A pioneering project exploring the use of mixed reality (MR) that personalises assessment and learning through advanced diagnostics and AI technology has found that learners can experience a positive increase in confidence and understanding.  

Metaverse Learning was awarded £50,000 by the Assessment Innovation Fund (AIF), supported by Ufi VocTech Trust and NCFE, to develop and test a platform that overcomes current MR limitations by adapting to individual abilities, making training more accessible and effective for diverse learning needs. 

Focusing on a cohort of 30 nursing and healthcare learners due to the relevance of scenario-based learning in clinical education, participants reported a significant increase in clinical reasoning, rising from just 4% pre-trial to 60% afterwards. 

The majority of learners (60%) also found the use of adaptive scenarios more engaging than standard training, and 100% of participants valued the AI chatbot for subject-specific support and improving their understanding.  

Jason Hold, CEO and Co-founder of Metaverse Learning, said: “There was an improvement in accessibility through voice control, subtitles, visual themes, helping learners with barriers to engage with this material. The AI chat and adaptive questions came out as being the most valued features. 

“In terms of our plans going forward, we want to expand the trial to a larger cohort and larger number of control groups, addressing some of the voice recognition issues which we have already done since launching the pilot.” 

The mixed reality scenario placed learners in a hospital room tasked with diagnosing a patient and providing appropriate care. All learners began the scenario at the same level, with progression based on their performance. Learners were provided with a range of accessibility features, including voice control, subtitles, and adjustable settings to support diverse learner needs. 

Question difficulty adapted based on learner response time, accuracy, and confidence levels. Initial findings suggest that this approach was effective in personalising assessment, and 100% of participants agreed that adaptive learning environments should be implemented more widely. 

The research was made possible by NCFE’s Assessment Innovation Fund. Launched in 2021 to help provide evidence-based, alternative assessment solutions with real-life impact, it has already invested over £1 million across a range of innovative projects. 

Dr Rebecca Conway, Director of Research and Innovation at NCFE, said: "At NCFE, we’re proud that the Assessment Innovation Fund is enabling organisations like Metaverse Learning to test pioneering assessment approaches that harness AI and adaptive technology to improve accessibility, confidence, and progression for learners.  

“By supporting projects such as this, we’re helping to build an evidence base around what works in practice, and we’re committed to sharing these insights widely so the whole sector can benefit." 

Through the project, Metaverse Learning has demonstrated early promise in using adaptive and AI-powered technologies to personalise learning and support differentiated progression. Learners valued the flexibility, accessibility, and tailored support offered by the scenario, but technical improvements and further evaluation are recommended to strengthen reliability and impact at scale. 

The project team will now explore improvements to speech recognition and scenario contextualisation, alongside developing more intuitive interfaces such as avatar-led interaction. Future trials will expand to a broader learner base and will include objective performance measures to validate learning outcomes.  

NCFE will also work with partners to align adaptive features with curriculum standards and educator practice, supporting wider adoption across vocational education. 

To discover more about the pilot and read the final report, visit this page.