Home/ Programmes/ Online GCSE Tutoring/ GCSE Computer Science
GCSE Computer Science tutoring
Computer Science splits into two halves that pull in opposite directions: a theory paper to be learned and a programming paper to be practised. Most students are comfortable with one and frozen by the other.
Seven of our tutors teach it, including working software engineers and two engineering degrees. Lessons are £30, live one to one on Zoom, and the first 30 minutes are free.
No card details for the trial. Change tutor at any time, at no cost.
Screen sharing means a tutor can watch your child write code live and correct it as it happens, which is genuinely easier online than across a desk.
4.9
34 reviews on Google and Bark
Google reviews
Parent reviews
Pricing
Teaching UK students since 2020.
The two halves
Computer Science students usually fail in one direction or the other. Either they can recite how a CPU works but freeze at a blank code editor, or they can build things and lose marks on a theory paper full of definitions. The fix is different for each.
The most common one. A student revises the theory paper successfully, then sits in front of an empty screen and cannot start. Programming is not knowledge, it is a practised skill, and no amount of reading about loops teaches somebody to write one.
Lessons here are the student typing while the tutor watches the screen and interrupts at the moment something goes wrong, rather than a tutor demonstrating.
The other pattern, and often the student who chose the subject because they already build things. They can write a working program and then drop marks describing why RAM is volatile or how a packet is routed, because the exam wants exact terminology.
Lessons here work through past paper questions and mark schemes, since the gap is the wording rather than the understanding.
Tell us which pattern sounds like your child when you enquire, and we will match a tutor accordingly. If you are not sure, the free trial will make it obvious within about ten minutes.
Computer Science specialists
One of seven Computer Science tutors, matched to whichever half is losing marks. The team includes working software engineers, a computer science degree, two engineering degrees and specialists in algorithms, databases and systems.
Computer Science, GCSE and beyond
A working software engineer as well as a teacher, so the programming half is taught by somebody who writes code for a living. That matters here, where the theory paper and the practical skills pull in different directions.
Best for students who pass the theory but freeze at writing code
Computer Science, Maths and Science
A computer science degree covering both the programming and the theory sides of the GCSE, plus Maths at KS3 and GCSE. Useful when a student needs Computer Science and Maths from the same person.
Best for students taking Computer Science alongside Maths
Computer Science and Science
A computer science student and working web developer, so the practical half is taught by somebody who builds with it. Strong on turning abstract concepts into something a student can actually run and see working.
Best for practical programming and web technologies
Programming and algorithms
Algorithms and computational thinking are where the GCSE separates grades, and they are the part schools rush hardest. Daniel teaches them slowly and in order, which is usually all that is missing.
Best for algorithms, tracing and computational thinking
Systems, networks and databases
Comes at the course from the systems side: databases, networks and system design, taught with the professional context that makes the theory stick rather than sit in a revision guide.
Best for the theory paper, particularly networks and databases
Coding and problem solving
Teaches coding as problem solving rather than syntax memorising, which suits students who find the subject dry. A good starting point for anyone who picked Computer Science and immediately regretted it.
Best for students who have lost interest in the subject
Computer Science, Physics and Maths
Two engineering degrees from UK universities, so the hardware and systems architecture topics are taught by somebody who has worked at that level. Known among parents for patience with students who need things slowed right down.
Best for systems architecture and students who need a slower pace
What students say
One student wrote that coding topics were covered thoroughly and that he improved across six months of lessons. Computer Science is a smaller part of what we teach than Maths or Science, so there is one review here rather than ten.
"Very thorough with coding topics, made me understand key concepts well. Improved in the space of 6 months!"
The specification
Both papers in full. Lessons start with whichever half is losing the most marks, then work across the topics within it rather than marching through the specification in order.
Topic names and paper structures differ slightly between AQA, OCR and Edexcel. Send the specification code and lessons follow that syllabus rather than a generic one.
Practical questions
Most schools teach Python, and that is what we teach unless yours uses something else. The programming project has to be completed but does not count towards the final grade on current specifications, though the skills it builds are examined.
Python covers the overwhelming majority of schools and is what most of our lessons use. If your school teaches C#, Java or Visual Basic, tell us when you enquire and we will match a tutor who works in it rather than translating on the fly.
Exam boards accept answers in pseudocode as well as a real language, and knowing when to use which is worth a few marks on its own.
It must be completed, but it does not contribute to the grade on current specifications. That surprises a lot of parents, and it changes where tutoring time is best spent.
We will not write it, and no legitimate tutor should. What we do is build the skills it needs, so the student can produce it themselves and carry those skills into the exam, which is where the marks actually are.
Specifications
AQA, OCR and Pearson Edexcel, plus IGCSE and O-Level Computer Science through tutors who teach international specifications. The boards differ enough in structure that teaching to the wrong one wastes lessons.
Not sure which board the school uses? The pseudocode style on a past paper usually identifies it immediately, so send us a page and we will tell you.
Inside a lesson
Sixty minutes live on Zoom with screen sharing, so the tutor watches your child write code in real time. Errors get caught as they happen rather than in feedback on finished work, which is the whole point.
Cost
£30 for a 60-minute one to one lesson, falling to £27.50 on a three-month term plan and £25 on an annual plan. Published UK averages for one to one tutoring sit at roughly £37 to £38 an hour, so our standard rate is below the typical market rate.
£30
per 60-minute lesson£27.50
per 60-minute lesson£25
per 60-minute lessonNo sign-up fee, no matching fee, and no premium for a tutor who works as a software engineer. Computer Science costs exactly what KS3 English costs. The 30-minute trial is free and takes no card details.
Beyond GCSE
The same tutors teach either side of GCSE, so a student does not have to change person when they move up a year or carry the subject on.
Years 7 to 9. Introductory programming and computational thinking built properly before GCSE content arrives, which is far easier than catching up in Year 10.
KS3 tutoringWorth considering alongside. Binary, hexadecimal and algorithm efficiency all lean on number skills, and two of our CS tutors teach Maths too.
Maths tutoringNovember and summer retakes. A resit is a different problem from a first sitting and needs a different plan, not the same year repeated.
Resit tutoringCovered, including programming and system design, by a tutor who works as a software engineer rather than a GCSE specialist stretching upwards.
A-Level tutoringCommon questions
Anything not answered here, message us and we will tell you straight. We usually reply within minutes.
Usually, with seven tutors covering the subject. Availability tightens from January and again before summer exams, and evening slots go first. Tell us the days and times you need when you enquire and we will confirm before anything is booked.
Both, and it depends which you need. Two work as software engineers and one is a web developer, so the practical half is taught by people who write code professionally. Others specialise in the theory paper, algorithms or systems. We match to whichever half is losing marks.
It is the most common reason families contact us about this subject. Programming is a practised skill rather than knowledge, so lessons are your child typing while the tutor watches the screen and interrupts at the moment something goes wrong, not a tutor demonstrating.
Python for most students, since that is what most schools use. If your school teaches C#, Java or Visual Basic, tell us when you enquire and we will match a tutor who works in that language rather than translating on the fly.
We will not write it, and no legitimate tutor should. What we do is build the skills it needs so your child can produce it themselves. It also does not count towards the grade on current specifications, so tutoring time is usually better spent on the exam papers.
Both, and lessons weight them according to where the marks are being lost. Most students need one far more than the other, and splitting an hour evenly between them wastes half of it.
Someone reads your enquiry and matches on which half is weak, the exam board, the language the school uses, the current and target grade, and the times you are free. You get one name and the reason for it, not a shortlist to compare.
£30 for a 60-minute one to one lesson, £27.50 each on a three-month term plan and £25 each on a twelve-month annual plan. No sign-up fee, no matching fee, and no premium for a tutor who works as a software engineer.
Yes. Thirty minutes with the tutor we have matched, live on Zoom, with no card details taken and no obligation to book afterwards. If the match is wrong you owe us nothing and we will look again.
The tutor usually asks your child to write something small while sharing their screen. Ten minutes of watching somebody code tells a tutor far more than any conversation, because it shows exactly where the thinking stops.
No. Python is free, and most schools already have students using an editor at home. If your child has nothing set up, the tutor will sort it out in the first few minutes of the trial rather than making it your problem.
Tell us and we will rematch at no cost. You do not lose lessons, restart a plan or pay a fee. With seven tutors covering different halves of the subject there is genuine room to find a better match.
Free 30-minute trial
Tell us the year group, the exam board and whether the problem is the code or the theory. We will put forward one specialist and set up a free 30-minute session. No card details, no obligation.
Enquiries answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We usually reply within minutes, and WhatsApp is the fastest way to reach us.
