PebblePad alternative
PebblePad is an established, capable system. This is a straight comparison of Oaks and PebblePad, taken from PebblePad’s own published information: what Oaks does differently, where PebblePad is ahead today, and how to choose.
Why providers choose Oaks
Every one of these is live in Oaks today. Ask us to show you any of them on your own standards.
Secure evidence viewing
PDFs, Word documents, images, video and audio open right inside Oaks. Word files are turned into a PDF preview, so tutors and IQAs can read and mark them in place instead of saving learner work to a laptop.
Workbooks completed online
Upload the fillable PDF or Word workbooks you already use. Oaks lays typed answers, tick boxes and drop-downs straight onto each page. Learners save as they go and mark it complete, and a finished PDF lands on their record.
Pinpoint feedback
Highlight a sentence or draw around an area on a PDF page, mark part of a photo, or pin a comment to the moment in a video or audio clip. Learners press “View in document” and land right on it.
AI assessment integrity
AI-content detection, plagiarism checks and text comparison run on each piece of evidence, right where tutors mark it. Results are saved against the assessment for your IQA and EPAO conversations.
Consistency rule engine
Write the rules your quality team checks by hand, at task, KSB, programme and gateway level. Oaks applies them from the assessment screen, so learners don’t reach gateway with gaps nobody spotted.
IQA sampling matrix
Set how much each assessor should be sampled at interim, gateway and summative stage, and by which method. The matrix shows what has actually been sampled, rated red, amber or green against how far through the period you are. Observations of assessor practice count towards it, and anything marked for development feeds straight into a standardisation session.
Ofsted workspace
One workspace pulls together tripartite review gaps, a cohort KSB heatmap and welfare and Prevent coverage. Download a learner journey PDF for any apprentice in seconds, and give inspectors their own time-limited, read-only login that only shows the learners you choose.
Ofsted AI
An AI Ofsted inspection your leaders can talk to. Alana, our AI inspector, asks the questions in the September 2026 FE and skills toolkit. Put evidence on the table, get coaching on each answer and finish with a practice report card. It is a paid add-on charged by the hour, and it is practice, not an Ofsted judgement.
OBTLA AI
Invite Alana into a Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet or Webex lesson. She stays muted, listens, and drafts an observation of teaching and learning in your Quality register. Your observer checks it, grades it and sends it to the tutor, so the judgement stays with your people. Charged by the hour observed.
Skills England sync
Enter a standard reference and Oaks fetches the published version from Skills England: level, route, KSBs, occupation options and the minimum off-the-job hours. Enrolments check the off-the-job figure is still current and suggest the practical period and planned end dates.
Learner RAG
Off-the-job variance, KSB progress, review currency and more roll up into one cohort RAG, with scheduled Oaks Snapshot emails landing in leadership inboxes.
Live progress reviews
Learner, employer and tutor edit the same progress review at the same time and sign it off together. No more emailing a form round three inboxes.
Your own instance
Every provider gets a dedicated, single-tenant instance: its own application and its own database. Two-factor sign-in, role-based permissions and an activity log come as standard.
Nexus developer support
Raise an issue from inside Oaks and it goes straight to the developers, with live support when something is urgent. Pay only for the add-ons you switch on, one module at a time.
Side by side
Competitor entries come from PebblePad’s own website and help centre, checked October 2026. Where we couldn’t find a capability, we say so rather than guess.
| Capability | Oaks | PebblePad |
|---|---|---|
| Review evidence in the browser without downloading it | Built in | Not publicly listed |
| Complete your existing workbooks online | Built in | Different approach Workbooks built from PebblePad templates |
| Feedback pinned inside PDFs, images, video and audio | Built in | Not publicly listed Assessor feedback fields in workbooks instead |
| AI-content and plagiarism checks on evidence | Built in Usage-based, no separate licence | Not publicly listed |
| Configurable KSB and gateway consistency rules | Built in | Not publicly listed |
| IQA sampling matrix with observations and standardisation linked to findings | Built in | Not publicly listed |
| Ofsted workspace with time-limited inspector logins | Built in | Different approach Work shared with external assessors, with an optional expiry date |
| Spoken AI Ofsted inspection (Ofsted AI) | Built in Paid add-on, charged by the hour | Not publicly listed |
| AI-drafted observation of teaching and learning (OBTLA AI) | Built in Paid add-on, charged by the hour | Not publicly listed |
| Standards, KSBs and minimum off-the-job hours synced from Skills England | Built in | Not publicly listed |
| Progress reviews co-edited live by all three parties | Built in | Partly Review templates shared with employers to complete and sign; live co-editing not listed |
| Adaptive initial assessment built in | Built in | Not publicly listed |
| Cohort delivery-risk RAG | Built in | Not publicly listed |
| Verifiable digital badges and alumni profile | Built in | Not publicly listed |
| Dedicated single-tenant instance for every provider | Built in | Not publicly listed |
| Support straight from the developers | Built in Nexus | Different approach Help hub and integration engineers |
| Pay per module, not per package | Built in | Not publicly listed |
| Where others are ahead today Capabilities other platforms lead with. We’d rather you saw them here than found out after you’ve signed. | ||
| Automatic ILR generation and funding claims | Partly ILR export and return close built from enrolment data; funding claims on our roadmap | Not publicly listed |
| AI help writing up progress reviews | Not in Oaks today | Not publicly listed |
| Offline mobile app | Not in Oaks today Works in any browser, with a connection | Built in PebblePocket captures evidence offline |
| E-learning content or a SCORM player | Not in Oaks today Tasks, online workbooks and quizzes instead | Different approach Opened from your VLE through LTI |
| Open API, single sign-on and Power BI | Different approach Integration help through Oaks Enterprise | Partly LTI 1.3 with single sign-on, enrolment and grade sync |
| Prices published on the website | Different approach Quoted from your seat estimate | Not publicly listed |
The basics Oaks covers
These are the basics any serious apprenticeship platform should cover, so we’ve left them out of the table.
Straight answers
You’ll hear this in any demo, so here it is up front. If one of these is a deal-breaker for you, we’d rather you knew now.
PebblePocket captures photos, video, files and reflections offline and sends them to PebblePad when the learner is back online.
Oaks works in the browser on any phone, tablet or laptop with nothing to install. It needs a connection, and there’s no offline app today.
PebblePad connects to Blackboard, Brightspace, Canvas and Moodle through LTI 1.3, with single sign-on, enrolment sync and grade sync.
Oaks has built-in reports, including deprivation by learner postcode and missing enrolment files, plus Oaks Snapshot. Email and password sign-in asks for an authenticator app, with a passkey or an email code as backup. Enterprise integration help is part of Oaks Enterprise, and we’ll be straight about what your systems need.
PebblePocket takes a digital signature in person from someone with no PebblePad account.
Employers use their own Oaks portal to sign reviews and verify off-the-job hours, so each employer contact needs a login.
PebblePad is the institutional e-portfolio at universities such as Northumbria and Sheffield Hallam, where degree apprentices keep their workbooks, off-the-job logs and review records alongside the VLE.
Oaks is built for apprenticeship delivery rather than as a portfolio for every course, and it speaks your language, from students to semesters. If PebblePad already serves the rest of your university, bring that to the demo and we’ll be straight about how the two would sit side by side.
Choosing between us
Oaks or PebblePad?
PebblePad’s strength: A trusted university e-portfolio, used for degree apprenticeship workbooks.
Choose Oaks when you need the apprenticeship compliance around the portfolio: off-the-job minimums from Skills England, KSB and gateway rules, live three-way progress reviews, learner RAG, an IQA matrix and an Ofsted workspace with inspector logins, with the ILR export built from your enrolment data.
Also on your shortlist?
Bring any of them to the demo. We’ll walk through the same checklist against your standards, including the parts where they’re strong.
FAQ
Yes. Bring your standards, cohort size and timings to the demo and we will agree a plan for the move with you. Your existing workbooks can be completed online in Oaks without rebuilding them.
Competitor entries come from PebblePad’s own public website and help centre, checked October 2026, and every source is listed on this page. Where we could not find a capability we say so rather than guess, we show where others are ahead of Oaks today, and we will correct anything that has changed.
Independent training providers, further education colleges, universities and employer providers delivering apprenticeships in England. Oaks adapts its language to your organisation, from apprentices to students and terms to semesters.
Oaks is licensed per dedicated instance: seats for learners, staff and management, plus the modules you choose. AI add-ons such as OBTLA AI and Ofsted AI are billed by the hour you use. Use the seat estimator to size your licence, and we will give you a clear quote in your demo.
Direct Access & Walkthrough
A tailored walkthrough or direct inquiry with our engineering and implementation leads. Honest about what is live, transparent on pricing, and responsive within 24 hours.
Prefer to read first? View the brochure Download the PDF
Competitor information is taken from each vendor’s public website, help centre and published listings, checked October 2026. “Not publicly listed” means we couldn’t find the capability in those materials; it may still exist, so please ask the vendor. Features change often, and we’ll correct anything that’s out of date. Onefile, Bud, Aptem, OneAdvanced, Smart Assessor, Ecordia, Rubitek, Quals Direct, Journey, TIQPlus, PebblePad, Tribal, Maytas and other product names are trademarks of their respective owners and are used only to identify their products. Oaks entries marked “Built in” are live today; roadmap items are labelled as such.
