Comparison

Emerge vs Marcus' Story

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Emerge

This app provides school staff with secure mobile access to student data, including attendance, behavior, and assessments. It allows for real-time updates and emergency broadcasts, streamlining school administration and improving communication.

Highlights
  • Attendance registers (session & lesson)
  • Dinner choice recording
  • Fire registers
  • Behavior incident recording with evidence
  • Achievement recording
  • Assessment mark entry
  • Student and staff detail access
  • Emergency broadcast alerts
Features
Read full description

“I have found Emerge invaluable when meeting parents. I can show them behaviour, achievement and attendance information, when we are talking and looking up other relevant information it is immediate. It is great for taking registration on-the-go!" Groupcall Emerge gives key staff within your school secure access to your MIS data anywhere, anytime. Emerge Mobile is the companion app to Emerge Desktop, allowing you to perform a variety of common tasks on the move, including: • Attendance registers: take session (AM/PM) and/or lesson registers. • Dinner registers: primary schools can record dinner choices during morning registration. • Fire registers: take a quick and simple fire register - know instantly who is missing and should be there. • Behaviour: record behaviour incidents; record who, what, where, when and why – and include photographic and video evidence to upload to your MIS (where available). • Achievements: record good behaviour, significant achievements or other events and include pictures of the achievement to upload to your MIS (where available). • Assessment: record assessment marks against marksheets anywhere, anytime. • Assessment without levels: record progress towards outcomes with the new assessment without levels (i.e. programmes of study) from your device. • Student details: assess a student’s record to review their timetable, attendance history, behaviour events and more. • Staff details: access limited staff details, including timetables. • Review a range of summary reports, or see how your school is performing against its KPIs using the ‘Today’ screen. • Help me: raise the alarm to an emergency situation such as a poorly child, by sending an emergency broadcast to other staff as SMS or email. • Messenger integration: send a message to an individual or group of parents directly from the app (requires a subscription to Groupcall Messenger). Data updates are written to the school MIS immediately, or as soon as you return to WiFi or mobile data* coverage. *(Emerge will use your device’s standard data allowance to fulfil this, if enabled). “Emerge has revolutionised the way we take registers. It is really beneficial to the efficient running of the school with all information at your fingertips.” What can I do with Emerge Mobile? • Take registration wherever you are: on a school trip, in a temporary classroom, on the sports field – anywhere. No paper printouts required! • Record accurate dinner registers every day at the same time as normal AM registration – no extra effort. Proven to save primary schools THOUSANDS of pounds per year just by reducing waste. • Record behaviour and achievement events and capture the evidence in a snap using your device’s native hardware. • Access student details wherever you are: have medical information securely to hand when on a trip, or emergency contact details should the worst happen. • Record assessments whenever you need for any marksheet – perfect for the school field, in the staff room or at home! • See a range of summary reports conveniently filtered by groups of interest; anytime, anywhere - including: --- Daily and yearly attendance. --- Behaviour and achievement events by type, activity, location and status. --- A list of students with birthdays for today. • Review individual students' attendance summaries for early intervention and to reduce absenteeism: improve the speed and convenience of taking registers, make missing students quicker to identify and act upon, and spot patterns of absence - proven to help stamp out persistent absence. Emerge Mobile requires Emerge in your school to operate.

About

Marcus' Story

Features
Read full description

Stolen Lives is a learning resource featuring an illustrated comic book. It builds upon extensive research into the use of visual content and mental exploration to aid learning as well as employing the principles of transformative learning techniques. The accompanying teaching and learning resource (available separately) was developed in partnership with children and teachers as a modular programme. It is suitable for use with a whole class or smaller, targeted groups and includes material to explore the attitudes and opinions of young people, specifically around peer pressure. The activities develop over several sessions enabling themes to build and issues to be investigated in depth, with plenty of opportunity for reflection on personal experiences. The programme was commissioned in response to an increasing awareness of the challenges that young people face during the transition from primary to secondary school and the huge impact that inadequate preparation can have on their lives. It’s design brought together a range of partners including local authorities, health and police services. Ultimately the programme aims to increase resilience among primary school pupils by helping them to understand and develop strategies for better-informed choices when faced with negative pressures from their peer group. Following a successful pilot in one area of the UK there are now plans to broaden the range of content and themes included in the programme. During that pilot 80% of the pupils who took part rated the materials as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’. Teachers, schools or other organisations wishing to use the accompanying resource materials and lesson plans or interested in taking part in future pilots should get in touch with us directly to discuss their specific needs. What teachers said: “Literacy skills are incorporated the whole way through the scheme (reading, writing, speaking and listening and drama skills)…and the project fits in well with existing PSHE and Citizenship schemes of work.” “Difficult topics can be addressed in an open and non-threatening way.” “The materials are cross-curricular and can be incorporated easily into any school’s PSHE and Citizenship curriculum…there is room to be flexible with how and when it is taught.” “Awareness and early intervention are key to helping children make positive life choices as they grow into young adults. This resource is an ideal way of preparing children for situations they may encounter as they become more independent.” What pupils said: “I have felt more confident about talking about things that have happened” “Wished we could have done more” “…The best activity was role playing different endings” “...really good because it had a cliff hanger ending which made you think” “It really helped me with bullying problems” “Brilliant, would read it over and over” What teachers reported their pupils had learned: * How to seek out advice for themselves or friends * Co-operation * Confidence to make decisions * Knowledge of gangs and typical behaviours * Looking at issues from different view points * To express themselves in a positive way through the activities * Learnt to reason why some people join or create gangs * To make good decisions

Screenshots

Emerge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Emerge at every 2 months against Marcus' Story's every 7 months. Emerge also leads on device support (3 vs 1). Marcus' Story's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 12.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Emerge ships an update every 2 months, Marcus' Story every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 5 level
Emerge versus Marcus' Story: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEmergeMarcus' Story
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews46.2% of reviews—
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 7 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS12.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB103 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperGroupcall LimitedLime Social Marketing, Media & Communications Ltd

In-app purchases

None

Emerge

No in-app purchases

None

Marcus' Story

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Emerge free?
Emerge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Marcus' Story free?
Marcus' Story is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Emerge or Marcus' Story have ads?
Neither Emerge nor Marcus' Story shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Emerge or Marcus' Story?
Emerge ships an update every 2 months, and Marcus' Story every 7 months. Most recently, Emerge was updated on November 10, 2026 and Marcus' Story on November 6, 2026.

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