Photo to come
Game Dev
Instructor name
Lead — Game Development
Details to come.
They stop playing games and start building them.
An after-school club where 11–16 year olds learn to code by making things that actually work. Twelve weeks, six students to an instructor, something finished at the end of every term.
Ages 11–16beginners welcome
Six students per instructor — never more
- Programming, in Python
- Games people actually play
The tools they’ll actually use — every one free to keep using at home
- Python
- VS Code
- Git
- GitHub
- SQLite
- Scratch
- Godot
- Aseprite
- itch.io
- itch.io
Two lines. Pick one, or run both.
Both start from nothing — the Cadet term assumes your child has never written a line of code. The difference is what they build on the way.
How it works.
Three steps, and the first one is free.
Step 1: Come to a free taster
One full session, no commitment and nothing to sign. Your child leaves having made something, whatever you decide afterwards.
Step 2: Pick a line and a level
The Logic Line for programming, the Arcade Line for games. Most children decide for themselves once they've tried a session — and plenty do one, then the other.
Step 3: Build, then level up
One session a week, six students to an instructor. Finish the term and they move up a level — Cadet to Driver to Engineer, one term each.
Three levels. Somewhere to go for two years.
Each level is one twelve-week term. A child joins where they are, moves up at the end of each term, and never repeats a year — which is why most families stay past the first one.
Logic Line
Programming
Cadet
New to codeFor students who have never written a line of code. Week one assumes nothing.
A working program of their own — a quiz, a tool or a bot — that runs and does something useful.
- Usually 11–13
- 7 stops · 12 weeks
Driver
Building things that lastFor students who have finished Cadet, or who already tinker at home and can explain what a loop does.
A program with a real interface and real data — something a stranger can use without being told how.
- Usually 12–15
- 7 stops · 12 weeks
- Includes AI & Logic
Engineer
Working like a professionalFor students who have finished Driver and can build something unaided. The term is mostly their own project.
A project they specified, built and released themselves, with the code public and readable on GitHub.
- Usually 14–16
- 7 stops · 12 weeks
Arcade Line
Game Development
Cadet
First playable gameFor students who have never made a game. No coding experience assumed.
A playable game published online, with a link they can send to anyone.
- Usually 11–13
- 7 stops · 12 weeks
Driver
The shape of a real releaseFor students who have finished Cadet, or who have already made something playable on their own.
A game with enemies that think, a save system and a title screen — the shape of a real release.
- Usually 12–15
- 7 stops · 12 weeks
- Includes AI & Logic
Engineer
Their own game, releasedFor students who have finished Driver. The term is built around a game of their own design.
A released game with systems of their own design, and players who were not asked to play it.
- Usually 14–16
- 7 stops · 12 weeks
The same case as football or chess. Just newer.
Chess teaches a child to think three moves ahead. Football teaches them to work under pressure inside a team. This teaches both, and leaves something behind that they own.
A real skill, not a hobby
The tools in these sessions are the tools people are paid to use. A fourteen-year-old who can build and deploy a working website is holding something genuinely uncommon, and it stays on the internet where anyone can see it.
It trains the thinking, not the typing
Debugging is problem-solving with the answer hidden. Students learn to break a problem into parts, test a guess, and be wrong without giving up. That habit shows up again in maths, in science, and in every exam that asks them to work something out.
AI makes this more important, not less
Anyone can ask a machine to write code. The valuable skill is knowing when the answer it gave you is confidently wrong — and that takes understanding what the code actually does. We teach both halves.
What they walk out with.
Not a certificate. A game other people play, or a program that does something they actually needed doing.
The first term hasn’t finished yet
This is where student games and programs go. We’d rather show you nothing than show you someone else’s work — check back after autumn term, or follow @thetechtrain where builds go up as they happen.
Six students per instructor. That's the whole model.
Coding is a subject where a stuck child stays stuck until somebody sits down next to them. That doesn't happen in a room of thirty.
- Photo to comeProgramming
Instructor name
Lead — Programming
Details to come.
- Photo to comeProgrammingGame Dev
Instructor name
Teaching assistant
Details to come.
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No reviews yet — we’re new
We could fill this space with quotes nobody said. We’d rather leave it empty until a real parent has something to put in it. Come to a taster session and judge for yourself.
The things you're actually wondering.
If yours isn't here, email us and we'll answer it properly.
Come to one session. Decide after.
The taster is a full session and it’s free. Your child leaves with something they made, and nobody will ask you to sign anything on the way out.
Or email us directly at hello@thetechtrain.co