subjects into different areas, such as humanities. You can also submit a request to cover a subject or board to [email protected] (opens in a new tab).

Brainscape also covers most major subjects, but only some subjects have Brainscape-certified flashcards. A Level Philosophy, for example, only has user-generated flashcards.

Pricing and Value for Money

Both Save My Exams and Brainscape have free and paid versions. The table below compares different plans and the main value of each platform:

Pros and Cons of Save My Exams vs Brainscape

Evaluating pros and cons can help you to make an informed decision on the best platform for you. The table below highlights the main advantages and disadvantages of each platform:

Frequently Asked Questions

What are alternatives to Brainscape?

Use Save My Exams to boost your grades with a variety of resources, including expert-written notes, flashcards and an extensive past paper library.

Other options for flashcards include Anki, which also uses spaced repetition, and Quizlet, which features pre-made sets.

Is Brainscape legitimate?

Yes. Brainscape is an evidence-based study platform trusted by hundreds of UK schools. Its Brainscape-certified flashcards are made and vetted by panels of experts.

Is Brainscape free?

The Basic package is free. You can make your own flashcards and read articles for free, but access to decks is very limited. You’ll need a Pro package to study unlimited flashcards.

Can I use Save My Exams and Brainscape together?

Absolutely! You could use Save My Exams for revision notes and refining exam technique, and Brainscape for flashcard revision and exam prep articles.

Can parents and teachers use Save My Exams and Brainscape?

Yes, as both platforms support learning at home and in school.

Teachers benefit from Save My Exams in several ways, including classroom-ready resources and quickly creating exam board-aligned tests with Test Builder. Brainscape gives teachers advice articles and access to the platform via a school subscription.

Final Thoughts

Both Save My Exams and Brainscape can help you revise. Save My Exams provides clear, well-organised revision notes for a huge variety of subjects, as well as exam-style questions, mock exams, past papers and worked solutions. All students also get free access to the Learning Hub, which contains specific guidance on areas like revision techniques and tips to secure top grades in certain subjects.

Brainscape features pre-made flashcards, and allows you to make your own. Students benefit from progress tracking and app features, including a leaderboard, day streak and class mastery percentage. You can also access articles with advice on exam preparation.

You can easily use the two platforms together. Save My Exams helps with wider revision and exam preparation, which you can supplement with Brainscape’s flashcards.

Good luck with your revision!