About Starlight
Starlight is an AI teaching coach that turns audio recordings of lessons into private, research-backed coaching feedback for teachers and anonymised teaching insight for school and trust leaders.
Built in the UK by Star21 Limited. Founded in 2025, piloted in three UK schools that summer and launched commercially in September 2025.
What Starlight does
Lesson feedback reports
Upload an audio recording of any lesson and receive a structured coaching report grounded in the transcript, typically within two to three minutes. Each report sets out strengths to build on, areas to explore and practical next steps, so teachers can act on feedback the same day.
Lesson Insights
The Insights tab measures teacher talk time, question types, pace and pupil response in every recorded lesson. Teachers can hear how their lessons really sound, which makes patterns such as over-explaining or closed questioning easy to spot and change.
Organisation Templates
Schools and trusts can load their own teaching framework or development priorities as feedback templates, with no limit on how many they create. Feedback then uses the language of the school’s own CPD rather than a generic rubric.
Lesson Toolkit
The Lesson Toolkit turns a recorded lesson into follow-up resources: a learning intentions summary, homework suggestions, retrieval questions and emails for absent pupils. Teachers review everything before they use it, which saves planning time after each lesson.
Constellation leadership dashboard
Constellation brings together anonymised, aggregated patterns from participating teachers’ lessons, with no identifiable data. Leaders can see which teaching priorities are showing up across a school or trust and focus professional learning where it will help most.
StarDrive lesson recorders
StarDrives are plug-and-play USB recorders that capture lesson audio with no camera and no setup. Individual teachers can add one for £15 plus £2 delivery, and Launchpad pilot schools receive five.
What makes Starlight different
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01
No camera in the classroom
Starlight only needs the audio of a lesson, captured on a StarDrive or any device with a microphone. Pupils’ faces are never recorded, and teachers can teach naturally instead of performing for a camera.
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02
Feedback in minutes, not weeks
A coaching report is typically ready two to three minutes after upload, while the lesson is still fresh. Teachers can act on it in their very next lesson instead of waiting for the next observation cycle.
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Teachers can start on their own
Teachers and tutors can subscribe individually for £15 a month or £150 a year, after a 14-day free trial with no card required. Plans run month to month and can be cancelled at any time, and existing reports stay accessible afterwards.
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04
A four-week free pilot for five teachers
Launchpad gives a school four weeks of free access for up to five teachers, with five StarDrive recorders shipped to the school and no automatic renewal. Schools see how Starlight works with their own staff before committing.
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Private by default
Each coaching report is private to the teacher who recorded the lesson, and leaders see only anonymised, aggregated patterns, with no teacher ranking or performance-management function. Schools remain the Data Controller, and data is hosted in European data centres in Germany and Finland.
Who uses Starlight
- Classroom teachers in UK primary, secondary and special schools who want private feedback on their own lessons
- Early Career Teachers and their mentors, with feedback aligned to the ITTECF
- Instructional coaches and senior leaders who want to extend coaching between observations
- Multi-academy trusts that want anonymised insight into teaching priorities across their schools
- Initial teacher training providers supporting trainee teachers
- Private tutors reviewing their own sessions
- Careers advisers, through the dedicated Careers Advisor plan and Careers Report
- Educators outside the UK, including in Asia and Africa, with the US a growing focus
The team behind Starlight
Starlight is built by Star21 Limited, a UK education technology company founded in April 2025 by a chartered accountant, a school leader and a CTO. We piloted Starlight in three UK schools in May and June 2025 and launched it commercially in September 2025.
We started from a belief set out in our Trust Pledge: technology should serve reflection, not surveillance. As a small, specialist team, we listen closely to our partner schools and improve the platform based on their feedback.
“We set out to solve a structural problem in teacher development: high-quality feedback is the engine of professional growth, but in most schools it remains too infrequent because observation and coaching are difficult to scale.”
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Tim Chapman
Co-founder, operations
Tim is a chartered accountant and leads STAR21’s operations. He oversees the day-to-day running of the company, bringing a chartered accountant’s rigour to how Starlight plans, delivers and grows.
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Adam Sturdee
Co-founder, education and product
Adam is Assistant Headteacher for Teaching and Learning at a Catholic secondary school in Wiltshire, with twenty-two years in schools. A history teacher by training and a former SSAT National Trainer, he guides Starlight’s education strategy, product direction and practitioner research.
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Enzo Zadrima
Co-founder, engineering
Enzo is a seasoned CTO, software engineer and entrepreneur who has been writing code since the age of ten. He has built and led SaaS products as a technology leader and as a founder. At Starlight, he leads engineering and the AI behind every coaching report.
Follow Starlight on X (@STAR21Starlight), YouTube and EdTech Impact.
How Starlight works
Communication
Contact us through our contact form or at info@starlightmentor.com. Teachers can also reach us from inside the platform.
Response times
We typically respond within 24 hours.
Who you work with
Schools and trusts get dedicated onboarding and an account manager, and larger rollouts can have a named support contact. Launchpad schools receive priority onboarding.
Turnaround
Uploading a lesson takes less than a minute. The coaching report is typically ready two to three minutes later and arrives by email.
Onboarding
Most teachers are up and running within minutes. We provide a short onboarding video, a quick-start guide, and optional live demos or staff briefings for schools. StarDrives ship directly to your school within 3–5 days.
Leaving Starlight
If a school stops using Starlight, its recordings, transcripts and reports are deleted or returned within 90 days, as set out in our Data Processing Agreement. Teachers can delete their own recordings at any time.
Key facts
| Company Name | Starlight, a product of Star21 Limited (registered in England and Wales, company number 16357762) |
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| Type | AI teaching coach (education technology, software as a service) |
| Founded | 2025. Star21 Limited was incorporated on 1 April 2025, piloted Starlight in three UK schools from May to June 2025 and launched it commercially in September 2025. |
| Founder | Tim Chapman, Adam Sturdee and Enzo Zadrima, co-founders and directors of Star21 Limited |
| Headquarters | Warminster, Wiltshire, England (registered office) |
| Website | starlightmentor.com |
| Core Offering | Private AI coaching reports from audio recordings of lessons, typically ready within two to three minutes |
| Pricing | Teachers and tutors: £15 a month or £150 a year. Careers Advisor plan: £25 a month or £250 a year. Schools and trusts: priced by quote. Free trials for individuals and a free Launchpad pilot for schools. |
| Contract Terms | Individual plans are monthly or yearly with no minimum term and can be cancelled at any time. Schools start with a free four-week Launchpad pilot that does not renew automatically, then subscribe annually. |
| Services | Lesson feedback reports, Lesson Insights, Organisation Templates, Lesson Toolkit, Constellation leadership dashboard, StarDrive lesson recorders |
| Communication | Contact form and email (info@starlightmentor.com), typically answered within 24 hours. Dedicated account manager for schools and trusts. |
| Notable Clients | The Careers People; the secondary academy in our published case study |
| Customers Served | Teachers, schools, multi-academy trusts, initial teacher training providers, tutors and careers advisers in the UK, with users in Asia and Africa |
| Projects Delivered | 1,152 lessons analysed at one secondary academy in a single academic year. Read the case study |
| Social | X (@STAR21Starlight), YouTube, EdTech Impact |
Frequently asked questions
What is Starlight?
Starlight is an AI teaching coach made by Star21 Limited, a UK company. Teachers upload an audio recording of a lesson and receive a private coaching report on their questioning, explanations, classroom talk and teacher talk time within minutes.
Who owns Starlight?
Starlight is owned and operated by Star21 Limited, registered in England and Wales with company number 16357762. It was co-founded in 2025 by Tim Chapman, Adam Sturdee and Enzo Zadrima, who are also its directors.
Does Starlight record video?
No. Starlight works from lesson audio alone, recorded on a StarDrive or any device with a microphone, so no camera is needed in the classroom. Teachers who already have video recordings can upload those too.
How much does Starlight cost?
Teachers and tutors pay £15 a month or £150 a year after a 14-day free trial, and the Careers Advisor plan is £25 a month or £250 a year. Whole-school and trust pricing is tailored to each organisation and quoted on request.
Is there a contract or minimum term?
Individual plans have no minimum term and can be cancelled at any time. Schools start with a free four-week Launchpad pilot that does not renew automatically, then move to an annual subscription if they choose to continue.
Can a teacher use Starlight without their school?
Yes. Teachers and tutors can subscribe on their own. Tutors can start their free trial straight away, while classroom teachers need a senior leader to authorise their trial so that recording stays aligned with school policies.
How quickly do teachers get feedback?
Uploading a lesson takes less than a minute, and the coaching report is typically ready two to three minutes later. It arrives by email, so teachers can read it while the lesson is still fresh.
Can school leaders see individual teachers’ reports?
No. Coaching reports are private to the teacher, and leaders see only anonymised, aggregated patterns in the Constellation dashboard. Teachers can choose to bring their own feedback into a coaching conversation.
Where is Starlight’s data stored?
Data is hosted in secure European data centres in Germany and Finland. Starlight complies with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and schools remain the Data Controller at all times.
More questions are answered in our full FAQ.
See Starlight with your own lessons
Book a demo for your school or trust, or start a free Launchpad pilot for up to five teachers.