--- title: "Problem-Solving Skills Through Coding | What Research Says" description: "Does coding teach general problem-solving? Ofsted's research review says be cautious. What it does build, how it is taught, and why we say so. First class free." canonical: https://learn.modernagecoders.com/problem-solving-skills-through-coding-uk source: src/pages/problem-solving-skills-through-coding-uk.html --- > Does coding teach general problem-solving? Ofsted's research review says be cautious. What it does build, how it is taught, and why we say so. First class free. In short Coding is worth learning on its own terms, and it does not need a transfer claim propping it up. Ofsted's research review on computing cites the argument that we should avoid exaggerated claims about problem-solving skills transferring to other domains, and says the subject is a worthwhile pursuit in itself. What the same review does say is that problem-solving skill "derives primarily from the accumulation of a large store of domain-specific knowledge stored in long-term memory". In other words, a learner gets better at solving computing problems by knowing more computing, sequenced properly, not by being trained in a generic skill. That is how we teach: worked examples that fade, labelled steps, and a prediction before every program runs. Groups of five to ten at one level, or one to one. The first lesson is free, then USD 100 a month in a group or USD 150 one to one. Start here ## Three courses built on sequenced knowledge Each one has a defined order of content rather than a promise about general benefits. Cards open the full syllabus. [![Problem Solving and Computational Thinking for Kids course thumbnail](/images/problem-solving-kids.webp) SOLVE / 01 Problem Solving and Computational Thinking Decomposition, patterns and describing rules aloud, taught as content with a sequence rather than as a mindset. Open the syllabus →](/courses/problem-solving-and-computational-thinking-for-kids)[![Problem Solving for Teens course thumbnail](/images/problem-solving-teens.webp) SOLVE / 02 Algorithms and Data Structures The clearest example of domain knowledge doing the work: you solve these by knowing the structures, not by thinking harder. Open the syllabus →](/courses/problem-solving-dsa-masterclass-teens)[![Python for Teens course thumbnail](/images/python-teens.webp) SOLVE / 03 Python for Teens The language in which most of that knowledge gets built, taught by predicting output before running anything. Open the syllabus →](/courses/python-complete-masterclass-teens) The claim we refuse ## What Ofsted's review actually says about transfer From Ofsted's research review series on computing, published 16 May 2022 and applying to England. It reviews the research literature rather than setting policy, which is what makes it useful here. The passage in full Discussing the role of computational thinking, the review notes that "Tedre and Denning point out that we should be cautious about the scope of CT and avoid exaggerated claims that it develops problem-solving skills that are transferrable to other domains. Learning computing as a subject and the knowledge related to CT is a worthwhile pursuit in itself, and does not need to be justified with tenuous claims about broader benefits." ### Why this matters to a parent It matters because the transfer claim is the one most often used to sell lessons. If coding made children better at everything, it would be worth paying for whatever else was true about the teaching, and that is a comfortable position for a provider to be in. Take the claim away and the teaching has to justify itself on what it actually delivers, which is a much harder and more honest sell. ### What it does not mean It does not mean computing is not worth learning. The review says the opposite in the same breath: a worthwhile pursuit in itself. It means the reason to learn it is the subject, not a side effect. Nor does it mean nothing transfers ever. It means the evidence for broad transfer is weaker than the marketing implies, and that a school which needs the claim to be true should be treated carefully. There is a second reason the review is worth reading if you are choosing a class. It notes that computational thinking "can be seen as difficult to teach, which may be because there is no clear definition of it, or a belief that it is a generic skill", and then says research shows it is possible to teach, but that this "requires a structured curriculum, with well-defined content, instruction and activities, and suitable formative and summative assessment". A provider who cannot show you the content and the order is describing a mindset, not a course. Source, read 20 September 2026: [Ofsted, Research review series: computing](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-review-series-computing/research-review-series-computing), published 16 May 2022, applies to England. Quotations are the review's summaries of the literature it cites, and the named researchers are its citations, not ours. What it does build ## Six areas, and the thing underneath all of them The review sets out what problem-solving in computing consists of, and then makes a point about how anyone actually gets better at it. | Area | What a learner is actually doing | | --- | --- | | Logic and logical thinking | Working out what must follow, and what a condition really tests | | Algorithms and algorithmic thinking | Describing a method precisely enough that something else can carry it out | | Patterns and pattern recognition | Noticing that this problem is the last one wearing different clothes | | Abstraction and generalisation | Deciding what to ignore, which is the hardest of the six | | Evaluation | Judging whether a solution is any good, not just whether it runs | | Automation | Handing the repetitive part to a machine, correctly | And then the important sentence The review says the list "does not describe how pupils become better at problem-solving in these areas. These areas do not develop through a 'learned skill'", and cites Tricot and Sweller: teaching generic skills does not work, and "learned skill, especially problem-solving skill, derives primarily from the accumulation of a large store of domain-specific knowledge stored in long-term memory". ### What that rules out Lessons built around thinking skills in the abstract. You cannot practise abstraction in general; you abstract something, and knowing the something is most of the work. ### What it rules in A sequence. Specific content, in a deliberate order, revisited until it is in long-term memory rather than in this week's notes. ### How you can tell Ask any provider what a learner will know in twelve weeks that they do not know now. A sequenced course answers in a list. A mindset course answers with adjectives. The review is equally specific about one piece of knowledge that underpins the rest. Among the features of high-quality computing education it lists, the curriculum should set out "the knowledge pupils need to build a mental model of program execution". That model has a name in the literature, and it is the single most useful idea a parent can take from any of this. ### The notional machine The review quotes Sorva: pupils "commonly lack a viable model of program execution. In other words they fail to understand the notional machine they are learning to control". It then defines it plainly: "A notional machine is an abstracted mental model of how a program will be executed within a programming language. Put simply, it is the knowledge of what a program will do when it is run." Du Boulay's image for learning without one is the best line in the document. It is like building with Meccano "inside a darkened room with only very limited ways of seeing the innards of one's creation working". ### Which is why we predict The statutory curriculum in England already asks for this, expecting pupils to "use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs". A prediction is a direct readout of the learner's notional machine: it says what they believe the machine will do. So every lesson we run asks for the prediction before the run. When the prediction is wrong, the gap is the lesson, and it is a gap in a specific piece of knowledge rather than in a general capacity. How it is taught ## Worked examples that fade, and labelled steps The review is unusually concrete about instruction for novices. These are the techniques it describes, and they are what a lesson here is built from. | Technique | What the research found | What we do with it | | --- | --- | --- | | Worked examples | Novices benefit substantially; the benefit shrinks as expertise grows | Heavy use early, then withdrawn deliberately rather than by accident | | Faded worked examples | Steps removed over time as pupils develop expertise, sequenced through the curriculum | Each week a little more of the example is missing, and the learner fills it | | Labelled subgoals | Help novices tackle parts of a larger problem and see past surface features; novices completed more steps, more quickly | Problems handed over already broken into named parts, until learners break them up themselves | | Subgoals with experts | Less useful for pupils with substantial prior knowledge | Dropped once a learner is structuring problems without being asked | | Cognitive load | Computing content has intrinsically high demands on short-term memory | Short programs, one new idea at a time, nothing clever for its own sake | Two things follow from that table that most classes get wrong in opposite directions. Beginners are given open-ended projects when they need worked examples, and confident learners are still being given worked examples when the research says the benefit has gone. Both waste time, and the second is the more common in a class that never regroups people by level. ### A note on block languages The review is careful here, and so are we. Block-based languages genuinely help with syntax, but it cites research finding two habits they encourage that are "at odds with the accepted practice of computer science": a bottom-up focus on the blocks rather than on designing the algorithm, and a fine-grained style in which pupils avoid "the use of the most important structures: conditional execution and bounded loops". The risk is that those habits travel with a pupil into a typed language. Blocks are a good beginning and a bad plateau. ### Which is why the crossing is planned We move learners from blocks to typed code deliberately, at the point where the block habits would start to cost them, rather than when a school year says so. What that looks like in practice is on the [Python classes page](/best-python-classes-online-uk), and the order of topics well past that point is on the [coding roadmap](/coding-roadmap). None of this is exotic. It is ordinary, sequenced teaching by somebody who knows the subject, which is unglamorous next to a promise that coding will improve a child at everything. It has the advantage of being what the evidence supports. Progression ## Knowledge in an order, not a mindset Each step names what a learner knows at the end of it. That is the test the research implies, so it is the test we publish. | Stage | Knowledge gained | How you can tell | | --- | --- | --- | | 1. Sequence and repetition | That order matters and that repetition can be described rather than repeated | Predicts the output of a short program before it runs, correctly, most of the time | | 2. Decisions and data | Conditions, lists and how a value changes as a program executes | Traces a program by hand and says what each variable holds at each step | | 3. Structure | Functions, dictionaries, files, and when each is the right choice | Chooses a structure before writing the loop, and can say why | | 4. Real problems | Algorithms, complexity and the standard solutions to recurring problems | Recognises a new problem as an old one and reaches for the right method | ### Nothing here is a general skill Every row names content. That is deliberate: the research says skill comes from accumulated domain knowledge, so a ladder made of adjectives would be a ladder made of nothing. A learner who owns a stage does not repeat it. Placement is by evidence in their code, settled in the free lesson. ### Where it goes next Stage four is where competitions start being genuinely enjoyable rather than bruising; the [competitions calendar](/uk-coding-maths-and-ai-competitions-calendar) lists what is open. For students well past it, the [British Informatics Olympiad](/british-informatics-olympiad-preparation) is the national round that rewards exactly this kind of accumulated knowledge. The catalogue ## Nine courses with a published order of content Grouped by stage. Every syllabus lists what is taught and in what order, which is the point. I ### Building the model Knowing what a program will do UK / PS1 / 01 #### Scratch, in sequence Blocks used to build the model of execution, then left behind on purpose. [Open the syllabus](/courses/scratch-programming-complete-course) UK / PS1 / 02 #### First Python Typed code with short programs, so that a prediction is possible before every run. [Open the syllabus](/courses/python-ai-kids-masterclass) UK / PS1 / 03 #### Computational thinking Decomposition and pattern-finding taught as content, with worked examples that fade. [Open the syllabus](/courses/problem-solving-and-computational-thinking-for-kids)II ### Accumulating knowledge The store the research is about UK / PS2 / 01 #### Python in full Every core construct, revisited until it sits in long-term memory rather than in notes. [Open the syllabus](/courses/python-complete-masterclass-teens) UK / PS2 / 02 #### GCSE Computer Science Theory and programming to the board a school uses, sequenced across two years. [Open the syllabus](/courses/gcse-computer-science-course) UK / PS2 / 03 #### Data science with Python Real datasets, where evaluation stops being abstract and becomes a judgement you defend. [Open the syllabus](/courses/data-science-course-for-teens-python-data)III ### Using it on hard problems Where the store pays off UK / PS3 / 01 #### Algorithms and data structures The standard solutions to recurring problems, worked on paper before any code. [Open the syllabus](/courses/problem-solving-dsa-masterclass-teens) UK / PS3 / 02 #### Competitive programming Speed under constraint, which is only possible once the knowledge is automatic. [Open the syllabus](/courses/competitive-programming-masterclass-college) UK / PS3 / 03 #### AI and machine learning Models trained and broken, with evaluation as the main event rather than an afterthought. [Open the syllabus](/courses/ai-ml-masterclass-teens) How lessons work ## A prediction, a run, and a reason Teachers work from India, where the clock never shifts, leaving the UK five and a half hours behind from October and four and a half from March. Pick a slot in UK time and it stays yours. After school Where most school-age learners settle. Evening Sixth formers, and adults once the day is done. Weekend morning Longer sessions for work that should be finished in one sitting. ### Predict, then run Nothing executes until the learner has said what it will do. The answer is a direct reading of what they actually understand. ### Examples that fade Worked examples early, with steps removed week by week, which is what the research says to do as expertise grows. ### Named subgoals Problems arrive broken into labelled parts, until the learner starts breaking them up unprompted. ### One new idea at a time Computing content is heavy on short-term memory, so lessons add one thing and revisit three. ### Groups by level Five to ten at one stage, which is the only way the fading actually fits the learner in front of you. ### No mindset language We talk about what a learner knows and can build. Nobody in a lesson is described as having become a better thinker. Student work ## Problems our learners have solved Four published projects. The [student labs](/student-labs) page has more. ![NutriLife AI nutrition coach project screenshot](/images/projects/nutrilife.webp) AI and ML #### NutriLife An AI nutrition coach that reads what you eat and works you toward a target. by Bhavya · [Open it](https://nutrilife-bhavya.lovable.app) ![Misti AI chatbot for maths and coding screenshot](/images/projects/misti.webp) AI and ML #### Misti A chatbot that answers mathematics and programming questions, built and deployed by a student. by Harshit · [Open it](https://misti.modernagecoders.com) ![GuardianX AI internet safety assistant screenshot](/images/projects/guardianx.webp) AI and ML #### GuardianX An assistant that helps a young person recognise unsafe situations online. by Vivaan · [Open it](https://guardianx-cybersaver.lovable.app) ![SkyCast weather forecast application screenshot](/images/projects/skycast.webp) Web app #### SkyCast A weather forecasting site with live conditions for any location. by Krish Fees ## What it costs A single monthly figure, priced in US dollars outside India. The free lesson comes first and nothing is charged until a course and a slot are agreed. Free first class USD 0 no card required - A proper lesson, not a sales call - A straight answer about the right stage - Only a phone number needed Book it Group batch USD 100 a month, billed in US dollars - Five to ten learners at one stage - One teacher for the whole course - Written feedback on the learner's code each week - A certificate at the end of a syllabus Start here One to one USD 150 a month, billed in US dollars - A teacher working with one learner - Useful when a learner is far from the middle of a group - Arranged around exam dates if there are any Enquire What families say ## Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews Lifted from Google word for word, by families who were never asked. ★★★★★ "The one step solution for my son. Modern Age Coders make learning coding so simple that kids love it. The teachers explain complex concepts clearly with practical exercises and interactive content." Ria Mukherjee Parent ★★★★★ "Modern Age Coders has been a game-changer for me. I struggled to grasp IT concepts and coding before joining, but their classes transformed everything. I can now confidently write complex programs with ease." Samriddha Mondal Student ★★★★★ "One of the most wonderful education centres out there. Education is not limited to school syllabus but focuses on skill development." Vansh Agarwal Student ★★★★★ "My child Dhairya is really enjoying the Modern Age Coders classes. This is his first online class and he eagerly looks forward to it. I can already see his improvement, and the teachers are very cooperative." Sonam Oswal Parent of Dhairya ★★★★★ "Modern Age Coders have wonderful teachers who teach in a clear, easy and practical way. The teacher boosts students' confidence and inspires them to learn without hesitation." Sonu Goyal Parent ★★★★★ "I highly recommend this computer coding class! The teachers are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about coding." Ritu Kedia Parent Questions about coding and problem solving ## What parents ask about this ### Does coding make my child better at maths? We are not going to claim it does. Ofsted's research review cites work advising caution about claims that computational thinking develops problem-solving skills transferrable to other domains, and says computing is worth learning in itself. ### So why learn it at all? Because the subject is worth knowing, because it is assessed at every stage of UK education, and because the ability to build working things is useful on its own terms. None of that needs a transfer claim. ### What is computational thinking, then? The review cites a definition of it as, in part, an approach to solving problems in a way that can be implemented with a computer, and lists six areas: logic, algorithms, patterns, abstraction, evaluation and automation. ### How does someone get better at it? By accumulating domain knowledge. The review cites the argument that problem-solving skill derives primarily from a large store of domain-specific knowledge in long-term memory, rather than from training a generic skill. ### What is a notional machine? The review defines it as an abstracted mental model of how a program will be executed, or put simply, the knowledge of what a program will do when it is run. Pupils who lack one tend to develop misconceptions. ### Why do you ask for a prediction before running code? Because the prediction is a readout of the notional machine, and because the statutory curriculum in England asks pupils to use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs. ### Is Scratch a problem? No, but it is a beginning rather than a destination. The review cites research finding that block languages can encourage habits at odds with accepted computer science practice, including avoiding conditional execution and bounded loops. ### How do I judge a coding class? Ask what a learner will know in twelve weeks that they do not know now. A sequenced course answers with a list of content. A course built on mindset answers with adjectives. ### Do you teach to the UK curriculum? We teach to whichever qualification a learner is working towards, across the English boards, Scottish Nationals and Highers, WJEC and CCEA, and we use each system's own vocabulary. ### What does it cost? The opening lesson is free. After that a group place is USD 100 a month and a teacher to yourself is USD 150, charged monthly with nothing taken up front. Elsewhere on this site ## Read further Each page takes one strand of this somewhere specific. ### [Coding classes in the UK](/coding-classes-in-united-kingdom) The national page, and the index of every UK page we publish. ### [Understand the code, do not copy-paste it](/understand-the-code-dont-copy-paste-uk) What the awarding bodies say about AI, and why declared work earns nothing. ### [Python classes online in the UK](/best-python-classes-online-uk) The examined subset, and the work that sits above it. ### [Coding and AI classes in England](/coding-and-ai-classes-in-england) What the computing curriculum requires and who has to follow it. ### [How we teach](/how-we-teach) The method set out in full, including where it does not suit a learner. ### [The coding roadmap](/coding-roadmap) The sequence of topics, published in order. Start here ## Try one lesson, free Send a number and we will reply at a British hour that suits you. The lesson is real teaching, and it ends by naming the stage the learner is actually on. Prefer to read? Every [course page](/courses) publishes its syllabus in order, [how we teach](/how-we-teach) explains the method and its limits, and the [coding roadmap](/coding-roadmap) lays out the whole sequence. [WhatsApp us](https://wa.me/919123366161?text=Hello%20Modern%20Age%20Coders%2C%20I%20would%20like%20a%20free%20first%20coding%20class%20in%20the%20UK.) · [+91 91233 66161](tel:+919123366161) · [contact@modernagecoders.com](mailto:contact@modernagecoders.com) WhatsApp is the fastest route and costs nothing from a British mobile. The number belongs to our office in India, which we would rather state than have you work out. ## Keep exploring Modern Age Coders ### Related courses and guides - [Prompt Engineering Course](/prompt-engineering-course) - [Problem Solving Skills Through Coding](/problem-solving-skills-through-coding-ireland) - [RAG Systems Course](/rag-systems-course) - [Privacy Policy](/privacy) - [Raspberry Pi Coding Projects for Kids and Teens, UK](/raspberry-pi-coding-projects-uk) - [Priority Live Demo Class](/priority-demo) - [Coding Classes for DPS Greater Noida Students](/coding-classes-for-dps-greater-noida) - [Coding Classes for DPS Dwarka Students](/coding-classes-for-dps-dwarka-new-delhi) - [Canadian Computing Competition Prep](/canadian-computing-competition-ccc-prep) ### Learn more - [11 Plus Maths Tuition Online](/11-plus-maths-tuition) ### Free resources - [AI & Machine Learning Tutorial: Basics to Deep Learning](/resources/ai-and-machine-learning) - [Model Evaluation, Cross-Validation, and Hyperparameter Tuning](/resources/ai-and-machine-learning/model-evaluation-and-tuning) - [Strings in Java](/resources/java/strings-in-java) - [Abstraction](/resources/java/abstraction-and-interfaces) ### From the blog - [Robotics and Coding: How STEM Kits Build Logical Thinking](/blog/robotics-coding-stem-kits-build-logical-thinking) - [How Learning Coding Improves Mathematical Thinking in Children](/blog/how-coding-improves-mathematical-thinking-children) - [How to Help With Maths Homework (Without Solving It)](/blog/help-child-with-maths-homework) ### Start here - [Real projects built by Modern Age Coders students](/student-labs) - [Browse every live course at Modern Age Coders](/courses) --- *Canonical: https://learn.modernagecoders.com/problem-solving-skills-through-coding-uk*