Question 1

My child has never written a line of code. Is that a problem?

Accepted Answer

No. Most of our students start with nothing. Junior Tech Cadets assumes no experience at all, and the senior courses have a route in for a complete beginner as well. The trial class is set up so a student who has never programmed can finish something in it.

Question 2

How does the free trial class work?

Accepted Answer

You book a slot, we confirm the time and send a video link, and your child joins a real class of the right level for their grade. It is a full session, not a sales call, and they will build something in it. Afterwards we tell you honestly which course we think is the right starting point, including when we think a student is not ready for the one you asked about. There is no obligation and we do not ask for payment details to book.

Question 3

Which course should my child start with?

Accepted Answer

For grades 5 to 7 with no experience, Scratch game development. For grades 7 and 8 who have already done some Scratch, web development foundations or junior Python. For grades 9 and above with no experience, senior Python. If a student already programs, tell us what they have built and we will place them accordingly.

Question 4

Can my child join part way through a course?

Accepted Answer

For most courses, only in the first two weeks — after that the group is too far ahead for it to be fair on the student. If you have missed the start of a cohort, we will put you into the next one and, where it helps, give the student the earlier recordings to work through.

Question 5

Do you teach adults, or students below grade 5?

Accepted Answer

Not currently. The programme is built for grades 5 to 12, and both the pacing and the class grouping depend on that. We would rather say no than take on a student the course was not designed for.

Question 6

How big are the classes, and is the teacher live?

Accepted Answer

Every session is live with an instructor on video. There are no pre-recorded lessons standing in for teaching. Junior classes are capped at 12 students and run with a teaching assistant as well as the instructor, so there are two adults in the room. Senior classes are capped at 15, where students are working more independently and need less hands-on help.

Question 7

Are sessions recorded?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every session is recorded and shared with the families in that class, and stays available for the length of the course. Recordings are for the enrolled students only and are not published anywhere public.

Question 8

What if the power goes or the internet drops mid-class?

Accepted Answer

It happens, and we plan for it rather than pretending it does not. Every session is recorded and shared afterwards, so a missed twenty minutes can be caught up the same evening. If a student misses a full session, they can join the same session in another group that week or take a make-up slot. The details are on the how it works page.

Question 9

What happens if my child misses a class?

Accepted Answer

Watch the recording first, then either join the same session in another group that week where a seat exists, or take a make-up slot with an instructor. Each student gets two make-up sessions per course included.

Question 10

Does my child need to turn their camera on?

Accepted Answer

The camera is optional for students. Instructors keep theirs on. Screen sharing, however, is expected, because looking at a student's screen is how an instructor actually teaches. It is what replaces walking around a classroom.

Question 11

What time are classes held?

Accepted Answer

Weekday evenings and weekend mornings and afternoons, Pakistan Standard Time. If you are in the UK, US, Canada, the Gulf or elsewhere, tell us your timezone when you book and we will offer the slots that work. We run separate groups for families abroad when there are enough students in a region.

Question 12

If AI can write code, is there any point in my child learning to?

Accepted Answer

This is the question we are asked most, so we will answer it properly rather than reassuringly. These tools genuinely do write code, they are getting better, and anyone telling you otherwise is not paying attention. What they do not do is tell you when they are wrong. A student who can build reads the output, spots that it is subtly incorrect, and fixes it. A student who cannot gets code they are unable to check and no way of knowing it has failed until something breaks. That gap is widening, not closing. So we teach AI as a thing to build with and reason about, not as a subject to be impressed by. Junior Tech Cadets spend a week deliberately catching a model inventing facts. Senior Tech Cadets write software that calls a model API, then measure it against a test set. Both come out harder to mislead.

Question 13

How much AI do you actually teach?

Accepted Answer

Two full courses, one in each track, plus AI running through the senior programme. AI tools for students is eight weeks for grades 6 to 8. AI development is ten weeks for grades 10 to 12 and is a software engineering course: API calls, structured output, tool calling, embeddings, retrieval, evaluation and cost. Both syllabuses are published week by week on their course pages. If a claim about what we teach is not attached to a numbered week there, we are not making it.

Question 14

Will my child train their own AI model?

Accepted Answer

No, and any course promising a school student will is overselling. Training a useful language model needs mathematics well beyond school level and hardware that costs more than a house. Students build software with existing models, which is the work that actually exists and the skill that transfers.

Question 15

I do not want my child using AI at all. Is that possible?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The AI courses are optional and no other course requires these tools. Tell us and we will keep them out of your child's programme entirely. It is worth knowing what the AI tools course is actually for, though. It exists because most students meet these tools with no guidance and give them uncritical trust. A student who has spent a term catching a model inventing sources is considerably more sceptical of it than one who has simply been told not to use it.

Question 16

Do students use AI to do their coursework?

Accepted Answer

Not to write work they then present as their own. Students defend their projects to the group and answer questions on why they built it the way they did, which makes undisclosed AI use fairly obvious fairly quickly. Disclosed, deliberate use is a different thing and we teach it. In the senior track, using an assistant to get unstuck is normal professional practice, and learning to check what it gave you is part of the course.

Question 17

Are there AI subscription costs we have to pay?

Accepted Answer

No. Coursework is designed to fit inside free tiers and student credits, and token cost is taught as a topic so students learn to be frugal. If a student's own final project would need paid usage, we tell you the expected amount before they start, and there is always a version of the project that stays free.

Question 18

What does my child need to take part?

Accepted Answer

A laptop or desktop computer, a stable internet connection, and headphones with a microphone. A tablet or a phone is not enough — students write code and share their screen, and neither works well on a touch device. The computer does not need to be new or powerful. Anything from roughly the last eight years running Windows, macOS or Linux will run everything in the curriculum.

Question 19

Do we need to buy any software?

Accepted Answer

No. Everything used in every course is free: Scratch, Python, Visual Studio Code, Git, GitHub, Expo. Where a course touches a paid service, coursework is designed to stay inside the free tier, and we tell you in advance if a student's own project would go beyond it.

Question 20

Do you need my child to have a Google or GitHub account?

Accepted Answer

Senior courses use GitHub, and a student will need an account. GitHub's terms require account holders under 13 to be set up by a parent, and we ask parents to create and hold the account for younger students. We will walk you through it before the course starts.

Question 21

How do we pay?

Accepted Answer

Bank transfer or card, in Pakistani rupees for families in Pakistan and in US dollars for families abroad. Fees are charged monthly or per term, and we invoice before each period rather than taking a standing payment.

Question 22

Is there a discount for siblings?

Accepted Answer

Yes. See the fees page for the current amount. It applies to the second and any subsequent child enrolled at the same time.

Question 23

What if we want to stop?

Accepted Answer

You can cancel before the next billing period with no penalty and no notice period. If you stop part way through a period, the refund policy sets out exactly what is returned. We do not lock families into a contract.

Question 24

Will this get in the way of school and exams?

Accepted Answer

Classes are two sessions a week, scheduled in the evening or at the weekend, and Junior Tech Cadets adds about 30 to 45 minutes of practice. For Senior Tech Cadets during board or O/A-Level season, you can pause enrolment for up to eight weeks and keep the student's place. We would rather you paused than dropped out.

Question 25

What does my child actually have at the end?

Accepted Answer

Something you can open. A Junior Tech Cadet finishes a term with a playable game and a published web page. A Senior Tech Cadet finishes with two or three projects on a public GitHub profile and, in most courses, an application running at a URL. Every course page lists exactly what gets built, week by week.

Question 26

How will I know how my child is doing?

Accepted Answer

You get a short written update from the instructor every four weeks: what has been covered, what your child has built, what they are finding hard, and what would help. You can also request a fifteen-minute call with the instructor at any point in a course. We write these honestly. If a student is not engaging or is in the wrong course, you will be told that rather than reassured.

Question 27

Who is in the class with my child?

Accepted Answer

Only enrolled students of a similar grade, and an instructor. Classes are on a private link that is not shared outside the enrolled families. Students are identified by first name and instructors are present for the whole session — there is no unsupervised time on the call.

Question 28

Can I sit in on a class?

Accepted Answer

You can join the trial class and the end-of-course showcase, and you are welcome at both. During the term we ask parents not to sit in on regular sessions, because students participate noticeably less when a parent is on the call. The recordings are always available to you.

Questions parents ask

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AI

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