Real CAD, with the next step always on screen
SchoolCAD is a full parametric modeller laid out like Onshape, with scaffolding built in for students who need it and out of the way for those who don't.
Scaffolding that fades
Three ways in, all in the same tool. Students keep what they make when they move between them.
Tutorials
A project broken into small steps, each with a checklist that ticks itself off as the student works.
- The tool for the step is highlighted
- Any sensible method passes the check
- Hints say what to fix when a size is off
- Show me builds the step as a fully defined example
- Link a class straight in:
/?tutorial=y7-light-box
The Guide, at three levels
While students model freely, a card explains whatever they are doing.
- Full: the industry term, what Fusion and SolidWorks call it, and a numbered checklist
- Hints: only the next step
- Off: plain CAD
- Set it in a link with
?guide=hints
Quick design
Every student reaches a finished, makeable version of the set project, even before they can model.
- Teacher-set sizes, joints and limits stay locked
- Students shape what is opened up to them
- Live design checks before export
- Trace a picture or text into a cut-out
The Part Studio
Tools across the top, feature tree on the left, model in the middle, steps on the right when a tutorial is open.
Sketch
On Top, Front or Right, a plane, or any flat face, including sloping ones. Line, rectangle, circle, arc, spline, polygon, slot, text, traced image, fillet, trim and offset.
Dimensions and constraints
Type sizes or sums like 150-2*12. Coincident, parallel, perpendicular, equal, tangent, symmetric and more. Geometry turns black when fully defined.
Features
Extrude as new, add, remove or intersect. Revolve, sweep, loft, shell, split, hole with workshop presets, and true edge fillets and chamfers.
Pattern and transform
Mirror, linear and circular patterns for dowel holes and slats, move and rotate by exact amounts, and booleans for rebates, housings and halving joints.
Joints and assembly
A finger-joint tool with laser kerf clearance, and mates that place one face against another, like assembling in the workshop.
Feature tree and parameters
Edit any feature and everything after it rebuilds. Named sizes such as t = 12 drive the whole model. Drag the rollback bar to see earlier steps.
Inspect
Measure sizes, angles, volume, mass and estimated cost. Section views with hatched cut faces show joints and grooves from the inside.
Engineering drawings
AS 1100 third-angle views with hidden and centre lines, an isometric with balloons, hole callouts, a parts list and title block, on A3 or A4.
Export
Laser DXF nested onto real sheet sizes, STEP with exact solids, STL, PNG, cutting list CSV, and 1:1 PDF templates.
Built for school IT
SchoolCAD runs entirely in the browser. On the free version nothing is uploaded and there is no account to create, so a teacher can use it in tomorrow's lesson.
No install, no plug-ins
Opens in a modern browser. The geometry engine loads once and is then cached.
No student data
Work is saved in the browser and to a file students keep. There are no accounts on the free version.
No outside requests
The app loads nothing from other websites, so it works behind strict school filters.
Work that follows the student
Save a project file to carry on next lesson or on another computer.
What's live and what's coming
The free tool is live now. School features arrive with paid plans in 2027 and are built with our founding schools.
| Feature | Plan | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Part Studio, tutorials, Guide and Quick design | Free | Live now |
| Year 7 Thematic Table Light preset | Free | Live now |
| Laser, STEP, STL, PDF and drawing exports | Free | Live now |
| More public presets | Free | 2027 |
| Read-aloud steps | Free | Planned |
| Student sign-in with Google or Microsoft, and cloud saves | Teacher Pro, School | 2027 |
| Teacher dashboard: who is on which step, who is stuck | Teacher Pro, School | 2027 |
| Preset authoring for teachers | Teacher Pro, School | 2027 |
| Evidence exports for NCCD and assessment | School | 2027 |
| Google Classroom and Canvas links | School | 2027 |
Try the Table Light tutorial
It takes a Year 7 student from an empty sketch to a finished light box, one checked step at a time.