This page is kept up to date by the Particle Playground team. It explains how we look after student data and what we have changed recently. It describes the controls we have in place today and is not an independent certification.
We only store what we need to run the learning experience: an account, your progress on questions, and basic profile details like a display name. We do not sell student data and we do not show adverts. Full detail is in our Privacy Notice.
Accounts are for ages 13 and over. For pupils using the platform through a school, the school stays in charge of the data and we act on its instructions — a written data processing agreement is available on request. Our Terms set out class visibility and AI tutor limits.
All questions are matched to the AQA GCSE Physics specification. Feedback is designed to teach the underlying idea — not just mark an answer right or wrong — and we review reported issues quickly.
A plain-English record of the bigger updates, fixes and privacy changes we have made.
| Date | Category | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Sep 2026 | Feature | The protected admin console now includes full user and class management, safeguarded account suspension and deletion, CSV account invitations, focused activity summaries, and an audit history for administrative changes. |
| 10 Sep 2026 | Compliance Update | Our terms have been rewritten and a full privacy notice added. They now cover a minimum age of 13, the school's role as data controller for pupil accounts, what teachers and co-teachers can see, how the AI Lab Assistant works and its limits, which providers data passes through, how long we keep it, information stored on your device, liability, and governing law. A written data processing agreement is available to schools on request. |
| 19 Aug 2026 | Feature | The Lab and Equation Architect have had a visual refresh so they match the homepage's Cosmos Glass look, and both now keep persistent Skip and Back controls on screen while you practise. |
| 18 Aug 2026 | Feature | You can now sign in or sign up with a Microsoft account, alongside the existing Google and email options. |
| 17 Aug 2026 | Feature | Teachers can generate a printable two-page progress report for any student straight from the teacher dashboard, covering mastery, accuracy and achievements. |
| 16 Aug 2026 | Feature | Added Class Starter: it pulls six reinforcement questions your students are starting to forget, lets you narrow them to a chosen topic, and displays them full screen for the whole class. |
| 15 Aug 2026 | Feature | Teacher accounts now have a My Progress / My Students toggle, so the dashboard can show class analytics instead of personal progress at the tap of a button. |
| 14 Aug 2026 | Feature | The teacher dashboard has been rebuilt as a tidier Command Center, with a topic view that expands to show every student, a grouped class selector, and the noisy summary pills removed. |
| 13 Aug 2026 | Feature | Around 430 new AQA-aligned questions have been added across all topics. Each topic is now split into Section A and Section B, and every question carries a clearer code (for example T1AQ1) so it's easy to reference. |
| 12 Aug 2026 | Feature | A draggable scientific calculator is now available in the Lab, in exams, and across every Equation Architect stage — open it whenever you need it and move it out of the way when you don't. |
| 11 Aug 2026 | Feature | Introduced The Particle Zoo: a Standard Model collectibles grid where all 17 particles unlock as you hit milestones, complete with unlock celebrations. |
| 6 Aug 2026 | Fix | Agreeing to the EULA and dismissing the dashboard tour are now saved to your account, so you're only asked once even after signing out and back in or switching device. Fusion celebrations have also been tightened up so they only play at the moment you actually forge a new element. |
| 6 Aug 2026 | Feature | The teacher dashboard has grown into a full Teacher Console. Teachers can now create classes with an auto-generated join code and QR code, set Combined/Triple and Foundation/Higher per class so joining students inherit the right course, filter between all assigned students and individual classes, see whole-class averages in class view, search their own roster, and use the whole dashboard comfortably on a phone. |
| 30 Jul 2026 | Compliance Update | Sign-up now asks you to agree to the EULA and Terms of Service after you choose a sign-in method, with the full agreement available on a dedicated page covering licensing, intellectual property and UK GDPR data protection. |
| 30 Jul 2026 | Feature | Introduced the AI Lab Assistant. Stuck on a question? Tap "I don't understand this question" in the Lab and a built-in tutor walks you through the physics behind it, step by step. It never gives the answer away and only discusses the question on screen. Fair-use limit of 20 messages per day, and it's available to signed-in students. |
| 12 Jul 2026 | Feature | New questions have been added across the Lab to address poorly represented specification points, and a fix has been applied in the Equation Architect so that 'ohm' or 'ohms' can be used as a valid unit for resistance, alongside the Ω symbol. |
| 12 Jul 2026 | Feature | Added a brand-new KS3 Science track alongside the existing GCSE Physics app. A curriculum gateway lets you switch between GCSE and KS3, with a Floating Island dashboard, KS3 Lab and Observatory covering Biology, Chemistry and Physics against the National Curriculum. Progress in each track is kept fully separate. |
| 12 Jul 2026 | Feature | KS3 gets a brand-new Avatar-inspired sky theme. Dashboard, Lab, Observatory and the curriculum gateway now sit against a deep sky-to-twilight gradient with a warm gold Spark Crystal and glassmorphism panels. GCSE Physics visuals are unchanged. |
| 9 Jul 2026 | Fix | Unified the mastery percentage shown on the Lab and the Dashboard so both surfaces now report the exact same course-scoped number. Memory decay still surfaces as a 'fading' overlay on the mastery bar, but no longer pulls your headline mastery down — credit for what you've learned sticks. |
| 8 Jul 2026 | Fix | Slowed down memory decay so topics stay 'fresh' for a full week and only fade over about six weeks. This stops students being handed an overwhelming pile of review questions after a short break. |
| 8 Jul 2026 | Feature | Added an AQA Physics Equation Sheet inside the Lab. Tap the datapad to browse every equation you need for Combined and Triple Science, matched to the official AQA sheet. |
| 1 Jul 2026 | Feature | Introduced Core Stability — a tug-of-war style health bar that goes up when you answer well and down when you struggle, giving a clearer real-time picture of how confident you are on each topic. |
| 30 Jun 2026 | Feature | Launched Memory Review and the Unstable Core in the Lab. If you have been away for a while, the Lab now surfaces a short set of stabilization questions on the topics most at risk of being forgotten, so revision stays little and often. |
| 30 Jun 2026 | Feature | Redesigned the dashboard into a dynamic command centre that reacts to your state — a smart hero button that sends you straight to the most useful next session, and live status of your progress and stability. |
| 26 Jun 2026 | Fix | Made the Knowledge Nebula mind map much smoother on phones and tablets by lowering its frame rate and simplifying the physics on smaller screens. |
| 25 Jun 2026 | Feature | Rebuilt the Teacher Dashboard as an analytics console backed by proper database tables, so teachers get faster, more accurate views of class progress, mastery and recent answers. |
| 24 Jun 2026 | Fix | Tidied the header on phones: the logo no longer gets squashed, and the Lab, Architect, Exam and Progress links now sit inside a tap-to-open menu. |
| 24 Jun 2026 | Compliance Update | Added this System Status & Trust page so students, teachers and parents can see how we handle data and what has recently changed. Linked from the footer and the account menu. |
| 24 Jun 2026 | Compliance Update | Introduced role-based accounts for students, teachers and admins. Roles are stored in a dedicated, server-controlled table so they cannot be changed from a student's device. |
| 23 Jun 2026 | Fix | When an admin tries to remove someone else's admin rights, the site now asks 'Are you sure?' first to stop accidental changes. |
| 22 Jun 2026 | Feature | Added an Equation Architect section to the Progress page. You can now see your Copper, Silver, Gold and Platinum ingots filling up, and tap the new forge cluster to see your tier and points at a glance. |
| 20 Jun 2026 | Feature | Equation Architect now has 'New Learning' and 'Practice All' buttons, just like the Lab. 'New Learning' only asks questions you have not seen before. |
| 18 Jun 2026 | Feature | The Equation Architect progress bar now stays in the same place when you start a question, with smoother point-counting, particle effects, and a brighter glow as you reach each new tier. |
| 15 Jun 2026 | Fix | Refreshing the page while signed in no longer briefly shows the sign-in screen. |
| 12 Jun 2026 | Feature | Teachers can now click into each student to see the topics they have mastered, the topics they are working on, and their most recent answers. |
| 8 Jun 2026 | Compliance Update | Checked our database security rules to make sure students can only see and change their own progress, and that staff permissions are stored safely on the server, not on each student's device. |
| 5 Jun 2026 | Feature | Launched the Knowledge Nebula map on the Progress page — an interactive view of the GCSE Physics topics that shows what you have mastered and what is still to come. |
| 1 Jun 2026 | Fix | Fixed equations being cut off in question cards on iPhones and iPads. |
| 28 May 2026 | Feature | Added a small 'Report a problem' button on every question so students and teachers can flag mistakes. Reports go to the admin team for review. |
| 22 May 2026 | Feature | Released Exam mode: timed practice papers with a results page showing your score by topic and the chance to review every question you got wrong. |
| 15 May 2026 | Compliance Update | Updated how people sign in. Accounts now use either email and password or Google sign-in, and accidental anonymous sign-ups are turned off. |
Teachers, data managers and parents can get in touch to raise a privacy concern or ask how we handle student data. We aim to reply within 5 working days.