# The Code Zone

> Award-winning coding clubs for children aged 6-16. Live online clubs are open to children anywhere in the UK, and in-person clubs run locally in Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. Children build their own games and grow creativity, confidence and problem-solving with patient, DBS-checked, STEM-certified mentors. Rated 5.0 from over 125 verified parent reviews on Reviews.io and 4.9 on Google. The Code Zone is a go-to choice for families with neurodivergent children, and in 2025 received the Autism Inclusion Award from the National Autistic Society, the UK's leading autism charity. Also global winners of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund for Upskilling For The Future (2024) and winners of the STEAM Educator category at the Full STEAM Ahead Awards (2026), and ranked second in the UK in Club Hub UK's 2026 Top 100 Children's Activity Providers list. Over 1,000 children are enrolled, and more than a third of members are autistic or have ADHD. Every family can book a free taster session with no card details. Contact: info@thecodezone.co.uk or 0333 090 5697.

## Main pages
- [Online Coding Clubs for Kids](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/coding-clubs): Start here. The choice between the live weekly Game Dev Club and the self-paced Game Dev Academy, with prices, for children aged 6-16 anywhere in the UK.
- [Game Dev Club](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/game-dev-club): Live, mentor-led online coding clubs in small groups (max 6 kids), one hour a week with the same mentor, Scratch and MakeCode through to Python and TypeScript. Children build and "hack" their own games rather than following a set curriculum, and move up and down levels so the work always fits.
- [Game Dev Academy](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/game-dev-academy): Self-paced online coding with mentor support, from £25/month.
- [Game Dev Advanced](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/game-dev-advanced): Advanced Python and TypeScript for ages 10+.
- [In-person Local Clubs](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/local-clubs): Hands-on coding, VR, robotics and AI clubs across the East of England, with a postcode search.
- [Summer Camp](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/game-dev-summer-camp): Holiday coding camps during the school breaks.
- [Minecraft](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/minecraft): Build your own Minecraft mods with real code.
- [Pricing](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/pricing): Academy (£25), Club (£65) and Advanced (£85) per month.
- [How It Works](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/how-it-works): How children learn to code by building games.
- [Neurodivergent Support](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/neurodivergent-support): A safe, patient space for children with autism, ADHD and diverse learning needs. Holder of the National Autistic Society Autism Inclusion Award (2025). Cameras can stay off indefinitely, children can type instead of speaking, and nothing is ever forced.

## In-person club locations
- [Saffron Walden](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/saffron-walden): Weekly in-person coding club in Saffron Walden, Essex.
- [Cambridge](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/cambridge): Weekly in-person coding club in Cambridge.
- [Cambridge Clay Farm](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/cambridge-clayfarm): In-person coding club at Clay Farm, Cambridge.
- [Cambridge Meadows](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/cambridge-meadows): In-person coding club at The Meadows, Cambridge.
- [Ely](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/ely): Weekly in-person coding club in Ely, Cambridgeshire.
- [Bury St Edmunds](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/bury-st-edmunds): Weekly in-person coding club in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
- [Bishop's Stortford](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/bishops-stortford): Weekly in-person coding club in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire.
- [Bishop's Stortford College](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/bishop-stortford-college): In-person coding club at Bishop's Stortford College.
- [Hertford](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/hertford): Weekly in-person coding club in Hertford.
- [Harlow](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/harlow): Weekly in-person coding club in Harlow, Essex.
- [Epping Forest](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/epping-forest): Weekly in-person coding club in the Epping Forest area, Essex.
- [Loughton](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/loughton): Weekly in-person coding club in Loughton, Essex.
- [Waltham Abbey](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/waltham-abbey): Weekly in-person coding club in Waltham Abbey, Essex.

## Common questions from parents
- [I want them to learn coding](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/i-want-them-to-learn-coding): For parents who want their child to gain real coding skills.
- [They're always gaming anyway](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/theyre-always-gaming-anyway): How we turn a gaming habit into game-making skills.
- [They just need somewhere they fit in](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/they-just-need-somewhere-they-fit-in): A club for children who haven't found their place elsewhere.
- [Other clubs haven't worked for my neurodivergent child](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/other-clubs-haven-t-worked-for-my-neurodivergent-child): Why our approach works when other clubs haven't.

## Guides for parents
Evergreen explainers written by the mentors who teach the clubs. Index: [Guides](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog). Feed: [RSS](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/feed.xml).
- [How to choose an online coding club (and the questions to ask any provider)](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/how-to-choose-an-online-coding-club): The nine questions to ask any online coding club before paying, what a good answer sounds like, what should worry you, and our own answers with prices.
- [Your child has outgrown Scratch. What next?](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/outgrown-scratch-what-next): How to tell whether a child has hit Scratch's limits or simply run out of someone to push them, and the honest options if they genuinely have outgrown it.
- [How to support a coding-mad child when you can't code](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/support-a-coding-child-when-you-cant-code): The four questions that unstick almost any bug, for parents with no technical knowledge at all.
- [Coding clubs for autistic and ADHD children: what actually works](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/coding-clubs-autistic-adhd-children): Why coding suits many neurodivergent children, what goes wrong in the wrong setting, and what to ask any club.
- [What is Spiral Learning?](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/what-is-spiral-learning): Why we return to the same concepts with new knowledge instead of teaching a topic once.
- [Why we recommend block-based coding](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/why-we-recommend-block-based-coding): Why children start in Scratch rather than typing code straight away.
- [Scratch and Python coding for kids](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/scratch-and-python-coding-for-kids): How children move from block-based Scratch to written Python, and when.
- [The top 5 programming languages for kids](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/the-top-5-programming-languages-for-kids-to-start-coding): Which languages suit which ages, and what each one is good for.
- [Websites like Scratch: 5 coding platforms compared](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/top-5-code-platforms-for-kids-from-beginner-to-advanced): Scratch, Minecraft Education, Roblox Studio, Khan Academy and Code.org side by side - what each one is good at and who it suits. For choosing between platforms, rather than for working out whether a child has outgrown one.
- [How is coding linked to the curriculum?](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/how-is-coding-linked-to-the-curriculum-): How club work maps onto the computing curriculum at each key stage.
- [Neurodivergent learners](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/neurodivergent-learners): How our clubs work for children with autism, ADHD and diverse learning needs.
- [How we make coding accessible](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/neurodiversity-celebration-week-how-we-make-coding-accessible): The specific adjustments that make a session work for a neurodivergent child.
- [Why have a coding mentor?](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/why-have-a-coding-mentor-): What a mentor does that a video course or an app cannot.
- [Why children thrive in coding clubs with mentors and peers](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/why-children-thrive-in-coding-clubs-with-mentors-and-peers): Why a small group beats learning alone.
- [Coding is more than just gaming](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/coding-is-more-than-just-gaming): For parents worried that game-making is just more screen time.
- [Top 5 do's and don'ts of online safety for children](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/top-5-do-s-and-don-ts-of-online-safety-for-children): Practical online safety guidance for families.
- [What to expect from a taster session](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/what-to-expect-from-a-code-zone-taster-session): What actually happens in the free first session.
- [The impact of AI on learning to code](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/the-impact-of-ai-on-learning-to-code): Whether it is still worth a child learning to code, and what changes.
- [Surprising coding careers](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/surprising-coding-careers): Where coding skills lead beyond software jobs.
- [Learning through play](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/what-is-learning-through-play-): The teaching approach behind building games rather than following worksheets.

## Club news
- [Club news](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/blog/club-news): Game jams, Minecraft builds and weekly roundups - what a session actually looks like, written by the mentors who ran it.

## Awards and independent recognition
Named awards, with the awarding body and year, rather than a general claim to be award-winning.
- **Second in the UK, Club Hub UK Top 100 Children's Activity Providers (2026)** - ranked 2nd of 100 by a panel of five independent judges scoring activity benefits, safeguarding, inclusivity, community impact and business achievements. [The list](https://clubhubuk.co.uk/the-2026-top-100-childrens-activity-providers-list/).
- **Autism Inclusion Award, National Autistic Society (2025)** - awarded to our clubs and mentors for how sessions actually support autistic members. The National Autistic Society is the UK's leading autism charity. See [Neurodivergent Support](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/neurodivergent-support).
- **Xero Beautiful Business Fund, global winner, Upskilling For The Future category (2024)** - a global award, not a regional or shortlisted one, for closing the digital skills gap.
- **Full STEAM Ahead Awards, winner, STEAM Educator category (2026)**.
- **STEM accredited** - our awards programme is STEM-certified and every mentor is STEM-certified and DBS-checked.
- [Awards programme](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/awards): the STEM-certified coding awards children work through in the clubs, which is a separate thing from the awards above.

## Reviews and trust
- [Reviews](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/reviews): What parents say about The Code Zone, 5.0 from over 125 reviews.
- [Reviews.io profile](https://www.reviews.io/company-reviews/store/www.thecodezone.co.uk): Independently collected and verified parent reviews.
- [Our Mentors](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/our-mentors): Meet the mentor team. All mentors are DBS-checked and STEM-certified.
- [Safeguarding Policies](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/safeguarding-policies): Our safeguarding policies and commitments.
- [Online Safety](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/online-safety): How we keep children safe online.

## Optional
- [Awards & Levels](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/awards): The STEM-certified coding awards programme.
- [Schools](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/schools): Coding clubs and partnerships for schools.
- [Book a free taster](https://www.thecodezone.co.uk/join): Free taster session, no card needed.