Targeted trophy goals, for the exact steps you want worked

Trophy goals have been a favourite since they launched: set a class a trophy target with a deadline, and pupils push towards it in lesson or at home. Until now, though, a goal was only a number. Pupils could reach it from anywhere in the course, which is great for general momentum, but no help when what you actually want is "everyone solid on variables again before Monday".

Targeted trophy goals fix that. You choose the exact units and steps, and the goal becomes a focused chain of work for the whole class. Coming back after the summer break and want a refresher on the first two units? Two clicks. About to start Functions and want the foundations warm? Pick the steps that matter and set it as homework. The class works precisely what you chose, and every completed activity earns trophies towards the target.

Setting one takes under a minute

From your class page, open Quick trophy goal as usual. Alongside the standard goal you will now see Targeted goal. Choose it, then Choose units and steps:

• Whole units in one click. Ticking a unit includes every step, spanning as many units as you like, and steps added to that unit later join automatically.
• Or hand-pick steps, across as many units as you need. Expand any unit to choose individual steps, and mix steps from different units into the same goal, so you can gather the exact sub-topics a class struggled with wherever they sit in the course. A goal can be as broad as half a term or as narrow as three steps before a test.
• The target adds itself up. As you pick, the footer keeps a live count of units, steps and the trophies on offer, so you always know the size of what you are setting.

Then give it a title, set the due date, and it is live for the whole class.

Teach the same content to more than one class? The Also assign to section sets the same goal for your other classes in one go. Each class gets its own independent goal with its own due date, so your Monday group and your Thursday group can have deadlines that fit their timetables.

What pupils see

The goal lands on the pupil dashboard as a Your target card: the steps to work through, a tick for each one finished, a progress bar, and a Continue your target button that always takes them to their next step in the chain. Next and previous move along the target steps too, so nobody wanders off course halfway through.

Inside a step, a quiet banner keeps the running count in view while they work.

Already finished those steps? They go again, and earn again

This is the part I am most pleased with. When a targeted goal includes steps a pupil has already completed, those steps are presented fresh: starter code restored, quiz questions unanswered. They reattempt the work properly rather than resubmitting old answers, and they earn trophies again for doing so.

Crucially, nothing they achieved before is touched. Their course progress, their original submissions and every trophy already on their total stay exactly as they were. The reattempt is a pure layer on top, which makes targeted goals genuinely safe to use for retrieval practice: revisiting a topic is only ever an opportunity, never a penalty.

When the last activity is finished, pupils get a proper moment for it.

Where it fits

• After a break. First lesson back in September, set a recap of last year's closing units and let the class rebuild fluency.
• Before a new topic. Warm up the prerequisite steps in the week before you start Functions, so lesson one lands on solid ground.
• Targeted homework. Instead of "do some of the course", send home the six steps that this week's lesson actually needs.
• After an assessment. Pull the exact steps behind the questions a class dropped marks on, even when they are scattered across three or four different units, into one focused target for next week.

Standard trophy goals are still there and still ideal for general momentum. Targeted goals are for the weeks when you know exactly what the class should be practising. If there is a shape of goal you would like that neither covers, tell me and I will take a look.