What keeps learners coming back to practise new skills — even when it’s tough? A huge part of that motivation comes from a sense of progress. That’s the focus of Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment in the Octalysis Framework.
In education, this drive is about recognising effort, celebrating milestones, and giving pupils the confidence to keep improving. It’s the psychological reward we feel when we succeed at something that once felt just out of reach.
This core drive taps into our desire to achieve and grow. In gamified learning, this can look like:
🏅Earning points, badges, or rewards
🔓Levelling up or unlocking new features
📈Overcoming challenges and seeing tangible progress
These moments of accomplishment create powerful feedback loops. They don’t just show children that they’re doing well, they also help build resilience, confidence, and motivation to keep learning.
At Sumdog, we’ve designed our platform to make learning both meaningful and rewarding, with game mechanics that provide constant feedback and celebrate progress. Our key features help students experience success and see their improvement at every stage of their learning journey:
Personalised questions that adapt to each pupil’s ability, helping them experience success at the right level.
A weekly goal of 20 minutes that encourages consistent effort and supports positive learning habits over time.
Badges and coins that celebrate progress and effort, rather than just high scores, so every pupil can feel a sense of accomplishment.
Avatar, house and garden customisation that gives learners a fun and visual way to express their success and take pride in their achievements.
Sumdog’s games are designed to reward effort, celebrate achievements, and keep pupils motivated. From earning coins for correct answers to levelling up skills and unlocking achievements, learners receive continuous feedback that reinforces a sense of accomplishment.
Personalisation also plays a vital role in keeping students engaged. Our avatar system allows pupils to customise their appearance and decorate their house and garden all with rewards earned through learning. These fun, creative outlets help children feel ownership of their learning journey and celebrate their progress.
In 2022, we launched a new avatar system to give children more freedom to express themselves and feel represented in the platform — a step that continues to make a big impact in classrooms today.
As Dave Wark, Engineering Team Lead at Sumdog, explained:
“The new avatar is one of the most inclusive things we’ve ever done at Sumdog — we’ve tried really hard to make sure as many children as possible feel they can be represented in our software. It’s also an important technological step, replacing some of the older parts of the app that had started to look a bit dated and giving kids a consistent and intuitive interface to keep them engaged and motivated.”
Three years on, the avatar remains a powerful motivator and continues to be a key part of our mission to make learning not only effective but enjoyable for every learner, at their own pace.
Teachers across the UK are using Sumdog to encourage consistent effort and boost confidence in maths. Sanjit Chohan, Maths Lead at Cofton Primary School in Birmingham, shares the impact it's had on his pupils:
"Since implementing Sumdog, our pupils have been significantly more engaged in maths lessons. They love the games based practice and are highly motivated by the virtual rewards system and personalised avatar."
By making progress visible and rewarding through small, achievable goals, pupils stay motivated and are more likely to persevere through challenges in their learning.
Want to bring more moments of accomplishment into your classroom? Here are a few ideas:
Assign activities suited to each pupil’s ability and celebrate their progress along the way.
Create classroom shoutouts for leaderboard rankings, badges, or milestones.
Use coins as a talking point — ask pupils what they’re saving for and what they’ve earned through hard work.
These small nudges can make a big difference in building a culture of positive reinforcement.
Motivate your class with a practice goal, or encourage them to build a streak together! You can also take part in your next Regional or National Contest to keep the momentum going.
🧠 Want to read more about how motivation drives learning? Stay tuned for the next post in our series on gamification in education — or explore the first blog on Creating Meaning and Belonging in the Classroom.