The journey
to BeyondClass.
A place to work things out, test yourself and learn with mates. Here’s how we built it.
AI Helped Me Ship Faster. A Passing Build Wasn’t Enough.
The journey from BandUp to BeyondClass—and what we learned about AI-assisted development, security, and testing before trusting a passing build.
Read the full story on MediumIt started with the next question.
A worked answer can make sense when you read it. Trying the next question on your own is another matter. Sometimes you need another example; sometimes a mate’s explanation makes the difference.
I wanted BeyondClass to bring those moments together for NSW Year 11 and 12 students. The first version let students browse questions, sign in and submit material for approval. From there, it grew through small changes, testing and feedback.
Three ways to have a go.
Quick practice gives you a few questions to work through and compare with worked answers. Practice tests combine published packs from one subject, at your own pace or against a timer. Live Quiz brings mates into the same room with a PIN.
The community connects them: ask about a step, share a useful question or explain something that finally clicked. Students can save questions and attempts to return to later.
AI-assisted. Carefully checked.
The site uses Next.js, React and TypeScript, hosted on Vercel. Supabase provides authentication and PostgreSQL storage for questions, private study work and quiz state. Changes go through a preview deployment before production.
AI helped with code, question drafts, explanations and review scripts. It made ideas quicker to try. Deciding whether the result was useful—and checking it—still took work.
Inside the study session
Some fixes were small but made a real difference: acknowledging a quiz answer immediately, putting a warning beside the button that triggered it, and making completed rooms finish properly. A successful build alone wouldn’t catch those problems.
A name with room for the community.
The project began as BandUp. After finding another Australian education product using that name, I chose BeyondClass. It fits what I wanted to build: somewhere learning and conversations can continue after the lesson.
The change reached beyond the logo. We updated page copy, domain references and platform-written records while preserving accounts, student contributions and question identifiers.
Care behind the questions.
Some questions are original; others adapt material under identified licences, with source credits. Checks cover calculations, answer keys, distractors and marking guidance. A correct multiple-choice key isn’t enough if another option is also defensible.
One review caught a distractor whose number didn’t match its explanation. The key was correct, but the question still needed fixing. Written tasks need similar care: a marking guide shouldn’t award the same step twice.
Publication approval is separate from independent teacher review. We disclose AI assistance and review status, and leave uncertain syllabus placement unassigned. Our guides are suggested practice, not official HSC marking.
See how questions reach the library
We’re starting with selected subjects so the catalogue reflects what’s available. Shared database settings control subject choices across the site. Server permissions and database ownership rules also protect private attempts and administrative actions.
BeyondClass is live, and feedback still shapes the details. The aim remains the same: help a student take the next step, with somewhere to turn when they get stuck.