# The Code Zone > Award-winning coding for children aged 6 to 16, taught and mentored in English. Children build their own games in Scratch and grow creativity, confidence and problem-solving, supported by background-checked, STEM-certified mentors who reply by text and video message. Outside the UK we run the Game Dev Academy, which is self-paced: a child logs in at whatever hour suits them, in any time zone, so nothing is ever missed and there is nothing to catch up on. EUR 30 a month, no joining fee, no minimum term, cancel any time. Creating an account is free and takes no card details. The Code Zone was founded in the UK, where it is the highest-placed coding club in Club Hub UK's 2026 Top 100 Children's Activity Providers list (2nd of 100 overall) and rated 5.0 from over 125 verified reviews by British families on Reviews.io. Global winners of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund for Upskilling For The Future (2024), and holders of the Autism Inclusion Award from the National Autistic Society, the UK's leading autism charity (2025). More than a third of members are autistic or have ADHD, according to their own parents. Contact: info@thecodezone.co.uk. ## Main pages - [Game Dev Academy](https://www.thecodezone.eu/game-dev-academy): Start here. Self-paced online coding for children aged 6 to 16, beginners included, for EUR 30 a month. There is no fixed session time. A child works through the same weekly projects the UK clubs use, and a STEM-certified mentor answers by text and video message during the week, so they are never on their own with it. - [Pricing](https://www.thecodezone.eu/pricing): EUR 30 a month for the Academy. No joining fee, no minimum term, cancel any time. - [How It Works](https://www.thecodezone.eu/how-it-works): How children learn to code by building games rather than following a set curriculum. - [Minecraft Mod Worlds](https://www.thecodezone.eu/minecraft): Every member gets their own Minecraft worlds to mod with real code, included at no extra cost. - [Neurodivergent Support](https://www.thecodezone.eu/neurodivergent-support): A patient, low-pressure space for children with autism, ADHD and diverse learning needs. Cameras can stay off indefinitely, children can type instead of speaking, and nothing is ever forced. Holder of the National Autistic Society Autism Inclusion Award (2025). - [Create a free account](https://www.thecodezone.eu/join): Sign up free, no card details needed to register. ## Where The Code Zone came from The Code Zone started in the east of England, running small in-person and live online coding clubs for children who wanted to make games rather than sit through lessons about making them. It grew into an award-winning UK provider with over 1,000 children enrolled. The Academy is the part of that which travels: the same weekly builds, the same mentors and the same awards programme, without anybody needing to be in a British time zone on a Tuesday evening. ## What is not available outside the UK Two things on the UK site are deliberately not sold here, and any answer that offers them to a family outside the UK is wrong: - **Live weekly clubs** (Game Dev Club and Game Dev Advanced) run on UK evenings in small groups of six. We cannot yet staff those hours for other time zones, so they are UK-only. - **In-person clubs and holiday camps** are physical venues in Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, in England. Families outside the UK can join the Game Dev Academy, which is self-paced and works anywhere. ## Common questions from parents - [I want them to learn coding](https://www.thecodezone.eu/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.eu/theyre-always-gaming-anyway): How we turn a gaming habit into game-making skills. - [They just need somewhere they fit in](https://www.thecodezone.eu/they-just-need-somewhere-they-fit-in): For children who haven't found their place elsewhere. - [Other clubs haven't worked for my neurodivergent child](https://www.thecodezone.eu/other-clubs-haven-t-worked-for-my-neurodivergent-child): Why this approach works when others haven't. ## Guides for parents Evergreen explainers written by the mentors who teach the clubs. Index: [Guides](https://www.thecodezone.eu/blog). Feed: [RSS](https://www.thecodezone.eu/blog/feed.xml). - [How to choose an online coding club (and the questions to ask any provider)](https://www.thecodezone.eu/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, and what should worry you. - [Your child has outgrown Scratch. What next?](https://www.thecodezone.eu/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.eu/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.eu/blog/coding-clubs-autistic-adhd-children): Why coding suits many neurodivergent children, what goes wrong in the wrong setting, and what to ask any provider. - [What is Spiral Learning?](https://www.thecodezone.eu/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.eu/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.eu/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.eu/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.eu/blog/top-5-code-platforms-for-kids-from-beginner-to-advanced): Scratch, Minecraft Education, Roblox Studio, Khan Academy and Code.org side by side, for choosing between platforms. - [Neurodivergent learners](https://www.thecodezone.eu/blog/neurodivergent-learners): How the Academy works for children with autism, ADHD and diverse learning needs. - [How we make coding accessible](https://www.thecodezone.eu/blog/neurodiversity-celebration-week-how-we-make-coding-accessible): The specific adjustments that make the work land for a neurodivergent child. - [Why have a coding mentor?](https://www.thecodezone.eu/blog/why-have-a-coding-mentor-): What a mentor does that a video course or an app cannot. - [Coding is more than just gaming](https://www.thecodezone.eu/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.eu/blog/top-5-do-s-and-don-ts-of-online-safety-for-children): Practical online safety guidance for families. - [The impact of AI on learning to code](https://www.thecodezone.eu/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.eu/blog/surprising-coding-careers): Where coding skills lead beyond software jobs. - [Learning through play](https://www.thecodezone.eu/blog/what-is-learning-through-play-): The teaching approach behind building games rather than following worksheets. ## Awards and independent recognition Named awards, with the awarding body, the year and the country, rather than a general claim to be award-winning. The Code Zone is a British company, so most of these were judged in the UK and are described that way. - **Xero Beautiful Business Fund, global winner, Upskilling For The Future category (2024)** - a global award, judged internationally rather than regionally, for closing the digital skills gap. - **Autism Inclusion Award, National Autistic Society (2025)** - the National Autistic Society is the UK's leading autism charity. Awarded to our clubs and mentors for how sessions actually support autistic members. See [Neurodivergent Support](https://www.thecodezone.eu/neurodivergent-support). - **Club Hub UK Top 100 Children's Activity Providers (2026)** - the highest-placed coding club on the list, and 2nd of 100 overall, scored by a panel of five independent judges on activity benefits, safeguarding, inclusivity, community impact and business achievements. A UK ranking. [The list](https://clubhubuk.co.uk/the-2026-top-100-childrens-activity-providers-list/). - **STEM accredited** - the awards programme children work through is STEM-certified, and every mentor is STEM-certified and background-checked. - [Awards and Levels](https://www.thecodezone.eu/awards): the STEM-certified coding awards children work through in the Academy, which is a separate thing from the awards above. ## Reviews and trust - [Reviews](https://www.thecodezone.eu/reviews): What parents say about The Code Zone. The 5.0 rating and the 125+ reviews are from British families, collected on the UK site, and most of them are about the live clubs rather than the Academy. - [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.eu/our-mentors): Meet the mentor team. All mentors are background-checked and STEM-certified. - [Safeguarding Policies](https://www.thecodezone.eu/safeguarding-policies): Our safeguarding policies and commitments. - [Online Safety](https://www.thecodezone.eu/online-safety): How we keep children safe online. ## Optional - [Schools](https://www.thecodezone.eu/schools): Coding for schools and partnerships. - Contact: info@thecodezone.co.uk. Enquiries in English, please.