Whizzkids

What Whizzkids does

Whizzkids is a single-location computer learning centre based at 19 Morningside Drive in Edinburgh, founded in 1998 by qualified primary school teacher Gillian Brodie (B.Ed. Hons., Moray House). The business delivers in-person computer literacy instruction to two distinct segments: children aged 5 and up attending weekly hour-long term-time classes (Monday to Saturday) or week-long holiday courses, and adult learners receiving one-to-one customised tuition on weekday mornings. Class sizes are deliberately kept small, capped at five children, to support personalised instruction in a single physical classroom.

The curriculum is built on mainstream educational technology — Microsoft Office (Word, Publisher, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Outlook) for productivity skills, Scratch for visual programming, and Python on Raspberry Pi credit-card-sized computers for physical computing — with students working toward OCR Level 1 and Level 2 IT User Skills (ITQ) qualifications. Pricing is straightforward unit-based: £12-14.50 per hour for children's term-time lessons, £25 per hour for adult one-to-one tuition, and £55-65 per week for holiday courses, all in British Pounds. Lessons are aligned to the UK National Curriculum and booked in monthly blocks or single sessions.

Commercially, Whizzkids operates as a founder-owned sole proprietorship on a direct-to-consumer basis, with no institutional funding, no parent company, no partnerships, and no franchise or second location in 27 years of trading. Distribution is entirely physical — customers attend the centre — with the website (whizzkids.uk.com) serving as the primary marketing and booking channel alongside word-of-mouth referrals and local reputation. The business is a micro-operation by design, with headcount effectively limited to the founder, and represents a stable lifestyle enterprise rather than a scalable venture.

Name

Whizzkids

Legal name

Whizzkids Computer Learning Centre

Website

https://whizzkids.uk.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Whizzkids is a single-location computer learning centre in Edinburgh, founded in 1998, that delivers in-person tuition in Microsoft Office, Scratch, and Python/Raspberry Pi to children (ages 5+) and adults, with classes capped at five students per session.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Computer Education and Tutoring Services

NAICS

Computer Training (61142), Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691), Business Schools and Computer and Management Training (6114)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Group & Class-Based Live Tutoring Platforms (EDANAGAB)

Keywords

• Children's computer education
• Adult computer tutoring
• Touch typing courses
• Kids coding classes
• Holiday computer courses

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Children's Term-Time Lessons: Hourly lessons for children during school term. Computer lessons at £14.50/hour and touch-typing lessons at £12/hour. Booked in monthly blocks, with option to book single lessons initially. Classes run Monday to Saturday with multiple time slots.
2. Adult Computer Tuition: One-to-one customized computer lessons for adults at £25/hour. Available on weekdays (except Monday) between 10am-3pm. Can be booked regularly or on-demand. Content customized to individual needs.
3. Children's Holiday Courses: Week-long courses during school holidays. Pricing varies: Raspberry Pi £60/week, Touch-typing £55/week, Computer Art £65/week. Each daily lesson lasts one hour with multiple courses offered simultaneously.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Whizzkids is an Edinburgh-based private computer learning centre that delivers in-person computing lessons to children (from approximately age 7) and adults, covering touch-typing, Scratch and Python coding on Raspberry Pi, Microsoft Office applications (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), computer art, and desktop publishing. Courses are offered in term-time weekly lessons, intensive week-long holiday courses, and customised one-to-one tuition, with the option to sit OCR-accredited qualifications.

Product overview

Whizzkids is a computer learning centre offering a portfolio of educational technology courses for children and adults. The core offerings include term-time weekly lessons and holiday week-long intensive courses, plus customised one-to-one adult tuition. The children's curriculum covers eleven distinct course types: Term-time Computer Lessons, Scratch Course, Touch-Typing Course, Raspberry Pi for Beginners, Project Creation Course, Desktop Publishing Course, PowerPoint Presentation Course, Computer Art Course, and General Computer Course. Holiday Courses bundle some of these same subjects into concentrated week-long formats. Adult Customised Computer Tuition provides personalised one-to-one instruction. All children's courses are taught using Windows computers with Microsoft Office software (Word, Publisher, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Outlook), plus Scratch visual programming and Raspberry Pi with Python. The centre, founded in 1998 by qualified teacher Gillian Brodie, is located in Edinburgh.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Term-time Computer Lessons Weekly in-person computer lessons for children during school term-time, delivered in small groups (max 5 pupils) covering a range of computing subjects.
• Holiday Courses Week-long intensive computer courses for children run during school holidays, covering multiple subjects including touch-typing, Raspberry Pi, Scratch, PowerPoint, computer art and desktop publishing.
• Customised Computer Tuition Bespoke one-to-one or small-group computer tuition tailored to the individual learner, available to both children and adults, including OCR-accredited coursework.
• Scratch Course Introductory coding course for children using the Scratch block-based visual programming language, delivered at the Edinburgh centre.
• Touch-Typing Course Touch-typing instruction teaching correct finger placement and keyboard technique, delivered in-person to children and adults.
• Raspberry Pi for Beginners Beginners' course teaching Python programming on Raspberry Pi single-board computers, introducing physical computing to children and beginners.
• PowerPoint Presentation Course Course teaching how to create slide-based presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint, available to children and adults.
• Computer Art Course Digital computer-art course covering graphics and creative design on computer, available to children and adults.
• Desktop Publishing Course Desktop publishing course teaching skills such as producing newsletters, posters, cards and similar published documents, available to children and adults.
• General Computer Course General computing course providing broad introductory computer-skills tuition for beginners.
• Project Creation Course Project-based course where learners create their own computer project of their choice, applying skills learned across other courses.

Quantifiable outcome

• Students achieve OCR Level 1 and Level 2 Awards in IT User Skills (ITQ) across various software disciplines.

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Decoded: UK-based digital skills educator offering courses in coding, data, and technology literacy to professionals and adults. Comparable in adult-focused digital skills tuition, though Decoded targets corporate/enterprise learners at much larger scale.
• Code Club: UK-founded network of free coding clubs for children aged 9–13, focused on Scratch, Python, and web technologies. Closely comparable curriculum and target demographic, though delivered through volunteer-led clubs rather than a paid tuition model.
• iD Tech: International operator of tech summer camps and online lessons for children and teens, covering coding, game design, and STEM. Directly comparable in product (tech education for kids), holiday/term-time cadence, and small-group format, though at materially larger scale and with significant online delivery.
• CoderDojo: Global open-source movement of volunteer-led coding clubs for young people, using Scratch, Python, HTML and other technologies. Comparable in teaching introductory programming to children in small group, in-person settings.
• Fire Tech: UK-based provider of technology camps and after-school courses for children and teens, covering coding, robotics, and digital creativity. Comparable in target market (young learners), curriculum focus, and in-person delivery model, though operating at a multi-location, more capital-intensive scale.

Emerging players

• Tech Will Save Us: UK-based educational technology company making STEAM kits and resources for children. Comparable in target demographic and STEM/computing focus, though sells hardware products rather than delivering in-person tuition.
• Makersphere: UK-based provider of in-person STEM and digital making workshops for children and adults. Comparable in small-group, in-person tech education format and UK market focus.

Broad incumbents

• General Assembly: Global provider of technology and digital skills training for adults and professionals. Comparable in adult digital skills tuition, though focused on career-switcher and corporate cohorts at substantially larger scale and price points.
• Code Ninjas: International franchise of in-person coding centres for children, offering game-building and STEM programmes. Comparable in physical-centre model serving kids with coding curricula, but operates at much larger scale via franchising.

Others

• Raspberry Pi Foundation: UK charity behind the Raspberry Pi computer and free educational resources for computing. Relevant as both an enabling ecosystem partner (Whizzkids uses Raspberry Pi in its curriculum) and a potential substitute for parts of Whizzkids' offerings via its free online learning resources.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/whizzkidsedin
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/whizzkids

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Whizzkids