Before Cathoven, my co-founders and I spent years inside the IELTS and language education industry. We built AI products in language education, specialised in computational linguistics and automated language assessment, and taught IELTS, sitting with learners session after session. What we each saw from the inside was the same thing: the tools available to learners were not built around how score improvement actually works.
IELTS performance, particularly in speaking and writing, is not primarily a problem of effort or practice volume. It is a diagnostic problem. A learner can practise for months and make almost no progress if they are not working on the specific sub-skill limiting their band score. A skilled tutor identifies that blocker in the first session. The problem is not that this knowledge does not exist. It is that it has never been made systematically available at scale.
The gap between a learner who has access to that kind of diagnostic feedback and one who does not is enormous. And it is not a gap in ability or effort. It is a gap in what the preparation system offers them. We built Cathoven because we knew this gap was solvable. Fifty specialised AI models, trained on thirteen years of real exam data, can deliver the same diagnostic precision that a skilled examiner provides, instantly, consistently, for any learner anywhere.
The belief behind Cathoven is simple: every learner working toward a high-stakes English exam deserves to know exactly what to fix.
A learner opens Cathoven and works through tasks that mirror the real IELTS exam across all four skills: speaking, writing, reading, and listening. In speaking, questions appear one by one and the learner responds directly into the microphone, moving through the task exactly as they would on exam day. In writing, a timer runs and they must complete their response within the allotted time, just as in the real test. Once the task is complete, they receive their full criterion-level results.
What happens after the score is where the real difference lies. Learners receive a personalised study plan built around their specific gaps: after completing a set of diagnostic tasks, Cathoven generates a detailed plan showing exactly which areas to focus on and how much time to allocate before their exam date. It is not a generic recommendation but a structured, day-by-day roadmap tailored to where they are and when they need to be ready.
Alongside the study plan, learners have access to a chatbot that provides direct, personalised feedback at any point in their preparation. They can ask questions mid-task, such as how to write a stronger opening sentence, and receive immediate guidance. The learning experience is not just assessed, it is supported throughout.
Cathoven launched in 2024 and has grown entirely through organic channels. We have not relied on paid acquisition. Learners find us through social media and referrals. This organic growth has brought us to over 275,000 followers across social platforms and learners from many parts of the world, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and Australia, spanning both major study abroad corridors and international workforce mobility routes.
We have also begun reaching learners through institutional partnerships. Immigration agencies and international education pathway providers are integrating Cathoven into their candidate and student support workflows, extending access to learners who may not have discovered the platform independently.
Over the next 18 months, our goals are to launch a mobile app to make Cathoven accessible to learners who primarily use their phones, expand into adjacent high-stakes English exams including OET, PTE, and TOEFL, and grow our reach across new markets in West Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia where demand is strong and quality preparation options are limited. We also aim to build partnerships with schools and pathway providers to support students earlier in their preparation journey, before exam pressure sets in.
Our original innovation was built for teachers. We designed tools to help English teachers assess and support their students more effectively, and we listed that work on HundrED.
What we discovered changed our direction entirely. When we looked closely at who was actually using our platform, we found that many of the people we assumed were teachers were in fact learners themselves. They were using teacher-facing tools because nothing better existed for them. They were not looking for a way to teach English. They were people trying to study abroad, from undergraduate to PhD level, or build careers internationally, and they needed to pass high-stakes English exams to get there. We had assessment tools, but they were not built for that purpose.
That realisation pushed us to ask a harder question: what does a learner actually need? Not a teacher's toolkit, but a system that could do what a skilled teacher does, deliver an accurate diagnosis of exactly what is limiting their score and give them a clear, targeted path forward. The exam itself became the frame. Every task, every piece of feedback, every study recommendation was rebuilt around the real IELTS test and the real score a learner was trying to reach.
Cathoven today is that product. It is a direct response to what our users told us, not with words, but with how they were using what we had built. We followed them.
Visit cathoven.com and create a free account. Once you are in, you have access to tasks across all four IELTS skills: speaking, writing, reading, and listening. Every task is built to mirror the real exam, and each section is structured just like the actual test. You can choose exactly where you want to start. There is no set order. If speaking feels most urgent, start there. If you want to warm up with reading or listening first, that works too. Free accounts include two tasks per day. Full details on what each section offers are available on our website.
If you want a personalised study plan, head to the study plan section. Complete the tasks there, and Cathoven will map out exactly which areas to focus on and how to allocate your time between now and your exam date. This is optional but recommended for learners who want a structured path rather than open practice.
At any point during your preparation, you can talk to our chatbot. Whether you have a question mid-task, want feedback on a specific sentence, or are unsure what to work on next, the chatbot is there to help.
For schools, pathway providers, or organisations supporting a group of learners, reach out to us directly at contact@cathoven.com
