Is FirstClass free to use?

Yes. The free plan gives you 7,500 words of analysis, 1 essay plan and 3 draft comparisons per month with no credit card required. The Pro plan is £9.99/month for 75,000 words, 10 plans and 20 comparisons per week.

What exam boards does FirstClass support?

FirstClass supports all major UK A-Level exam boards including AQA, OCR, and Edexcel, as well as university-level essays calibrated to Oxford, LSE, and Cambridge marking standards.

Can I cancel my FirstClass subscription anytime?

Yes. You can cancel your Pro subscription at any time from your account settings. You keep Pro access until the end of your current billing period.

Is my essay data private?

Yes. Your essays are stored securely in your private account and are never shared with third parties or used to train AI models.

How accurate is the AI essay marking?

FirstClass scores typically align within 3-5 marks of actual examiner grades. For best accuracy, upload your module mark scheme in Study Tools.

How do I get a first class degree?

First class essays typically share three qualities: a clear sustained argument, evidence that is analysed rather than just cited, and genuine engagement with counter-arguments. FirstClass identifies exactly which of these your essay is missing and shows you how to fix it.

What is the difference between a 2:1 and a first class essay?

A 2:1 essay makes clear arguments and uses evidence competently. A first class essay goes further – it challenges assumptions, engages seriously with complexity, and demonstrates original thinking. FirstClass shows you the exact gap between your current grade and first class with sentence-level rewrites.

Can FirstClass help with essay competitions like John Locke Institute?

Yes. FirstClass has a dedicated Competition and EPQ mode that evaluates originality, intellectual ambition, and argument quality – the criteria that essay competition judges actually use. You can also upload the specific judging criteria for any competition.

How do I improve my essay critical thinking?

Critical thinking in essays means engaging with counter-arguments, questioning assumptions, and evaluating the limits of evidence rather than just presenting it. FirstClass uses a sentence heatmap to identify which sentences are analytical versus merely descriptive, and gives specific suggestions for adding critical depth.

Is FirstClass suitable for EPQ?

Yes. FirstClass has a Competition and EPQ mode specifically designed for extended project qualifications. It evaluates your essay against EPQ criteria including originality, research depth, and independent thinking rather than standard mark scheme criteria.

AI Essay Feedback for University Students

Tells you exactly what's holding back your grade

FirstClass analyses your essays the way a top university examiner would – not for grammar, but for the quality of your argument, the depth of your thinking, and what's missing that would take you to a First.

Start for free – no card needed See how it works ↓

Built at LSE · Sources verified · OpenAlex · Crossref · 250m+ papers

Essay score

First

Argument

78%

Critical thinking

72%

Academic style

80%

Evidence

65%

Biggest gap

Counter-arguments are acknowledged but not engaged with analytically. State why they fail, not just that they do.

Missing thinking No causal chain – why does this matter?

Source found Foucault, Discipline and Punish (1975)

How it works

From draft to First-Class
in three steps

Paste your essay

Paste any essay – whether it's a first draft or final version. Select your subject and mode (University or Competition/EPQ) to calibrate the feedback.

→

Get examiner feedback

FirstClass analyses argument quality, critical depth, missing thinking, evidence use, and academic style – then scores each dimension and identifies your single biggest gap.

→

See exactly what to fix

Get specific source suggestions, sentence rewrites showing exactly what stronger writing looks like, and a checklist of criteria assessed against your work.

Features

Everything an examiner
would tell you – but won't

Core feature

Missing thinking detection

Most AI tools fix grammar. FirstClass identifies what's absent from your argument – missing counter-arguments, weak causal links, lack of depth, underdeveloped analysis. The things that separate a 2:1 from a First.

Example output

No counter-argument to Foucault's critics – Fraser's objection is mentioned but never analysed

Causal link missing – explain why normalisation produces self-regulation, not just that it does

Examiner

Dual-level marking

Assessed against university standards (Oxford, LSE, Cambridge) or competition judging criteria. Upload your own mark scheme for subject-specific feedback.

Research

Source suggestions

Every key claim gets a specific academic source – book, journal or institution – plus a real-world case study, with guidance on how to integrate it into your sentence.

Fact-checked

Verified sources – not hallucinated ones

Every suggested source is cross-referenced in real time against three independent academic databases. You get a live DOI link and citation count – so you can check before you cite.

OpenAlex · Crossref · Semantic Scholar

250m+ academic papers indexed

Writing

Sentence rewrites

FirstClass picks a weak sentence from your essay and rewrites it twice – once to 2:1 level, once to First-Class level – so you can see exactly what elite academic writing looks like.

Planning

Essay planner

Generate a First-Class outline from your question before you write. Input your thesis and word limit, and get a structured plan calibrated to your subject and level.

Progress

Grade tracking

Save essays to your account and watch your grade improve over time. A dashboard charts your progression, average score, and trend across all your drafts.

Sources fact-checked against

OpenAlex 250m+ papers

Crossref DOI registry

Semantic Scholar AI-powered index

Real DOI links · Live citation counts · No hallucinated references

See it in action

What you actually get
after an analysis

Two of the features students find most useful – verified sources they can actually cite, and rewrites that show exactly what First-Class writing looks like.

Verified sources – live from OpenAlex & Crossref

Specific sources to strengthen your key claims.

Fisher, M.L. (1997). What Is the Right Supply Chain for Your Product? Harvard Business Review

9/10

Directly addresses supply chain strategy for functional vs innovative products – core framework for evaluating operational design trade-offs.

HBR, Vol. 75, No. 2, pp. 105–116 4,800+ citations

Verified source

↗ View on HBR ↗ Semantic Scholar

Lee, H.L., Padmanabhan, V. & Whang, S. (1997). The Bullwhip Effect in Supply Chains. Sloan Management Review

8/10

Explains demand variability amplification upstream – directly relevant to supply chain coordination challenges and efficiency trade-offs.

Sloan Management Review, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 93–102 3,200+ citations

Verified source

↗ View on MIT Sloan Review ↗ Semantic Scholar

Sentence rewrite – 2:1 → First-Class

A weak sentence upgraded, with a line-by-line explanation of what changes.

Original

"Keynesian fiscal policy can be used by governments to stimulate economic growth during a recession."

2:1 version

Keynesian fiscal policy operates through the multiplier effect, whereby deficit-financed government expenditure generates successive rounds of consumer spending, amplifying aggregate demand beyond the initial injection.

First-Class

While Keynesian multiplier theory predicts that deficit-financed expenditure amplifies aggregate demand, the empirical validity of this mechanism depends critically on the state of the output gap and the degree of Ricardian equivalence – conditions that Blanchard and Leigh (2013) demonstrate were systematically misjudged by the IMF during post-2010 austerity, suggesting the policy's effectiveness is highly context-contingent rather than reliably counter-cyclical.

💡 First-Class writing doesn't just apply a framework – it interrogates the conditions under which it holds, then supports the challenge with specific evidence.

Sentence heatmap

See your essay like an examiner does

Every sentence colour-coded by type. Green = analytical. Purple = critical thinking. Blue = evidence. Amber = descriptive. Red = unsupported claim. Click any sentence for specific feedback.

Analytical Critical Evidence-backed Descriptive Unsupported

Analytical

22%

Critical

14%

Evidence

14%

Descriptive

22%

Unsupported

28%

Personal analytics

Know exactly where to focus next

After each essay, FirstClass AI tracks your skill profile across critical thinking, evidence use, argument structure, and style – then tells you the one thing that will move your grade.

Biggest gap Strongest skill Fastest win

+11%

average grade improvement

3.2×

faster skill development

Priority focus

Improve Critical Thinking → +2 marks to 2:1

At 58% avg – one targeted essay gets you over the boundary

Strongest Style · 68%

Fastest win Evidence · 1 mark away

Trend ↑ +4 marks

Argument map

See your argument structure

After every analysis, FirstClass maps your essay as an interactive web – showing what's connected, what's weak, and exactly where the gaps are.

Economics 68 / 100 · 2:1

Thesis Argument Evidence Missing counter-arg Weak / gap

Hover nodes to explore · Drag to rearrange · Filter by type

Early access

Be among the first to use it

FirstClass is in early access. We're giving free Pro access to students who try it now and share honest feedback – good or bad. Just a tool we're building in the open.

Try it free – no card needed

No fake testimonials

We haven't filled this page with made-up reviews. When real students share results, we'll add them.

Free for early users

5 analyses free every month, forever. No credit card. If it doesn't help your grade, you've lost nothing.

Built on feedback

Every feature was built from a real frustration with essay feedback. If something's missing, tell us – we ship fast.

How we compare

Built for essays.
Not bolted on.

ChatGPT gives generic feedback. Grammarly checks grammar. FirstClass AI is the only tool calibrated to how university examiners actually mark.

	FirstClass AI	ChatGPT	Grammarly
Examiner-calibrated grade	✓	–	–
Sentence heatmap	✓	–	–
Argument map	✓	–	–
Verified academic sources	✓	–	–
Essay planner	✓	–	–
Missing argument detection	✓	partial	–
Grammar & spelling	partial	partial	✓
Price	Free · £9.99/mo	£20/mo	£12/mo

Pricing

Simple pricing.
Start free, always.

Free

£0/month

Everything you need to understand what's holding your essays back.

✓ 7,500 words analysis per month
✓ Full examiner feedback
✓ Missing thinking detection
✓ Sentence heatmap & argument map
✓ Essay planner – 1 per month (thesis & tip only)
✓ Draft comparison – 3 per week
✓ Grade history (last 5 essays)
– Full paragraph structure
– Source verification
– Sentence rewrites
– PDF report download

Get started free

The feedback gap is real

Most students get an essay back with a grade and two lines of comments. That's not enough to improve. FirstClass was built by an LSE student frustrated by the lack of real guidance – the kind that tells you not just what grade you got, but exactly why, and exactly how to close the gap.

LSE

Built at LSE

London School of Economics

Built by an LSE student to solve a real problem – students rarely get the guidance they need to actually improve. Calibrated to Oxford, LSE, and Cambridge standards.

✉

Get in touch

We read everything

Thoughts, feedback, bugs, feature requests – hello@1stclass-ai.com. We reply to every email.

Try it now

Paste a paragraph.
See what an examiner sees.

No account needed. Paste any paragraph from your essay and get instant feedback.

0 words

FAQ

Common questions

Yes – no credit card required. You get 7,500 words of analysis per month, 1 essay plan per month, and 3 draft comparisons per week. No hidden fees.

Yes. Cancel from your account settings with one click. You keep Pro access until the end of your current billing period. No questions asked.

If you haven't used any analyses in your first 14 days, contact us at hello@1stclass-ai.com for a full refund. After that, we don't offer refunds for the current billing period – but you can cancel to stop future charges.

University marking is calibrated to Oxford, LSE, and Cambridge standards. Competition/EPQ mode evaluates originality, intellectual ambition, and argument quality. Upload your own mark scheme for subject-specific feedback.

Yes. Essays are stored securely in your private account and never shared with third parties or used to train AI models. You can export or delete all your data from your profile at any time.

No. FirstClass analyses and gives feedback on essays you write. You remain the author. It's a feedback and learning tool – always check your institution's policy on AI tools before using.

Scores typically align within 3–5 marks of actual examiner grades – similar to the variation between two human markers. For best accuracy, upload your module's mark scheme. All scores include a confidence range.

Yes – History, Economics, Law, Politics, Philosophy, Literature, Psychology, Sociology, Biology, Geography, Business, and more. Upload a mark scheme for any subject not listed and FirstClass will adapt to it.