Old Member Dr Sarah Rudebeck wins £75,000 award for AI learning tool

Dr Sarah Rudebeck, a senior NHS clinical psychologist, has won a £75,000 Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award to bring an AI memory and learning tool into schools for children with special educational needs. 

Dr Rudebeck is one of 61 winners chosen from a record 1,590 applications to Innovate UK's Women in Innovation programme. The award will fund a 12-month project adapting Recallify, the AI-powered memory and learning app she co-founded, into a classroom tool for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). 

The award lands as demand on England's SEND system reaches its highest recorded level. In June 2026, the Department for Education reported that over 1.8 million pupils now receive SEN support or hold an Education, Health and Care Plan. This represents more than one in five pupils in England. 

Dr Rudebeck, who works in paediatric neuropsychology at King's College Hospital, said the idea for Recallify Classroom grew directly out of what she was seeing in clinic: 

'In clinic I saw young people with SEND return to school without the support they needed, unable to keep up, and some stop attending altogether. They deserve technology as current as the tools being built for business. Recallify Classroom will test whether AI can support their independent learning and memory through something as simple as transcribing and summarising their own lessons. We need to innovate faster for young people with special educational needs.'

The 12-month project will adapt Recallify for use in schools and colleges. It works from a child's own notes, recordings and lesson materials, generating short summaries, practice quizzes and reminders that match what was actually taught in lessons, rather than generic content. 

Recallify itself has its roots at New College, where co-founders Sarah Rudebeck (matr. 2008) and Berkan Sesen (matr. 2009) were both postgraduates. The pair went on to co-found Recallify together in 2024. The app has since been used by around 3,000 individuals with cognitive and learning differences. You can find out more about Recallify here. 

Each Women in Innovation winner receives £75,000 alongside 12 months of business support, training and networking as part of a programme marking its tenth anniversary this year. Since 2016 the awards have invested over £15 million in 260 women founders, building a community of more than 11,000 women business leaders.