This page is for teachers who have questions about setting up and using compete.withcode.uk.

What is live.withcode.uk?

Live.withcode.uk was set up in 2020 to provide weekly live coding video support along with interactive remote learning python challenges throughout COVID19 lockdowns. It’s free for anyone to use and you don’t need to log in or create an account.

Each episode consists of

  • A YouTube video (around 5-15 mins) that walks students through the design, development and debugging of a python program. The video is live coding: it’s designed to boost students’ understanding by explaining each step of the process rather than just looking at the finished code.
  • A link to the code from the video that students can run in a web browser. The code often has comments at the bottom with three challenges to tweak or extend the code. This is designed to allow students to be creative and curious: exploring what happens if and when they experiment with code.
  • A type race activity where students practice typing out the code from the video. This is designed to boost students’ speed and accuracy in typing so that when they’re programming in future they can concentrate on problem solving rather than having to think about where to find each key on the keyboard.
  • An extension activity: this is often a keyword quiz or a self marking python challenge. This is designed to help students explore or apply one or more of the concepts covered in the video and code.

What is compete.withcode.uk?

Students don’t have to log in to access live.withcode.uk which means it’s easy for anyone to access for free.

Compete.withcode.uk allows teachers to create groups that allow students to compete against each other by completing the live.withcode.uk activities in a way that tracks their progress.

Compete.withcode.uk is also free but teachers have to register a school account and set up groups for their students before using it.

You can find a guide for setting up groups here.

How do students access compete.withcode.uk?

Teachers need to create groups for students but they don’t need to create accounts for students in advance. When a student accesses the group for the first time they will be asked to join that group, using a code that the teacher chooses. Students can create an account for the site but it’s usually better to encourage them to sign in using a google or microsoft account so that there are fewer passwords to remember.

If a teacher wants to add or remove groups or change the code that students need to join a group, they can do so here

How do you set up groups and track progress?

The video above guides you through the process of registering a teacher account, setting up a school account, creating groups and adding activities along with how students then access and complete these activities. Written instructions are here if you prefer, but the video goes into more depth explaining the process.