The making of a Mindful Education course: part 1
The best of both worlds
Returning to education as an adult can be challenging. Finding the right balance between work, life and study commitments is not straightforward, so the flexibility offered by blended learning solutions can be a great benefit. However, blended learning courses are not all the same and sometimes flexibility can come at the cost of academic quality.
Many courses that offer blended learning are simply traditional classroom sessions that are followed up with links to outdated online articles or poorly recorded youtube videos to watch at home. These resources are often at odds with course syllabuses, and add little value to the learner experience. Alternatively learners might find themselves with poor quality online materials that are not created with acadmic rigour and don’t cover the full course content
When Mindful Education was founded in 2015, we set out to deliver high quality blended learning, built on academic expertise that gives learners the best opportunity to succeed in their studies.
Our approach is a dynamic blend of online lessons and tutor-led sessions: a model that we call ‘Online and On Campus’. It’s a method that combines the best of both worlds—offering learners the flexibility to study where and when they choose, while also delivering the essential support and interaction of face-to-face classroom teaching.
Our super-blend of media-rich content, academic expertise and cutting-edge technology is carefully crafted by a team of experts across our academic, creative, production and digital teams, who come together to create courses that don’t just enable learners to pass assessments – they give them the skills they need to excel in their careers.
Our results
Our track record speaks for itself: 80% of our learners who complete their qualifications achieve a merit or distinction, with results consistently above awarding bodies’ published averages.
For every unit, on every AAT qualification we deliver, average results achieved by Mindful Education learners were above AAT’s published worldwide averages.
*2024-25 results, collated in October 2025 from 49 partners, with an average of 253 sittings per unit.
This piece explores the robust academic foundations on which our courses are built – and the way it’s delivered to learners. You can find out more about how we use this theory to inform our creative approach in The making of a Mindful Education course: part 2
Academic principle, practical application
The basis of a successful blended learning course isn’t simply transferring a textbook onto a screen.
The core principle of our delivery is the ‘flipped-blended’ model, reversing traditional blended learning theory to maximise learners’ independent study time, and streamline in-person sessions.
Learners acquire foundational knowledge and key concepts by using our media-rich content, accessed via our purpose-built virtual learning environment (VLE).
Video lessons are scripted and delivered by our team of experienced academics, supported by engaging visuals created by our motion graphics team. Knowledge is enhanced and embedded by the extensive range of activities and questions on the VLE, which also encourages active learning and research. This model encourages learners to self-regulate: a skill that is vital in the world of work.
On arrival to their classroom session, learners have already learnt key skills and concepts online. This allows tutors to focus on group work and collaboration which embeds learning, using the tutor resources and detailed analytics available on the VLE to identify and meet the needs of each group of learners. By moving away from simply teaching the syllabus, tutors can deliver bespoke sessions that are truly learner-driven.
Academic expertise: the foundation of our courses
The work of our experienced academic team is at the heart of every Mindful Education course. Academic expertise, consistency and practical application of knowledge ensures that our courses deliver more than just a pass grade.
Our content is expertly crafted and maintained by our subject experts, who have extensive experience in both education and industry, and ensure that our online resources are accurate, relevant and engaging.
Moving beyond ‘teach to test’
We are committed to preparing learners for life beyond the exam hall, using a ‘high challenge, high support’ methodology:
- Scaffolding: videos and activities on our VLEs are scaffolded to support learning, meaning complex topics are deliberately broken down into smaller, manageable chunks.
- Comprehensive feedback: we include self-marking questions and detailed feedback tests to reinforce learning, with extension activities available for learners who need additional practice or are seeking a further challenge.
- Workplace-relevant learning: lesson materials are designed to facilitate practical application in the workplace. We use a range of examples and scenarios to build understanding, helping learners to apply what they’ve learned. The philosophy is to teach to learn – not teach to test.
By combining our in-house academic expertise with forward-thinking pedagogy, learners and tutors can be confident that our courses represent a high-standard of professional learning.
“We employ experienced academics with robust teaching backgrounds to develop our courses, because they don't just understand their subjects: they know how to effectively communicate their knowledge. That expertise is what allows us to create our comprehensive programmes of learning and deliver outstanding outcomes.”
Empowering learners through technology
All of our course content, tutor resources and other tools are hosted on our award-winning virtual learning environment (VLE) – designed and built by our technology team. The VLE is more than just a content hosting platform – it’s a powerful learning tool that delivers our promise of quality, flexibility and accessibility.
Designed to be accessed from any internet-capable device, our VLE allows our courses to flex around each individual learner, empowering them to study on their own terms.
“When we founded Mindful Education, the market didn't offer the intelligent, accessible platform we knew learners were seeking. That's why we built our VLE in-house from the ground up, as it's the only way to guarantee our technology is perfectly aligned with Mindful Education’s core vision.”
Flexibility and support
At the start of their Online and On Campus course, all learners are invited to attend a Mindful Education induction session, to familiarise them with the VLE. As they progress through their studies, learners will benefit from a number of tools available to them:
- Bespoke calendars: every course VLE features a bespoke calendar, which clearly outlines online lesson releases, classroom sessions and assessment dates. This comprehensive overview allows learners to plan study times in advance – as well as to make necessary arrangements to attend on campus sessions
- Support tickets can be raised directly in the VLE: with technical queries sent to the Mindful Education technology team, and academic queries sent to their tutor. We also use an AI-powered technical support tool on certain pages of the VLE, providing access to a range of helpful articles.
- Comprehensive accessibility tools: including subtitles, text-to-speech functionality and compatibility with various screenreaders. Our VLEs offer a highly-accessible learning experience including a double AA rating under Web Content Accessibility Guidance (WCAG)
Personalised learning
Our technology team built our bespoke VLE from scratch. Working in collaboration with our academic team, they have incorporated a number of features that allow learners to access their education according to their needs.
These include:
Our courses feature video content accompanied by various question types to help embed knowledge. Detailed feedback and self-marking questions reinforce learning.
There are a range of essential practice questions and scenarios which learners are expected to complete. Additionally, optional practice questions are available for learners who feel they need to do more or want to be challenged.
Progress checks are embedded in every lesson, and come in various forms such as a series of questions to attempt or written assessments. These allow tutors and learners to monitor progress, highlighting areas to focus on during tutor-led sessions.
We provide a comprehensive PDF of the material covered in each lesson, along with info sheets, how-to guides and full video transcripts – not only aiding accessibility, but also offering an offline means of studying for those who may not have reliable internet access.
To support independent learning, each course includes a clearly structured sequence of learning document which helps learners understand exactly what they are expected to learn, and provides reassurance that all necessary content is covered
Where learners sit an assessment, we provide comprehensive assessment practice and a dedicated ‘planning your revision page’ which offers practical strategies and guidance to help learners structure their study and go into assessments with confidence.
Data-driven teaching
Beyond content delivery, our VLEs are underpinned by a powerful analytics engine, which tracks every aspect of learner engagement, giving tutors real-time visibility into learner progress.
Insights include:
- Log in times and time spent on the platform
- Videos watched and rewatched, broken down into 5 second increments
- Questions attempted and how many times, including what answer has been given for each attempt.
This data allows tutors to prepare bespoke on campus sessions, maximising classroom time by focusing on specific challenges. It also enables timely intervention to support any learners falling behind – positively impacting retention and achievement rates.
From expertise to achievement
Our commitment to building a fundamentally better learning experience runs through every aspect of Mindful Education’s course development, ensuring maximum impact for tutors, learners and employers.
Our use of technology – from AI support tools to data-driven analytics – provides a personalised learning experience which translates to outstanding learner success.
By acting as a dedicated blended learning partner, Mindful Education delivers professional excellence, from meticulous content creation to successful course completion.
Want to know more?
Read part 2 of our ‘The making of a Mindful Education course’ series, which explores how our academic theory extends to the creative process.
Rebecca leads Mindful Education’s content and communications, as well as managing our extensive event exhibition and sponsorship programme.