Coding Schools Around the World

Worldwide Coding Schools of IAYCE

One of the coolest things I’ve been able to do since starting the Coder School is meet folks around the world who are doing the same thing we are.  As it turns out, there’s a lot of coding schools around the world that are also teaching kids to code.  That’s why I co-founded IAYCE, an international alliance of coding educators.  This blog is a collection of schools I’ve come across (both in and not in IAYCE), but more than that, it’s an inspiration to us all that the entire world is teaching kids to code!

Believe me when I say it’s a really cool feeling to know that we’re part of this ever-important worldwide movement to teach kids to code – so high-five to each and every one of the schools on this blog!  While I’ve met most of the founders, I certainly can’t purport to know everything about how they’re running their company.  Each has their own methods and coding curriculums or code-learning platforms, but we’re all after the same awesome goal – get more kids coding!

Apologies in advance if I messed up any descriptions (email me at hansel@thecoderschool.com if I’m totally off on anything below!).

Before I go on, note that I’m only talking about coding schools, schools that predominantly teach kids under 18 how to code, that predominantly take kids into their location to teach, that seem to be expanding to new locations.  There’s tons more schools that only teach offsite, or maybe teach STEM and not just coding, or maybe only teach coding camps (ahem, IDTech!), or maybe is just sticking to one mom-and-pop location… so just a heads up I’m not ignoring them – just trying to make this blog a little shorter than a book!

First, the United States

It may come as no surprise that I’ve generally found more coding schools in the US than other countries.  Perhaps it’s the economy here, perhaps it’s that we’re behind the curve here, or perhaps it’s just because I live here!  I certainly haven’t found the full list of all coding schools (so email me if you feel like you belong on this list!), but here’s a subset of some of the more prevalent ones we know of (besides the Coder School, of course!):

• Hackingtons – Founded and run by a guy named Matt, these guys are super cool.  They predominantly teach web related technologies like HTML and Javascript, and have popped up many locations around northern California.  Matt once said he’s going to be the Starbucks of coding schools – right on, Matt!
• U-Code – These guys are taking over the Southern California market with plenty of power and bucks in their bank (they’ve raised some significant capital to get more kids coding!!).  Scott founded this bad boy way back in the day, and was one of the original coding schools.  Way to head up the trend, Scott!
• Codeverse – Can’t say I know much about these guys other than that they’re based in Chicago area, and have an amazing looking space!  Founded by some apparently pretty awesome serial entrepreneurs, I think they’re targeting something like teaching a billion kids to code?!?  (wow, are there even that many kids in the world?!)  Congrats Katy, for pushing the envelope!  Can’t wait to see these guys grow (they’re fairly young, having started in late 2017).
• MVCodeClub – Founded by Doug up north of San Francisco (MV stands for Mill Valley), these guys were the FIRST ones I ever read about in an article.  They’ve since spread their wings to locations across the bay, congrats Doug!  MVCodeClub is another original gangsta, having started in the 2013 timeframe.
• iCode – Based in Dallas, these guys were one of the first to start franchising, at about the same time we did.  Founder Abid has created this insane looking super-awesome class A facility in Frisco where kids can code, make robots, all kinds of cool stuff!  Don’t miss them if you’re in Frisco (and don’t miss our own Frisco site either!).
• Code Ninjas – Ah, the ninjas!  They’re the other big franchisors in the market, and have created some cool cool stuff.  They’ve created an awesome platform that teaches kids to code in a really fun and engaging way.  Founded by Dave with help from Marty, these guys have lots of franchise experience and will be competing hard against, and with, us for franchisees! =)  Love these guys though, not a bad thing at all to say about them, make sure to check em out if you’re looking into franchising!
• Coding With Kids – Started in the Seattle area back in 2012, these guys have since grown to a bunch of locations around the country!  With classes often in shared spaces with other like-minded businesses, these guys are showing us that there’s demand around the country for coding!

Now, the World!

Ok now let’s get interesting, and see why it’s so cool to see and hear about kids from around the world learning to code.  The schools named below are part of IAYCE, an alliance that I co-founded with a friend down in Brazil who helped found Madcode.  I have to say, one of our prouder moments was being on a video call with 8 different coding schools from around the world, all talking about our best practices. Incredible!!

• MadCode (Brazil) – Our original IAYCE partners, Alex, Danny and Ralf have done some amazing things in Brazil with MadCode.  With their own Portugese platform for teaching kids to code, their model revolves a bit more around teach at schools (though they do have their own branded locations).  They’ve even taught coding to thousands of kids in favelas (Brazilian “slums”) through partnerships with Accenture and SAP.  They were recently bought by Cel.lep, a network of schools in the Brazil area, ready to add coding to all their schools!  Congrats MadCode, and good luck on your upcoming expansion!
• Computhink (Singapore) – David’s been at it in Singapore since way before we contacted him.  With such a math and science oriented country, you can believe he’s kicking butt!  Computhink offers classes from Scratch to Python and beyond.
• Code4fun (Australia) – Grigory hails from Russia actually, but started Code4fun with his wife in Australia.  Getting their start by teaching in art galleries, Code4fun’s since expanded their curriculum to include more advanced stuff like Unity.  G’day, mates!!
• Hatch (Canada) – Peter’s definitely the fun guy of the bunch, hailing from UPenn down in the states.  Hatch has created their own awesome platform based on Javascript, and is taking Canada by storm, eh?!
• Koding Kingdom (Hong Kong) – John’s a serial business guy who decided there’s an awesome opportunity for coding in Hong Kong, and boy, is there!  John is also the first to partner with IDTech to provide their camps in Hong Kong – congrats!!
• Arukay (Columbia) – I haven’t had a chance to talk to Vicki too much, but I know she’s busy!  Arukay has an array of other subjects they teach as well, and is one of the few in our group that’s not coding-specific.  They’re about to expand into Python, and we’re exchanging best practice info on how to do so – cool, right?!  Alliance powers, activate!
• Maker Cocuk (Turkey) – Zeynep and friends at Maker Cocuk have a great curriculum style similar to ours where they go from technology to technology somewhat quickly, introducing kids to a wide array of tech from straight coding to robotics and even maker stuff!  Kudos to all the cool stuff Zeynep has been doing – can’t be easy with all the unrest in Turkey.  Great job Zeynep!
• Ghana Code Club (Ghana) – Tina impresses me most out of them all!  Not a coder by trade, Tina has seen the need in the small country of Ghana in West Africa for the future generation to learn these basic technology skills, went and taught herself to code – and voila!  Ghana Code Club!  Coding classes to many kids who can barely afford a computer – can you believe that?  Kudos to Tina!

Now not everyone has joined IAYCE – we’re not THAT cool yet!  Here’s a list of some of the other schools we found around the world – kudos to all of you guys!

• First Code Academy (Hong Kong)
• Magic Maker (France)
• Under the GUI (Canada)
• Blue Shift (England)
• Kidocode (Kuala Lumpur)

Who Else is There?

I don’t know!  But look at the list above again, isn’t it incredible??  Think of how many tens of thousands of kids are learning to code in a coding school somewhere around the world.  This is what it’s all about folks, this is the feeling of being part of something bigger.

How bout you, are you ready to join the movement and start your own coding school?  If you’re in United States, check out our franchising program!  (sorry, despite the many, many requests I’ve had for franchising internationally, it’s simply not something I’m yet ready for.)

Code on, friends!