What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. The same rules also cover anything else a site saves on your device, such as local storage. We treat all of it the same way, whatever the technology behind it.

Essential cookies (always on)

These are needed to run PrepWise. Without them you cannot sign in or keep your revision progress, so they cannot be turned off:

Firebase Authentication cookies: keep you signed in securely and maintain your session
Local storage: saves your study progress, revision history, preferences and app state on your own device
Your cookie choice: a small cookie named pw_consent remembers the choice you made in the banner, so we do not ask again on every visit
Signing in without losing activity: gcse-preauth-events holds a short list of what you did on the page in the moments before you finish signing in, so nothing is lost while your account loads. It clears itself once you are signed in, or when you close the tab.
Counting one visit as one visit: __pwSessionVisitTracked notes that this tab has already been counted as today's session, so refreshing the page does not count it twice. It clears when you close the tab.
Your streak, XP and badges: gcse-gamification-default (the ending changes to match your own profile) saves your own streak, XP and badges to your account, the same way the rest of your revision progress is saved.
Which account this device belongs to: gcse-progress-owner-uid remembers which account's progress is currently saved on this device, so if someone else signs in on a shared device, their progress never gets mixed up with yours.

Cookies we only use if you say yes

These tell us which pages helped someone find PrepWise, so we can make more of what works. They are off unless you choose "Accept all", and choosing "Essential only" deletes any that were already set:

pw_ext_src and pw_mkt_land: record which site sent you here (for example a search engine or a social network) and which page you landed on first. They last 30 minutes.
gcse-utm: stores campaign labels from a link you clicked, for up to 30 days, so we can tell which of our own posts are useful.

These are shared between prepwise.uk and app.prepwise.uk so that we only ask you once. They are not used to follow you around other websites, they are not sold or shared with advertisers, and we do not use advertising cookies at all.

App extras we only turn on if you say yes

The app also keeps a few things on your device that are not your revision progress itself, just a layer on top of it. They stay off, and nothing is saved, until you choose "Accept all":

In-app notifications: gcse-notification-feed-default and gcse-notification-state-default remember which in-app nudges you have already seen, so we do not show you the same one twice.
How you use the app: gcse-profile-signal-log-default keeps a short rolling history (up to three weeks) of how often and how you study, used only to make the app's own tone and nudges fit you better.

Analytics that needs no cookies

We use Vercel Web Analytics and Speed Insights to count page views and measure how quickly pages load. These store nothing at all on your device and do not identify you, which is why they are not part of the choice above.

We also collect anonymous information about how our pages perform and are used, so we can keep the site working smoothly for you. Nothing is stored on your device and nothing identifies you.

Because PrepWise is for under 18s

PrepWise is built for students aged 14 to 16, so we follow the ICO Age Appropriate Design Code. Anything that is not strictly necessary is off by default, and saying no is exactly as easy as saying yes. We will never nag you to change a no.

Changing your mind

You can change your answer at any time in Settings inside the app, under Privacy. Switching to essential only deletes the optional cookies straight away.

You can also manage or delete cookies in your browser. Removing the essential ones will sign you out and stop PrepWise working:

Changes to this policy

If we ever add a cookie that needs your permission, we will update this page and ask you again. A yes you gave to an earlier version of this policy does not carry over to a new one.

Contact

If you have questions about our use of cookies, contact us at info@prepwise.uk.

Cookie Policy