--- title: "Online Coding & AI Classes in New Zealand · NCEA L1 / L2 / L3 · University of Auckland · Otago · Victoria ready — Modern Age Coders" description: "Live 1:1 online coding, Python, AI & agentic-AI mentorship for students across Aotearoa New Zealand. Aligned with NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 Digital Technologies, University Entrance (UE), CIE Cambridge International and IB Diploma. University of Auckland, University of Otago, Victoria University of Wellington, University of Canterbury, Massey, AUT, Waikato, Lincoln admissions ready. NZD 165 (USD 100) a month." canonical: https://learn.modernagecoders.com/coding-classes-in-new-zealand keywords: ["coding classes New Zealand", "coding classes NZ", "coding classes Auckland", "coding classes Wellington", "coding classes Christchurch", "coding classes Hamilton", "coding classes Tauranga", "coding classes Dunedin", "coding classes Palmerston North", "online coding classes New Zealand", "Python tutor Auckland", "Python tutor Wellington"] source: src/pages/coding-classes-in-new-zealand.html --- > Live 1:1 online coding, Python, AI & agentic-AI mentorship for students across Aotearoa New Zealand. Aligned with NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 Digital Technologies, University Entrance (UE), CIE Cambridge International and IB Diploma. University of Auckland, University of Otago, Victoria University of Wellington, University of Canterbury, Massey, AUT, Waikato, Lincoln admissions ready. NZD 165 (USD 100) a month. ### Request a callback Leave your number — a mentor in NZST/NZDT will call back within 3 hours. #### We'll ring you shortly! Expect a call within 3 hours, NZST/NZDT. Aotearoa New Zealand · Online · +64 · NZST/NZDT # Real coding & AI for Kiwi students — from primary, through NCEA, to the University of Auckland and beyond. Live 1:1 mentorship in **Python**, modern web and **agentic AI** for students across both islands — aligned with **NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 Digital Technologies**, both Achievement Standards and Unit Standards, plus **University Entrance**, **Cambridge International (CIE)** AS / A-Level, and the **IB Diploma**. Admissions ready for the **University of Auckland · Otago · Victoria · Canterbury · Massey · AUT · Waikato**. **NZD 165 a month** (USD 100), eight live sessions, two per week, cancel anytime. See the Year 1–13 pathway"Whakaakohia ngā tamariki ki te ao o ngā rorohiko me te atamai mōhio — kanohi ki te kanohi, ipurangi."Te Reo Māori friendly. Several mentors can structure sessions for kura kaupapa or Māori-medium learners — code itself stays in English (Python keywords are English) but we accommodate bilingual learners on request.NCEA — explained for visitors and reminded for locals ## The four NCEA grades, what they mean, and what we aim for. ### NCEA Achievement Standards: Excellence · Merit · Achieved · Not Achieved NCEA is standards-based rather than purely exam-based. Each subject is broken into multiple Achievement Standards, each worth credits. You can score one of four grades per standard. The mix of grades across all standards (plus the credit totals at each level) determines the overall NCEA outcome — and your University Entrance eligibility for Year 13. TOP TIERExcellence (E)Demonstrates sophisticated understanding. The grade serious CS aspirants target across the board.STRONGMerit (M)Goes beyond the minimum — comfortable competence. Solid grade for most NCEA subjects.PASSAchieved (A)Meets the standard. Earns credits, but doesn't differentiate against competitive applicants.NEEDS WORKNot Achieved (N)No credits earned. Most NCEA Digital Technologies students who come to us mid-year are trying to avoid this on internal assessments. For University Entrance (UE), students need at least 14 credits at Level 3 in three approved subjects, plus literacy and numeracy thresholds. We aim for **Excellence-graded credits** in NCEA Level 3 Digital Technologies — the differentiator that strengthens University of Auckland CS and Otago Information Science applications. The Kiwi pathway, one diagram ## From Year 1 through NCEA L3 — to UoA, Otago, Victoria, Canterbury and the wider NZ tech scene. New Zealand's secondary system runs Year 9 to Year 13, with NCEA Level 1 typically sat in Year 11 (or earlier at selective schools). Year 13 is where University Entrance and CS-degree applications are won or lost. Here's what each stage demands and where we fit. YEAR 1 – 8 #### Primary & Intermediate Computational-thinking foundations · Scratch · early Python · logic/puzzle work that supports primary maths. YEAR 9 – 10 #### Junior Secondary Real Python · web fundamentals · GitHub from day one · ready for NCEA L1 internal assessments by Year 11. YEAR 11 · NCEA L1 #### NCEA Level 1 DT Digital Technologies Achievement & Unit Standards · internal-assessment portfolios · aim for Merit / Excellence credits. YEAR 12 · NCEA L2 #### NCEA Level 2 DT More algorithmic depth · richer projects · the year that builds the foundation for L3 UE-credit Excellence. YEAR 13 · UE / L3 #### NCEA L3 + University Entrance 14+ UE credits in Digital Technologies at L3 · Excellence-graded portfolio · ready for Auckland, Otago, Victoria, Canterbury CS. **Where Modern Age Coders adds value:** not by replacing school — NZ secondary schools are strong, particularly the well-resourced ones — but by adding the 1:1 depth, real working projects on GitHub, and the Excellence-grade portfolio polish that NCEA L3 Digital Technologies internal-assessment markers actually reward. **4.9 / 5**From 740 Kiwi parent & student reviews**NZST/NZDT**UTC+12 / +13 · India mentors 6.5–7.5h behind**NCEA**Direct alignment with NCEA L1, L2, L3 Digital Technologies**NZD 165**Per month · ≈ USD 100 · no GST · cancel anytimeChoose your child's track ## Pick the course that matches their year level — and book a trial in under 30 seconds. Every course runs as live 1:1 with a mentor matched to your child's exact year. Two 45-minute sessions per week. NZD 165 (USD 100) per month for 1:1, or NZD 66 (USD 40) for small-group cohort. [Year 1 – 4 · Primary Little Coders — Block to Python Scratch & ScratchJr, then we bridge to real Python by month four. Play and animation-led. Strengthens primary-school mathematical thinking quietly. NZD 165 / month · 1:1 · 8 sessions](/courses/coding/kids)[Year 5 – 8 · Primary / Intermediate Python Foundations + Micro:bit Real Python, real keyboard typing, real GitHub. Optional BBC micro:bit add-on for physical-computing projects. NZD 165 / month · 1:1 · 8 sessions](/courses/coding/kids)[Year 9 – 10 · Junior Secondary Web Builders + AI Foundations HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React basics — they ship a real website by month two. AI module covers safe prompting and a first agent-style project. Sets up NCEA L1 well. NZD 165 / month · 1:1 · 8 sessions](/courses/coding/teens)[Year 11 · NCEA Level 1 NCEA L1 Digital Technologies Direct alignment with the NCEA L1 DT Achievement Standards (AS 91070, 91071, 91074, 91075, 91879, 91880 and the rest). Internal assessment portfolios + external standards. NZD 165 / month · 1:1 · 8 sessions](/courses/coding/teens)[Year 12 · NCEA Level 2 NCEA L2 Digital Technologies L2 Achievement Standards including AS 91893 (Programming), 91894 (Database), 91897 (Outcomes for an Identified Need). Aiming for Merit / Excellence credit blocks. NZD 165 / month · 1:1 · 8 sessions](/courses/coding/teens)[Year 13 · NCEA L3 + UE NCEA L3 Digital Technologies + UE L3 Achievement Standards including AS 91906 (Programming), 91907 (Database), 91908 (Develop Outcomes), 91911 (Apply Software). UE-credit Excellence is the bar. NZD 165 / month · 1:1 · 8 sessions](/courses/coding/teens)[Y11 – Y13 · CIE / IB CIE Cambridge A-Level / IB DP CS For NZ students taking Cambridge International AS & A Level (typically Auckland International College, Pinehurst, Saint Kentigern) or IB DP (typically ACG, AIC). Full coverage. NZD 165 / month · 1:1 · 8 sessions](/courses/coding/teens)[University / Adult Agentic AI for Working Pros Python · SQL · LangChain · LangGraph · CrewAI · evaluations · production deployment. The stack Xero, Rocket Lab, Datacom and Pushpay recruit for. NZD 165 / month · 1:1 · 8 sessions](/courses/coding/college)Our daughter is in Year 13 at Diocesan School for Girls aiming for the University of Auckland CS programme. Her NCEA L3 Digital Technologies internal-assessment portfolio needed serious polish for Excellence credits. Three months with her mentor turned a Merit-track portfolio into clean Excellence territory — and her confidence about university went from "I hope I get in" to "I know I'm ready." This is what a quiet, competent Kiwi mentor looks like.— **Sarah W.** · Mother of Year-13 student · Epsom · AucklandWhat Kiwi students actually ship ## Not slides. Not certificates. Real working software our NZ students built. Year 11 · NCEA L1 · Hamilton ### Waikato weather-pattern Python analyser A Python script that pulls NIWA New Zealand climate data, analyses Waikato region rainfall trends and visualises them. Submitted as her NCEA L1 internal assessment for AS 91879. Awarded Excellence. Python · NIWA Open Data · pandas · matplotlibYear 13 · NCEA L3 + UE · Auckland ### AT Mobile bus-arrival LangChain agent A LangChain agent that pulls live Auckland Transport bus-arrival data, predicts when the user's morning bus will arrive at Britomart, and texts them if it's running late. Submitted for NCEA L3 AS 91906. Python · LangChain · AT Mobile API · Twilio · StreamlitYear 12 · NCEA L2 · Wellington ### Wellington Cable Car AR tour-guide A small AR-style web app that recognises landmarks along the Wellington Cable Car route and surfaces history snippets. Built as a Year-12 internal-assessment portfolio piece. JavaScript · React · MediaPipe · MapboxYear 9 · Christchurch ### Canterbury earthquake-data dashboard A Python + Streamlit dashboard visualising historic GeoNet seismic data for Canterbury. Year-9 student built it after the September 2024 earthquake to help his classmates understand the science. Python · Streamlit · GeoNet API · PlotlyUniversity · UoA CS Y1 · Auckland ### Hackathon-winning NCEA-marking helper An LLM-powered tool that helps NZ secondary teachers mark NCEA L2/L3 DT internal assessments more consistently against NZQA exemplars. Won the Best Education Hack prize at the 2025 UoA hackathon. Python · LangChain · ChromaDB · GPT-4o · FastAPIAdult · 42 yo · Tauranga ### Kiwifruit-orchard yield-forecasting agent A working agentic-AI tool that pulls historical Bay of Plenty kiwifruit yields, regional weather data and Zespri grower data, then forecasts the next season's harvest for his consulting clients in the Tauranga horticultural sector. Python · NIWA · MPI Open Data · CrewAI · StreamlitWho teaches your child ## A real mentor in NZ-friendly hours, every single class. Every Modern Age Coders NZ family is matched to a single named mentor. No platform-only, no chatbot-only, no rotating "hub teachers". The same mentor stays with your child for as long as it's working — typically 12 to 24 months. Several mentors have direct NCEA-teaching experience. JW ### James W. NCEA L3 Digital Technologies specialist · Ex-Auckland Grammar Nine years teaching NCEA L2/L3 DT at Auckland Grammar before going remote. Knows the NZQA Achievement Standards and exemplar moderation processes intimately. Active NZST 14:00 – 20:00AT ### Aroha T. Te Reo Māori bilingual support · Tauranga-based Bilingual Te Reo Māori-English mentor, ex-Tauranga Girls'. Specifically supports kura kaupapa or Māori-medium students who want code-instruction in English with kōrero in Te Reo where helpful. Active NZST 15:00 – 21:00RM ### Rajesh M. NCEA L1/L2 + Junior Secondary · Indian-based Mumbai-based mentor with 8 years of UK Computing teaching experience. Adapted to the NCEA framework over the past three years; now mentors Year 9–12 Kiwi students. Active IST mornings = NZ afternoonsEH ### Emma H. CIE / IB DP CS · Christchurch Ex-St Andrew's College Christchurch IB CS teacher. Supports CIE Cambridge A-Level and IB DP CS students at Auckland International College, ACG schools, Pinehurst, Saint Kentigern and the few-but-real IB schools across NZ. Active NZST 13:00 – 19:00SN ### Suresh N. Agentic AI for adults · Ex-Xero engineering (Wellington remote) 4 years remote engineering at Xero. Now mentors Auckland and Wellington-based working professionals shifting into agentic AI / LLM-engineering roles. Lots of ex-Xero referrals. Active NZST 17:00 – 22:00 + SatKS ### Kiri S. Girls-only cohort lead · UoA CS MSc University of Auckland Computer Science Master's. Leads our girls-only Aotearoa cohort. Particularly strong with the Year 9–12 transition for girls. Popular with Diocesan, Baradene, St Cuthbert's and Samuel Marsden families. Active NZST 15:00 – 20:00Honest pricing in NZD ## One price for Aotearoa: NZD 165 a month. Eight live 1:1 sessions. Cancel anytime. No joining fee. No registration fee. No annual lock-in. No "gold / platinum / diamond" upsell tiers. The same price for a Year-3 little coder, a Year-13 NCEA L3 candidate, or a Tauranga-based adult career-switcher. We price in USD and quote the NZD equivalent at the current rate. No NZ GST is added. Most chosen by Kiwi families ### 1:1 Private Mentor A named mentor in NZST/NZDT. Live, every session. NZD165/month≈ USD 100 / month - 8 live sessions per month · 2 per week · 45 min each - Same named mentor for as long as it's working - Aligned: NCEA L1/L2/L3 DT · UE · CIE · IB DP - Direct WhatsApp + email line to your mentor - Real working projects on the student's own GitHub - Free trial · cancel monthly · no joining fee ### Small-Group Cohort 3 – 5 learners, same year, same standards. NZD66/month≈ USD 40 / month - 8 live group sessions per month · 2 per week · 60 min each - Same mentor every class · cohort stays together - Peer learning + healthy NCEA-credit competition - All the same project + GitHub setup as 1:1 - Move to 1:1 anytime · prorated · no fee We accept payment in **NZD or USD**, by Visa / Mastercard, or international bank transfer. No NZ GST is charged (we deliver cross-border online). NZ universities — at a glance ## Where our Kiwi students go for Computer Science, AI and Engineering. NZ has eight universities, all government-funded, with strong CS programmes at the top tier. Many of our advanced students also target Australian Group of Eight, US Ivy League, or UK Russell Group as overseas alternatives. #### University of Auckland AUCKLAND · UOA · QS TOP 100 NZ's largest university and strongest CS programme. School of Computer Science. Highly competitive at the Excellence credit end. #### University of Otago DUNEDIN · QS TOP 200 Information Science Department, strong in data science, ML and HCI. Oldest NZ university (1869). #### Victoria University of Wellington WELLINGTON · QS TOP 250 School of Engineering & Computer Science (SECS). Strong industry links with Wellington's tech and government IT sectors. #### University of Canterbury CHRISTCHURCH CSSE — Computer Science & Software Engineering. Strong in research, particularly HCI and AI. #### Massey University AUCKLAND · PALMERSTON NORTH · WELLINGTON Distance-friendly tertiary provider. Strong CS programmes across all three campuses. Particularly popular with adult-learner pathways. #### AUT University AUCKLAND · AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Applied-track CS, software engineering, computer & mathematical sciences. Very industry-coupled, growing AI focus. #### University of Waikato HAMILTON Computer Science, AI & data analytics. Strong reputation in machine-learning research (WEKA originated here). #### Lincoln University CANTERBURY · LINCOLN Land-based university. Smaller CS programme but strong in agritech and data-science applied to the agricultural sector — uniquely NZ. Many of our Kiwi students also target overseas universities: **Melbourne, Sydney, ANU, UNSW, Monash, UQ** (AU Go8), **MIT, Stanford, CMU, UC Berkeley** (US), **Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial** (UK), **Waterloo, UofT, UBC** (CA). Where this leads — NZ tech ## Xero, Rocket Lab and the wider Aotearoa tech ecosystem. NZ's tech sector punches well above its population. Xero (founded Wellington) is now an ASX-listed global accounting platform. Rocket Lab is one of the most consequential aerospace companies of this decade. Plus a growing ecosystem of Datacom, Pushpay, Trade Me, MYOB and IDA-supported tech-export businesses. WELLINGTON · GLOBAL HQ #### Xero Founded in Wellington 2006. ASX-listed accounting platform. ~5,000 staff globally, hundreds in NZ engineering. One of the strongest Kiwi tech employer brands. AUCKLAND · GLOBAL AEROSPACE #### Rocket Lab Founded by Peter Beck in Auckland. NASDAQ-listed. Builds Electron rockets, satellite components. Engineering, manufacturing and mission operations across NZ and US. WELLINGTON · NZ IT #### Datacom NZ's largest homegrown IT services company. ~7,000 staff across Australasia. Major employer for NZ-trained CS graduates. AUCKLAND · PAYMENTS #### Pushpay Auckland-founded donor-payments platform. Acquired in 2023 but engineering remains substantially in NZ. Strong engineering culture. WELLINGTON · MARKETPLACE #### Trade Me NZ's eBay-equivalent marketplace. Founded Wellington 1999. Substantial engineering team. Real distributed-systems work. AUCKLAND · ACCOUNTING #### MYOB NZ SME accounting / payroll platform. Major engineering presence in Auckland. Direct competitor to Xero. AUCKLAND · APPLIANCES + IOT #### Fisher & Paykel Iconic NZ engineering brand. Increasingly software-and-IoT-focused for connected appliances and healthcare devices. WELLINGTON · GOVT TECH #### NZ Govt Digital Services Te Tari Taiwhenua (Internal Affairs) digital teams, MBIE, and Inland Revenue digital — all hire substantial NZ-trained CS graduates. Stable, well-compensated. Plus the **NZ Tech Alliance**, **Callaghan Innovation**, **MBIE Hi-Tech**, the **NZ Hi-Tech Awards** ecosystem, and growing players like **Soul Machines**, **Halter**, **Dawn Aerospace**, **Tracksuit**, **Sharesies**, **Hnry**, **Vend (Lightspeed)**. Your first month, week by week ## What actually happens between the day you book a callback and your child's first real GitHub commit. Day 0 ### The callback You leave your **+64** number on the form. A mentor working NZST/NZDT calls within 3 hours — usually within 60 minutes during 16:00 – 21:00 NZST. No salesperson, no script. We ask 4 things: year level, school, NCEA / CIE / IB pathway, what you want from the next 6 months. Day 1 – 2 ### Mentor match We match your child to a specific named mentor based on year level, school, exam pathway, Te Reo preference if applicable, time slot, personality. You see the mentor's name, photo and short bio before the trial. Day 3 ### The free trial lesson One full live 1:1 session with that named mentor. No demo content, no scripted lesson. At the end, you receive a written 6-month outcome plan. Zero pressure if you don't continue. Week 1 ### Setup & first project Mentor sets up the dev environment on your child's home laptop (VS Code, Python, GitHub account). First "real" project shipped end of week 1 — usually a small Python game or a working Flask webpage. We send you the GitHub link. Week 2 – 3 ### Curriculum lock-in The mentor finalises the 6-month learning plan — mapped explicitly to your child's NCEA standards, the school's pace, or the CIE / IB syllabus the family is sitting. You can challenge or change anything. Week 4 ### First parent check-in End of month one, the mentor calls you (not your child) on WhatsApp for 15 minutes. You hear what's working, what isn't, what to expect month 2. If month 1 wasn't great, we say so honestly and offer a different mentor — free. Adult learners welcome — and common ## About 26% of our NZ students are adults. Career-switchers, finance pros, full-time parents upskilling. 42 yo · Tauranga · Banking → AI engineering ### From ANZ business banker to Xero AI-product role (Wellington remote). Daniel spent 14 years at ANZ Bank in business banking. He had a maths brain but no coding. Eight months with Suresh — Python → SQL → LangChain → a working agentic-AI portfolio. He's now in an AI-product role at Xero, working remotely from Tauranga. 33 yo · Christchurch · Stay-at-home mum returning ### From paused career to remote junior-developer offer in 12 months. Tara stopped work after her second child and spent 5 years out. 12 months in, she has a React + Supabase portfolio and a remote junior-developer offer from a Sydney-based fintech. Worked exclusively in evenings. 56 yo · Auckland · Retired teacher ### Retirement was boring. Now ships an AI-driven NCEA-study app. Margaret was a Year-12/13 chemistry teacher at Macleans College for 28 years. Retired in 2024. Now spends 3 hours a day in Python, has built an LLM-powered NCEA chemistry study app, which gets 2,400 monthly users. 29 yo · Wellington · PM at Trade Me ### Non-technical PM at Trade Me shipping production code now. Hina was a non-technical PM at Trade Me and felt the gap painfully. Six months with us and she now ships small production changes herself, has earned engineering credibility from her team, and was promoted to Senior PM in February 2026. 38 yo · Auckland · Engineer at Rocket Lab broadening into ML ### Rocket Lab mechanical engineer pivoting into ML for mission operations. Tane was a competent mechanical engineer at Rocket Lab but wanted to add ML skills for the mission-operations pipeline. Five months focused on Python + ML fundamentals + LLM-application engineering. He's now on a new mission-software team at Rocket Lab. 35 yo · Hamilton · Civil-service IT staff ### Working at MBIE Hi-Tech, building internal AI tools. Aroha works in IT services at MBIE in Wellington (remote from Hamilton). Built an internal LLM-powered policy-analysis tool over 6 months with us. Her director funded a small AI internal-tools team after seeing the impact. What we promise · and what we don't ## No University of Auckland admission guarantees. No "100% Excellence" promises. Here's what we'll commit to. ### We will - Match your child to a named mentor within 48 hours - Run the free trial as a real lesson, not a sales demo - Send a written 6-month outcome plan after the trial - Coordinate around NCEA internal-assessment due dates and externals - Be honest if your child needs a different mentor — and switch them, free - Bill in NZD or USD on the date you joined — never on the 1st-of-month surprise - Stop billing immediately on cancellation — no notice period, no last-month trick ### We won't - Promise admission to UoA, Otago, Victoria, Canterbury or anywhere else - Promise NCEA Excellence across the board (we work for it, we don't guarantee it) - Use AI chatbot "tutors" instead of real human mentors - Sell you "gold / platinum / diamond" upsell packages - Auto-renew you onto a 12-month plan you didn't agree to - Pressure-call you if you don't continue after the trial - Quietly add NZ GST — there is none on our service for Kiwi families Inside a typical class ## A real 45-minute Modern Age Coders NZ session, step by step. Minute 0 – 3 ### Greeting and last-session check Mentor and student greet on Zoom. 2-minute recap: "What do you remember? What got stuck?" — no homework-style grilling. Minute 3 – 10 ### Concept moment Mentor introduces the one new concept — usually with a NZ-relevant example. ("Today we're learning dictionaries by storing every region of Aotearoa as a key and its largest city as the value.") Minute 10 – 35 ### Live build Student writes real code. Mentor watches, prompts, helps debug. The mentor never types for the student. Minute 35 – 42 ### Ship it Push to GitHub. Run the program. Sometimes screen-record a 30-second demo video for the family chat. Minute 42 – 45 ### Wrap & preview Mentor writes 2 lines into the session log (parents can read anytime). Previews next session. Says goodbye. What a full year actually looks like ## Three real 12-month plans — from Year 9 foundations, to NCEA L2, to Year-13 UE sprint. Plan A ### Year 9 student · Hamilton · 12-month plan **Months 1–2:** Python fundamentals — variables, conditions, loops, functions. First GitHub repos. **Months 3–4:** Data structures, file I/O. First mini-project (their choice). **Months 5–6:** Object-oriented Python + a working game. **Months 7–8:** First webpage with HTML/CSS/JS. Flask intro. **Months 9–10:** AI module — using an LLM API safely, prompt design. **Months 11–12:** Capstone project. Ready to head into Year 10 NCEA-L1-prep confident. **Outcome:** NCEA L1 internal-assessment-ready, real GitHub portfolio. Plan B ### Year 12 NCEA L2 student · Wellington · 12-month plan **Months 1–2:** NCEA L2 Achievement Standards review. Baseline assessment. **Months 3–4:** AS 91893 (Programming) internal-assessment project — coded, tested, documented. **Months 5–6:** AS 91894 (Database) project alongside. **Months 7–8:** AS 91897 (Outcomes for an Identified Need) — the big internal assessment. **Months 9–10:** External-standard exam prep (Nov externals). **Months 11–12:** Setup for NCEA L3 / UE year. AI module starts. **Outcome:** Strong NCEA L2 with Merit/Excellence credit blocks. Ready for L3 Year 13. Plan C ### Year 13 NCEA L3 + UE candidate · Auckland · 12-month plan (Feb – Dec) **Months 1–2 (Feb–Mar):** L3 Achievement Standards mapping. AS 91906 (Programming) project topic locked in. **Months 3–4 (Apr–May):** Project build phase — coded, tested, internal moderation prep. **Months 5–6 (Jun–Jul):** AS 91908 (Develop Outcomes) — the big L3 project. **Months 7–8 (Aug–Sep):** AS 91911 (Apply Software) finished + external prep. **Months 9–10 (Oct–Nov):** Final polish + external exams. **Months 11–12 (Dec):** Results + university applications. **Outcome:** Aiming for UE Excellence in L3 DT. Solid platform for UoA / Otago / Victoria / Canterbury CS. Schools we've supported in NZ ## A selection of NZ schools where our students attend — state, integrated, and private. Not an endorsement by any school. These are simply schools where Modern Age Coders NZ students currently study. **Auckland Grammar School**State boys · Epsom**King's College**Private · Otahuhu**Diocesan School for Girls**Private girls · Epsom**Macleans College**State · Bucklands Beach**Westlake Boys High School**State boys · North Shore**Saint Kentigern College**Private · Pakuranga**Pinehurst School**Private · Albany**ACG Parnell College**Private · Parnell**Auckland International College (AIC)**IB · Royal Oak**Wellington College**State boys · Wellington**Scots College Wellington**Private boys · Strathmore**Wellington Girls' College**State girls · Pipitea**Samuel Marsden Collegiate**Private girls · Wellington**Christ's College**Private boys · Christchurch**St Andrew's College**Private · Christchurch**Otago Boys' / Girls' High**State · Dunedin**Hamilton Boys' / Girls' High**State · Hamilton**Multiple kura kaupapa & rural state schools**Te Reo medium & ruralTwo minutes. One callback. ## Talk to a real NZ-time-zone mentor before deciding anything. Leave your number. A mentor working NZST/NZDT will call you within 3 hours, ask 4 questions about your child's year and school, and either book a free trial or politely tell you we're not the right fit. No follow-up campaign. No spam. We've never sold a list. FAQ — NZ-specific ## Twenty-six answers to the questions Kiwi parents (and adult learners) actually ask. Are you a NZ-registered company? We deliver as an education-services provider registered outside New Zealand, which is why no NZ GST applies to your bill. Delivery is online-only — there is no NZ office. We issue cross-border invoices in NZD or USD if needed. Do you align with the NZQA NCEA framework? Yes. Direct alignment with NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 Digital Technologies — both Achievement Standards and Unit Standards. We work from the NZQA-published assessment criteria and exemplars. What does "Excellence-graded credit" mean and why do you mention it so much? Each NCEA standard is graded Excellence / Merit / Achieved / Not Achieved. Excellence credits are the most differentiating for university applications and scholarships. We don't claim every student gets Excellence — we explicitly target it as the bar. Can mentors help with the NCEA L3 internal-assessment portfolio? Yes — this is one of our strongest areas. We have mentors who personally taught NCEA L2/L3 DT at Auckland Grammar, St Andrew's College Christchurch, Wellington College and Macleans. They know what NZQA moderators reward. What about CIE Cambridge International AS / A-Level Computer Science? Yes — full Cambridge International AS & A Level CS coverage (9608 / 9618). Common for Auckland International College, Pinehurst, ACG, and a handful of other CIE-pathway NZ schools. And IB Diploma Programme? Yes. IB Computer Science HL & SL with ex-IB-examiner support. Internal Assessment scaffolding is a particular strength. Common for ACG, AIC, Pinehurst (some pathways), and other IB-track NZ schools. Do you coach the NZ Olympiad in Informatics (NZOI)? Yes — algorithms, data structures, dynamic programming, competitive programming. We've coached students through NZOI selection rounds. Most NZOI-bound students come to us in Year 10 or 11 and work intensively for 8 – 18 months. What about the New Zealand Programming Contest (NZPC)? Yes — team coaching for university-level NZPC events. About 1 in 6 of our advanced Y13 students continue into university and compete in NZPC during first-year or second-year. What time zone do mentors work in? NZST (UTC+12) in winter, NZDT (UTC+13) in summer. Most mentors are based in India (IST, 6.5–7.5 hours behind), so a 4 pm NZ class is 9:30 am IST — normal teaching hours on both ends. UK mentors deliver in their morning to your afternoon. What does it cost in NZD? Private 1:1 mentorship is USD 100 (about NZD 165) per month — 8 sessions, two each week. Small-group cohort is USD 40 (about NZD 66) per month. No NZ GST. No joining fee. Can I pay in NZD or USD? Either. Most NZ families pay by Visa or Mastercard (NZD-billed). Some pay by international transfer in USD. Whichever you choose, the amount converts at the spot rate on billing date. Will the mentor help set up a school-issued device? Yes. Some NZ schools use BYOD policies and some issue school-managed Chromebooks. We have a school-laptop setup path (VS Code in the browser via GitHub Codespaces, sandboxed Python). The mentor handles setup during the first class. Are mentors qualified? Police-vetted? Every mentor undergoes a structured 4-step interview, paid trial-teaching, and an Indian / UK-equivalent of a Police Vetting / DBS check. Many hold a Master's or PhD in Computer Science. What if my child needs a different mentor? You ask, we switch — free, within 48 hours. Does your schedule respect NCEA exam fortnights? Yes — automatically. During NCEA externals (typically early November) and internal-assessment due weeks, we reduce intensity, switch to lighter review sessions, or pause entirely. No bill changes. Can my child practise in Te Reo Māori? Code itself is in English (Python keywords are English; GitHub is English — universal). But for kura kaupapa or Māori-medium learners, we can pair them with a Te Reo Māori-fluent mentor who explains concepts in Te Reo and walks through code in English. How does this work for rural / Southland / Far North families? Online means location doesn't matter. We have students in Invercargill, Kaitaia, Westport, Greymouth, Whakatāne, Gisborne getting the same quality as Auckland CBD families. As long as the internet is stable, the mentor works. Are there girls-only cohorts? Yes. Common from Diocesan, Baradene, St Cuthbert's, Marsden, Wellington Girls', Otago Girls' families. All-female mentor pool. Identical curriculum, depth and pricing. How do I cancel? One email. No phone call required. No retention agent will hassle you. We stop billing on the cancellation date — no notice period, no last-month trick. Will my child be safe online — especially with AI tools? Under-13s never interact with raw LLM APIs without a mentor present. We use age-appropriate models, guardrailed prompts, content filters and a sandbox-only rule. What if we relocate from NZ to Australia or the UK? The mentor stays. Only the time zone changes. Many Kiwi families have relocated to Sydney, Melbourne, London, San Francisco mid-year with us and never switched providers. Do you offer scholarships for Kiwi students? Yes — a small annual scholarship pool for high-potential students whose families can't comfortably afford NZD 165 / month. Email a short note from the parent + a piece of work from the child. We award 8 – 12 NZ scholarships per academic year. What happens during the summer holidays (Dec – Feb)? Sessions pause automatically during the official NZ school summer break unless the family specifically wants summer-intensive blocks (which many do). No need to email us. Are sessions on Zoom or Microsoft Teams? Default is Zoom — most NZ families are familiar with it. If your school or family prefers Teams or Google Meet, mentors will use whichever you prefer. Will mentors help with UCAS or Australian Tertiary admissions (UAC, VTAC, QTAC) for overseas-bound students? Yes — about 1 in 8 of our advanced NZ students apply to AU Go8 universities (Melbourne, Sydney, UNSW, Monash) or UK Russell Group via UCAS. We help shape personal statements and project portfolios. We don't write essays for students, ever. Will the mentor know my child's specific school's NCEA implementation? Generally yes — we have direct ex-teacher experience from Auckland Grammar, Macleans, Westlake Boys, Wellington College, St Andrew's Christchurch and others. For schools we haven't directly taught at, the mentor will spend the first session understanding your child's specific Achievement Standards mix. Do you work with primary-school children (Year 1 – 6)? Yes — primary is one of our fastest-growing NZ cohorts. We don't push hard; primary-age is about building curiosity and confidence. Two 30-45 minute sessions a week, Scratch & ScratchJr at first, real Python by month four, real GitHub by month six. My child is dyslexic / has ADHD / has additional needs. Can you accommodate? Yes. About 14% of our NZ students have a learning difference. We adapt pacing, lesson structure, and screen-formatting on request. Honest disclosure of needs on the callback lets us match to the right mentor — we have several mentors who specialise in supporting neurodivergent learners. What about Boards of Trustees / school-system communication if I want my child's school to know about the mentorship? We can email your child's BOT or HoD-Digital-Technologies a short letter outlining what we're covering. Several NZ schools have welcomed this — it lets the classroom teacher coordinate around the external mentorship. We don't insist on this; it's optional. Common Kiwi parent worries ## Honest answers to the questions you don't always ask out loud. "My Year-13 student is already balancing 5 subjects for NCEA L3. Will this add too much?" If NCEA L3 Digital Technologies is one of those 5, then we're directly useful — we cover the standards they're being assessed on, with 1:1 depth their school class size can't match. If DT is NOT in their 5, we'd suggest a different mentor (maybe NCEA Maths or Physics support). We won't push you into the wrong fit. "My Year-12 child already does NCEA, sports, drama and CCAs. Will this fit?" Two 45-minute sessions per week. We coordinate around sports trips, school camps, and exam fortnights. Most Kiwi teens find the coding work actually *relaxing* compared to the NCEA portfolio grind. "Is AI safe for my 10-year-old?" Under-13s never interact with raw LLM APIs without a mentor present. Age-appropriate models, guardrailed prompts, content filters, sandbox-only rule. "My daughter is at Dio / Marsden / Baradene / St Cuthbert's and we'd prefer a female mentor." Of course. Just ask on the callback. All-female mentor pool with identical curriculum, depth and pricing. "We live in rural Southland / Far North / West Coast — will the mentor be Auckland-centric?" No. Online means location doesn't matter. We have students in Invercargill, Bluff, Kaitaia, Westport getting the same quality as Remuera kids. The mentor is more likely to make a regional joke about your rugby team than to ask "where's that?" "What if the mentor is just a moonlighting graduate student?" None of our mentors are. Every mentor is a full-time professional educator with 5+ years of teaching experience and a structured interview pipeline before they ever meet a NZ family. "My child wants to study in Australia after school. Is this still worth doing?" Yes — especially yes. Strong NCEA L3 (with Excellence credits) plus a real GitHub portfolio is exactly what Melbourne, Sydney, UNSW, ANU, Monash and UQ look for in NZ-applicants. About 1 in 6 of our advanced NZ students target an Australian Go8 university. "We can't afford NZD 165/month right now. Anything we can do?" Be honest on the callback. We have a small annual scholarship pool (8 – 12 awards / year, 50%–100% off monthly fee). We also have a cohort option at NZD 66 which is a meaningfully smaller commitment. We'd rather help you find an option that fits than lose you to a "no fit at any price" outcome. "My child is non-binary / gender-diverse. Is the mentor pool inclusive?" Yes. We don't make assumptions about who teaches whom. Several mentors are openly LGBTQIA+. We ask preference (mentor gender, communication style) on the callback and match accordingly. Zero questions asked. "My family is Pasifika. Will mentors understand our cultural context?" We do our best. Several of our NZ-based mentors have direct Pasifika cultural literacy. We don't claim deep expertise — but we listen, we adapt, and we respect when a family wants the mentor to understand the rhythm of fale-fa'a-tamāli'i, church-Sunday and aiga obligations around scheduling. Honest disclosure on the callback always helps. "We're rurally based and our internet can be patchy. Will this still work?" Yes, in our experience. Zoom in low-bandwidth mode plus a backup phone call if Zoom drops out — we've maintained classes through Far-North storms, West-Coast outages, and Coromandel cyclone-recovery weeks. Sessions are recorded so a missed minute doesn't matter. "My child is autistic / on the spectrum. Are mentors trained?" Several of our mentors have specific neurodivergent-supporting training and direct lived experience teaching autistic students. Honest disclosure on the callback lets us match well; we'll quietly favour structure, predictable lesson formats and clear sensory-friendly Zoom settings. Kiwi family stories ## Real outcomes from real NZ homes — not stock photos. Six families across Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and rural NZ share what changed in the first six months. Names abbreviated. Every story shared with written permission. Olivia, Year 13 · Diocesan · Epsom ### NCEA L3 Digital Technologies portfolio: from Merit-track to Excellence. Olivia was on track for Merit-graded credits at the end of Year 12. Her family wanted Excellence for UoA CS admissions. Three months with James (ex-Auckland Grammar) and her L3 internal-assessment portfolio polished into clean Excellence. UE achieved comfortably. Now reading CS at UoA. Mentor: James · 22 sessions · NCEA L3 DT: Excellence · Now at UoA CS Liam, Year 11 · Westlake Boys · North Shore ### NCEA L1 with all Achievement Standards at Excellence. Liam joined in February 2025 with zero coding background. By November he'd ticked off every NCEA L1 DT Achievement Standard at Excellence grade — exceptional outcome for a first-year-NCEA student. Now in Year 12 carrying forward strong momentum. Mentor: James · 28 sessions · NCEA L1: all Excellence · 12 months Sophie, Year 12 · Wellington Girls' · Wellington ### From "I don't like coding" to representing NZ at competitive programming. Sophie joined reluctantly in 2024 — her parents pushed it. By month four she was hooked, having built a small Wellington-Cable-Car AR project that her teacher loved. She placed top 20% nationally in the NZOI 2025 qualifier. Mentor: Kiri · 20 sessions · NZOI Top-20% · Wellington Twins · Year 9 · Hamilton ### Different temperaments, different tracks, same household. Anika (the quiet one) does Python game design Tuesdays; Ravi (the competitive one) does web development Thursdays. Different tracks, same household, same monthly bill (×2). Both retained at 6-month mark. Mentors: Rajesh & James · 2 separate tracks · 24 weeks Aroha, Year 11 · Tauranga Girls' (kura kaupapa background) ### Te Reo-bilingual mentor delivered a comfortable NCEA L1 first year. Aroha had attended a kura kaupapa primary school and her family wanted to keep Te Reo strong while she did mainstream NCEA. Aroha T. delivered all sessions with kōrero in Te Reo and code-instruction in English. NCEA L1 DT outcome: 17 Excellence credits. Mentor: Aroha T. · 22 sessions · Te Reo bilingual · 17 Excellence credits Daniel, 42 yo · Tauranga · Career-switcher ### ANZ business banker → Xero AI-product role (remote from Tauranga). Daniel is the story above (same person). Started Python from zero in May 2025. Got the Xero offer in February 2026. Now refers other ANZ colleagues — about 30% of our NZ adult-learner pipeline. Mentor: Suresh · 38 sessions · Career switch · Xero AI-product We have many more. We don't publish photos or full surnames of minors — that's a hard rule. But we're happy to put you in touch (with permission) with one Kiwi parent in your region before you commit. Where our NZ students live ## Regional spotlights — Auckland to Invercargill. Aotearoa is small but regionally diverse. The schools in Epsom behave differently from the schools in Tauranga, which differ from rural Westland. Here's where our current Kiwi students are based. AUCKLAND · CENTRAL & EASTERN ### Epsom, Remuera, Parnell, Howick Densest cluster. Auckland Grammar, Diocesan, King's College, Macleans, Saint Kentigern. Many of our NCEA Excellence-aiming families. **Schools:** AGS · Dio · King's · Macleans · Saint Kentigern · Auckland GrammarAUCKLAND · NORTH SHORE ### Takapuna, Devonport, Albany Strong state-school cluster — Westlake Boys/Girls, Rangitoto College, plus Pinehurst (private). Many Tech-employee parent families. **Schools:** Westlake Boys/Girls · Rangitoto · Pinehurst · Takapuna GrammarWELLINGTON ### Wellington City & Hutt Valley Wellington College, Wellington Girls', Scots, Samuel Marsden, Onslow, Kapiti. Big civil-service and Xero-engineering parent base. **Schools:** Wellington College · WGC · Scots · Samuel Marsden · OnslowCHRISTCHURCH ### Christchurch & wider Canterbury Christ's College, St Andrew's, Christchurch Boys' / Girls', Burnside, Cashmere. Strong UoC pipeline. **Schools:** Christ's College · St Andrew's · Christchurch Boys/Girls · BurnsideHAMILTON & WAIKATO ### Hamilton, Tauranga, Bay of Plenty Hamilton Boys'/Girls', St Paul's Collegiate, Tauranga Boys'/Girls', Aquinas. Plus a strong rural-Waikato cluster. **Schools:** Hamilton Boys'/Girls' · St Paul's · Tauranga Boys'/Girls' · AquinasDUNEDIN · OTAGO ### Dunedin & Otago Otago Boys', Otago Girls', John McGlashan, Columba. Plus the strong UoO pipeline. **Schools:** Otago Boys' / Girls' · John McGlashan · ColumbaPALMERSTON NORTH & LOWER NORTH ### Palmerston North, Wanganui, New Plymouth Palmerston North Boys'/Girls', Wanganui Collegiate, New Plymouth Boys'/Girls'. Mix of state and integrated schools. **Schools:** PN Boys'/Girls' · Wanganui Collegiate · New Plymouth Boys'/Girls'RURAL & FAR NORTH / SOUTHLAND ### Far North · West Coast · Southland Small but real student base in rural NZ. Online means Kaitaia, Westport, Invercargill, Bluff students get the same quality as Auckland CBD families. **Schools:** Various state and integrated regional schoolsWhy context-specific examples matter ## Why we deliberately use NZ-context examples in every lesson. Generic online platforms teach generic examples. When a Wellington student is learning dictionaries, a generic platform stores European capital cities as values. We store NZ regions and their largest urban centres. When a Christchurch student is learning APIs, a generic platform uses a US weather API. We use NIWA. When a Tauranga student is building a web scraper, we scrape Stuff or RNZ, not the New York Times. It matters. Engagement rises. The "ah-ha" moments come faster. The student feels seen. And the projects they build end up being legitimately useful in their own lives. - API examples: **NIWA** climate, **GeoNet** seismic, **AT Mobile**, **LINZ** mapping, **RNZ** news - Data examples: **Statistics NZ**, **MBIE** business stats, **Education Counts**, **Stuff** open data - Project domains: kapa haka scheduling, rugby fixture tracking, kiwifruit-orchard yield, regional weather, MRT-equivalent NZ Bus & metro routes Competition outcomes — selected ## A snapshot of what our NZ students have achieved at competitions. Non-exhaustive list of NZ-student outcomes in 2024 and 2025. No student names — hard privacy rule. - **NZ Olympiad in Informatics (NZOI) 2025** — 4 students Top-20% nationally, 2 students Top-10%, 1 reached the NZOI training camp. - **NZ Programming Contest (NZPC) 2025** — 2 of our university-track students on top-10 teams. - **UoA Hackathon 2025** — 1 student on the Best Education Hack winning team. - **NCEA Level 3 Digital Technologies 2024 cohort** — of our 14 L3 DT students, 11 finished with Excellence-graded credit blocks. - **NCEA Level 2 DT 2024 cohort** — of our 19 L2 DT students, 13 finished with Merit or Excellence credit blocks. - **NZ Maths Olympiad (NZMO) 2025** — 3 students Silver, 1 Gold. - **2025 University Entrance from our Y13 cohort** — 13 of 14 students achieved UE. - **University placements 2024 cohort** — 5 students into UoA CS, 2 Otago Information Science, 2 Victoria SECS, 1 Canterbury CSSE, 1 Australian Go8 (Melbourne). These outcomes correlate with our mentorship rather than being caused solely by it. A great mentor amplifies a hard-working student; we are honest about that distinction. Patterns from NZ parent feedback ## Six things our Kiwi parents specifically tell us they like. We collect parent feedback at the end of every 6-month review. The same six themes come back from Kiwi families more than any other country we serve. Quoting plainly: - **"No-bullshit pricing."** One number. No tiers. No annual lock-in. No "platinum" upsells. NZD 165/month, you cancel when you want. - **"The mentor actually understood NCEA."** Most overseas platforms treat NZ as a generic "Australasia" market. Our NCEA specialists know Achievement Standards by code. - **"They didn't push."** Kiwi parents notice when there's no pressure call after the trial. Several have said this is what convinced them to actually proceed. - **"My daughter wasn't talked down to."** Particularly common from girls-school families. The mentor pitch matches the student's actual level, not a stereotype. - **"Real GitHub from week one."** Not a sandbox. Not a Code-Combat-style game. Actual git, actual GitHub, actual commit history. - **"They paused for NCEA exam fortnight without being asked."** NCEA externals are intense. We default to reduced intensity around them; parents notice. A note on the Kiwi school day ## We respect the rhythm of NZ secondary-school life. Most NZ secondary students return home between 3 pm and 4 pm. Many have rugby / netball / drama / kapa haka / homework till 7 pm. We've engineered the schedule: - **Weeknight slots** — 4 pm – 9 pm NZST/NZDT, accommodating sport and homework. - **Saturday morning blocks** — 10 am – 1 pm NZST, popular with NCEA L2/L3 families. - **December – January summer** — intensive blocks available for students who want to accelerate. - **NCEA externals (Nov)** — automatic intensity reduction. No bill changes. - **School terms 1–4** — we follow the NZ school term structure; pauses align with school holidays unless family wants intensives. Worth saying out loud ## Why a mix of Indian, NZ and Australian-trained mentors fits Kiwi families well. Most of our mentors are India-based; a smaller pool is NZ-based (ex-Auckland Grammar, ex-Wellington College, ex-St Andrew's Christchurch, kura-kaupapa-trained) or Australia-based. Here's why this mix works for Kiwi families, said plainly: - **Time zones align.** India is 6.5–7.5 hours behind NZ; a 4 pm NZ class is 9:30 am India — normal teaching hours on both ends. Australian mentors are 2 hours behind. - **CS depth is world-class.** India produces more CS graduates per year than any other country, and the top tier — IIT JEE Advanced clearers, top-IIT placement engineers — is who teaches your child. UoA, Otago and IIT graduates respect each other's standards. - **Native English-medium teaching.** Indian mentors deliver in clear, professional English. For Māori-medium learners, we pair with a Te Reo-fluent bilingual mentor — code in English, kōrero in Te Reo. - **Kiwi-system knowledge is our investment.** Our NZ-trained mentors and ex-NZ-teachers carry the NCEA / NZQA Achievement-Standards knowledge so the broader pool can scale. You never need to explain NCEA to anyone. - **Cost structure makes 1:1 viable.** A Wellington-based academy charging NZD 165 / month would be forced to use 5:1 group sessions. Our model allows real 1:1 with a named mentor for the same monthly cost. - **No "tall poppy" sales pressure.** Kiwi parents quietly hate hard-sell tactics. Our mentors don't do scripts, don't do urgency pitches, don't do "limited spots". The first call is just a conversation. Last word ## If you've read this far, the next step is one phone call. No quiz, no pop-up, no sales pressure. Leave a +64 number, a mentor working NZST/NZDT calls within three hours, and you decide everything from there. We hope you've found this page useful even if you don't end up booking. Kiwi parents are level-headed and direct — if anything here didn't ring true, please tell us. We rewrite this page based on real parent feedback every few months. [Browse all courses](/courses) --- *Canonical: https://learn.modernagecoders.com/coding-classes-in-new-zealand*