Cambridge University STEM SMART
How Cambridge University’s Isaac Physics uses Hubken’s Moodle LMS to transform STEM education
Isaac Physics was founded by Cambridge University academics Professor Lisa Jardine-Wright and Professor Mark Warner to address a critical gap in STEM education. In the UK, subjects like maths and physics are often taught separately, leaving students unprepared for the integrated problem-solving approach required at leading universities. This gap disproportionately affects students from underprivileged backgrounds, making it harder for them to succeed in higher education.
The Isaac Physics initiative was created to break down these barriers by providing:
- Flexible online learning, allowing students to build confidence in problem-solving.
- Instant feedback on questions, helping students learn from their mistakes.
- Enhanced Teacher Support – The Isaac OPAL (open platform for active learning) allows teachers to create and assign question sets, track student progress, and reduce lesson preparation and marking time - saving an estimated 500,000 teacher hours annually.

- Customer: STEM SMART, Cambridge University
- Industry: Education
- Location: UK
- Solution: Moodle

Anton Machacek
The challenge: Bridging the STEM Education Gap
Isaac Physics has been hugely successful since it began, having been used by over 400,000 students and over 9000 teachers, with over 170,000,000 question attempts.
This success led to the creation of STEM SMART (Subject Mastery and Attainment Raising Tuition) an initiative to widen participation even further. STEM SMART provides a free 16-month programme to assist Sixth Form Students in securing good school grades and preparing them well for places at top universities by encouraging them to undertake weekly assignments on Isaac Physics, weekly subject tutorials online and fortnightly mentoring with current undergraduates.
STEM SMART needed a robust, secure and scalable LMS to provide students with a single location from which they could find their weekly assignments, important announcements and interact with their mentors.
The solution: A high performance LMS from Hubken
Isaac Physics partnered with Hubken Group to implement a Moodle-based LMS, tailored to meet STEM SMART’S unique needs.
A Scalable Hub for STEM SMART
With over 4,000 students participating annually, the platform serves as the central hub for all learning materials, assignments, and mentoring resources.
Seamless Integration with Isaac Physics
The LMS connects effortlessly with the Isaac Physics platform, where students complete their assignments and receive feedback in real time.
Robust Security & Safeguarding
Given the young age of the learners, safeguarding was a priority. Hubken configured the LMS to ensure student privacy, restrict direct messaging, and provide strict user access controls.
99.99% Uptime & Reliability
With thousands of students logging in simultaneously, especially during launch days, it was critical that the system could cope with very large number of concurrent users. Hosted on Europe’s most advanced data centre, the LMS delivers the high reliability and uptime Isaac Physics and STEM SMART needs.

Professor Lisa Jardine-Wright, OBE
The results: Transforming Learning & University Success
The impact of the LMS and STEM SMART has been nothing short of transformational.
- Remarkable Growth – Since its launch, the programme has grown from 1,000 to over 3,000 students per year, with participants from every region of the UK.- Higher University Acceptance Rates – Students engaging with the programme significantly increase (as verified by an independent report by UCAS, the UK’s university admissions system) their chances of getting into science and engineering courses at top universities in the UK.
- Stronger Student Confidence & Community – The combined platforms foster a supportive learning environment, with many former students returning as mentors to guide new learners.
It’s clear that the learning management system the resources within it has broadened opportunities for young people across the UK. STEM SMART and LMS have helped make learning more accessible and convenient for everyone involved and empowered by STEM SMART’s culture of continuous learning and collaboration, the whole programme is poised for ongoing success.
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Darren Bindert, Hubken Group
Looking Ahead: A Model for Scalable STEM Learning
With continued growth and expanding subject offerings, STEM SMART are set to impact even more students in the coming years. Hubken’s LMS will remain a key enabler, ensuring seamless operations as participation scales towards 10,000+ students.
Want to see how a Moodle LMS can support your learning initiatives?