Source: https://mokxi.com/schools/uk
Updated: 2026-11-08

For schools in the UK

# Electronics and Arduino simulation for UK secondary schools

UK curriculum codes, KS3 to A level, mapped to what a class can do in a browser. Prices in pounds.

Set up a class Prices in GBP

On this page

- Key Stage 3 Design and Technology: programmable components
- GCSE Design and Technology: AQA 8552, OCR J310, Edexcel 1DT0
- GCSE Computer Science: embedded systems in AQA 8525, OCR J277 and Edexcel 1CP2
- A level: OCR H446, AQA 7517 and WJEC Eduqas Electronics A490QS
- Scotland: SQA National 5 Engineering Science, C823 75
- What a class does in Mokxi
- Prices in pounds
- What your network manager and data protection lead will ask
- The US version of this page
- Sources

Where the KS3 D&T wording on programmable components, the GCSE D&T and Computer Science specifications, OCR and AQA A level Computer Science, Eduqas A level Electronics and SQA National 5 Engineering Science meet what a class can do in a browser, with prices in pounds.

This page is for heads of D&T, Computing and Engineering departments who want to know, before a trial, which parts of their specification a browser simulator can carry. Every code and quotation below is taken from the awarding body’s own document, linked under Sources. Mokxi has not been reviewed or endorsed by AQA, OCR, Pearson, WJEC Eduqas or the SQA; the mapping is ours, and where a specification asks for something the simulator does not do, this page says so.

## Key Stage 3 Design and Technology: programmable components

The national curriculum for Key Stage 3 asks students to “understand how more advanced electrical and electronic systems can be powered and used in their products” and to “apply computing and use electronics to embed intelligence in products that respond to inputs [for example, sensors], and control outputs [for example, actuators], using programmable components [for example, microcontrollers]”. That sentence is a description of an Arduino lesson: a sensor on an input pin, a decision in code, an output that moves or lights.

A Year 8 or Year 9 class can start on the beginner Arduino projects with no kit at all, and the Arduino programming pack gives a department the sequence from blink to a sensor-driven output. Each circuit opens in the editor and runs on a simulated Uno.

## GCSE Design and Technology: AQA 8552, OCR J310, Edexcel 1DT0

All three GCSE D&T specifications carry the same core idea in slightly different words. AQA 8552, section 3.1.4 (Systems approach to designing): “Students should consider electronic systems including programmable components to provide functionality to products and processes”. Its inputs are “light sensors, temperature sensors, pressure sensors and switches”, its processes “programming microcontrollers as counters, timers and for decision making”, and its outputs “buzzers, speakers and lamps”.

OCR J310 lists among its core content “The use of programmable components such as microcontrollers, to embed functionality into products” in order to enhance and customize how they operate (OCR’s text spells that verb the British way), with inputs that include “light dependent resistors (LDR)”, “tilt switches, push-to-make switches and time-delay switches”, and outputs of LEDs, speakers, buzzers and motors.

Pearson Edexcel 1DT0, core content 1.6 and 1.7: “How electronic systems provide functionality to products and processes, including sensors and control devices to respond to a variety of inputs, and devices to produce a range of outputs”, then programmable components, broken into “1.7.1 How to make use of flowcharts. 1.7.2 How to switch outputs on/off in relation to inputs and decisions.” and 1.7.3, processing and responding to analog inputs.

In Mokxi the LDR, thermistor, push switch, LED, buzzer and small motor are all parts on the bench, and the microcontroller is a real compiled sketch. The intro to electronics pack covers the input and output components; the programming pack covers counters, timers and decisions. Where a board asks for a PIC by name, the simulator offers an Arduino instead: the systems thinking transfers, the chip does not.

## GCSE Computer Science: embedded systems in AQA 8525, OCR J277 and Edexcel 1CP2

Each GCSE Computer Science specification names embedded systems inside its hardware topic. AQA 8525, section 3.4 (Computer systems): “Understand the term embedded system and explain how an embedded system differs from a non-embedded system”, with students expected to “give examples of embedded and non-embedded systems”. OCR J277, topic 1.1.3: “The purpose and characteristics of embedded systems” and “Examples of embedded systems”. Pearson Edexcel 1CP2, topic 3.1.3: “understand the concept of an embedded system and what embedded systems are used for”.

This is a small slice of each course, and a simulator earns its place by making the abstract concrete in one lesson: students write the code of an embedded system, watch it run against a sensor, and can then say from experience what makes it different from the laptop in front of them. The digital electronics guide for Chromebooks is the lesson to start from in a computing suite.

## A level: OCR H446, AQA 7517 and WJEC Eduqas Electronics A490QS

OCR A Level Computer Science H446 covers “1.1 The characteristics of contemporary processors, input, output and storage devices”, including “1.1.1 Structure and function of the processor” and “1.1.3 Input, output and storage”, and 1.2.1(e) lists “Distributed, embedded, multi-tasking, multi-user and Real Time operating systems”. AQA A-level Computer Science 7517 has a section titled “4.6 Fundamentals of computer systems” and a section 4.7 on computer organization and architecture; we have read the section titles and make no claim about their detailed wording.

The closest fit at this level is WJEC Eduqas A level Electronics (A490QS). Component 2, Application of Electronics, topic 3 Microcontrollers “covers the microcontroller as a programable integrated circuit (PIC) and its internal structure” and how microcontrollers are interfaced and programmed; learners analyze and design “flowchart programs to program microcontrollers”, and Task 1 of the non-exam assessment, worth 20 marks, “involves the development of a microcontroller system”. The quotations keep the specification’s own spelling of programable; the verb analyze is ours.

For sixth-form electronics and engineering, the digital electronics labs and the EE lab track take students through logic, timing and microcontroller interfacing with a logic analyzer and oscilloscope on the bench. Prototyping a microcontroller system in the simulator before soldering is exactly what a Task 1 development log wants to show; whether simulated evidence counts toward any particular mark is the awarding body’s call, not ours.

## Scotland: SQA National 5 Engineering Science, C823 75

The SQA course specification (course code C823 75, course assessment code X823 75, SCQF level 5) asks for “knowledge and understanding of key concepts related to electronic and microcontroller-based systems and their application”, has a content area on microcontroller systems under the heading Digital, and says that “programming of microcontroller systems should progress from the use of flowcharts”. A class can draw the flowchart on paper, write it as an Arduino sketch in Mokxi, and see the two agree on the simulated board.

## What a class does in Mokxi

- Every student builds and runs their own circuit in the browser on the free plan: no account is needed to open a project, and nothing is installed on a school machine.
- The compiler runs in the browser too, so a locked-down network needs only a few domains allowed; the readiness test checks a Chromebook on the school network in one click.
- When the department does buy hardware for the build weeks, the same sketch uploads to a real Uno from Chrome or Edge over USB, so the simulated prototype and the physical one are one file.
- A teacher makes a class with a join code, hands out a starter circuit, sets automatic checks on an assignment, and sees every student’s screen from the front; the classroom guide walks through it.

## Prices in pounds

The free plan is free, for every student and every teacher, with no time limit. Pro for one person is about £6.07 a month or about £46 a year, and a verified student pays about £3.03 a month or about £23 a year (the student discount). The United Kingdom has no regional price, so these are the list prices converted. Classroom, which puts a whole class on Pro, is £7.59 a student a year from 5 students, the teacher’s own seat free. Every school can try Classroom with one class free for 30 days without a card.

Estimated in GBP. Stripe confirms the exact local amount before payment.

The pricing page shows the same figures in your own currency and sells them.

## What your network manager and data protection lead will ask

- Mokxi is a web page. It runs in Chrome or Edge on a Chromebook, a Windows laptop or a Mac with no app, extension or driver; the IT setup page lists the domains to allow and has an email to forward.
- The student data privacy page says what we collect about a student, that there are no ads and no profiling on class pages, and that a closed class deletes its roster and submissions at once.
- Classes use six-character join codes, and assignment checks run on the real simulation engine, so marking a set of blink sketches is minutes rather than an evening; see the teacher guide.
- Classroom can be paid on an invoice against a purchase order, and a school can get a written quote from the classroom page.

## The US version of this page

If you also teach in, or compare notes with, a US department, the equivalent material is the NGSS, CSTA and ISTE standards map, how US schools pay for a lab and the engineering units mapped to NGSS and CSTA.

## Sources

- National curriculum in England: design and technology, Key Stage 3 (GOV.UK)
- AQA GCSE Design and Technology 8552 specification (PDF)
- OCR GCSE Design and Technology J310 specification (PDF)
- Pearson Edexcel GCSE Design and Technology 1DT0 specification (PDF)
- AQA GCSE Computer Science 8525 specification (PDF)
- OCR GCSE Computer Science J277 specification (PDF)
- Pearson Edexcel GCSE Computer Science 1CP2 specification (PDF)
- OCR A Level Computer Science H446 specification (PDF)
- AQA A-level Computer Science 7517
- WJEC Eduqas A level Electronics specification (PDF)
- SQA National 5 Engineering Science course specification (PDF)

FAQ

## Questions from UK departments

Prices in GBP, as a visitor from United Kingdom sees them on the pricing page.

Does Mokxi cover the electronic systems content of GCSE Design and Technology?

It covers the parts that run in a simulator: input components such as LDRs, thermistors and switches, outputs such as LEDs, buzzers and motors, and a microcontroller programmed as a counter, a timer or a decision maker. It does not replace soldering, PCB work or any specific chip a board names, such as a PIC.

Can students use the simulator for the Eduqas A level Electronics microcontroller task?

Students can design and test a microcontroller system in Mokxi before they build it, and the project saves every version for a development log. Whether simulated work counts toward a particular assessment objective is for WJEC Eduqas and your moderator to decide; we make no claim about marks.

Will it run on our school Chromebooks behind a web filter?

Yes. The simulator and the compiler run in the browser, with a few domains to allow in the filter. The readiness page tests a Chromebook on your network in one click and tells you what, if anything, is blocked.

What does it cost a UK school?

Nothing for the free plan. Pro is about £6.07 a month, the student price is about £3.03 a month, and Classroom is £7.59 a student a year from 5 students, paid by card or on an invoice against a purchase order.

Is Mokxi endorsed by AQA, OCR, Pearson, WJEC Eduqas or the SQA?

No. None of the awarding bodies has reviewed or endorsed Mokxi. The mapping on this page is ours, built from their published specifications, and it names what the simulator does not do as well as what it does.

Elsewhere

## Mokxi for schools in other countries

India ATL, CBSE and NEP 2020. Australia Australian Curriculum v9.0 codes. Canada Ontario TEJ, BC ADST, Alberta CTS. United States Title IV-A, Perkins V and local grants.

## Simulate your circuit in minutes. Build it for real with Pro.

Start free