Coding for Beginners Certificate

If you are curious about how software works or would like to write your own programs but do not know where to begin, this course is for you. Coding can help you develop practical technical skills, strengthen your problem-solving abilities and better understand the technology used in everyday life.

This introductory course may be useful if you are considering further study, exploring a career in technology or simply looking to improve your digital confidence. You do not need any previous programming experience.

Coding for Beginners Certificate Course

This course introduces the essential concepts needed to begin writing simple programs. It has been designed for beginners and includes practical examples using Python, a widely used general-purpose programming language.

You will progress from basic computing and programming concepts to variables, collections, decisions, loops, functions, modules and object-oriented programming. You will also learn how to handle errors, work with external files and JSON data, and manage third-party packages in a virtual environment.

By the end of the course, you should have a foundation for continued study and be able to plan, write, test and improve small Python programs.

What you will learn:

The course combines explanations, example programs and practical activities to help you apply what you learn. Topics include:

  • Important developments in the history of computing and programming
  • How computers represent and process information using binary
  • How to create variables and use common Python data types and operators
  • How to work with strings, lists, tuples, sets and dictionaries
  • How to control program execution using conditions and loops
  • How to define functions, pass arguments and return values
  • How to organise and reuse code with modules and packages
  • The principles of object-oriented programming, including classes, objects and methods
  • How inheritance and composition can be used to organise related behaviour
  • How to handle expected exceptions and respond to errors appropriately
  • How to read and write text files and structured JSON data
  • How to create virtual environments and install third-party packages safely

Benefits of this course

By completing this course, you will:

  • Build a clear foundation in computational thinking and core programming concepts
  • Gain practical experience writing, running, testing and debugging Python programs
  • Learn how to break problems into smaller, manageable programming tasks
  • Understand how to select suitable data types, collections and control structures
  • Develop reusable code using functions, modules, packages and classes
  • Learn how to handle errors and work safely with text files and JSON data
  • Gain experience managing project dependencies with virtual environments and pip
  • Complete practical activities that reinforce each stage of your learning
  • Develop the confidence to create and improve your own small Python projects
  • Establish a strong foundation for further study in programming, automation, data analysis or software development

This course includes

24/7 Student Support

End of course certification

Lifetime access to your course

Compatible with modern devices

PLUS - Access to the exclusive New Skills Academy Study Group!
  • The difference between programming code, codes used to represent information and cryptographic ciphers
  • How early calculating machines contributed to the development of programmable computers
  • How Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace influenced the history of computing
  • How codebreaking during the Second World War accelerated the development of computing technology
  • How early electronic computers developed into commercial and personal computers
  • Why encryption remains important in modern digital systems
  • The difference between data, information and knowledge
  • What coding involves and how programs solve problems
  • The difference between high-level and low-level programming languages
  • What syntax, semantics and logic mean in programming
  • How to install the current stable version of Python 3
  • How to use the Python interpreter and run a Python file
  • How much mathematics a beginner needs for programming
  • How decimal, binary and hexadecimal number systems work
  • How to convert simple whole numbers between binary and decimal
  • The roles of the processor, memory, storage and input/output devices
  • How computers represent and measure digital information
  • The difference between decimal and binary units of data
  • What variables are and how assignment works in Python
  • How to choose valid and meaningful variable names
  • How Python represents Boolean values, numbers, text and the absence of a value
  • How lists, tuples, sets and dictionaries organise collections of data
  • The difference between mutable and immutable objects
  • How to inspect and convert common data types
  • What operators, operands and expressions are
  • How to use arithmetic and augmented assignment operators
  • How comparison, membership and identity operators differ
  • How Python evaluates and, or and not
  • How operator precedence affects an expression
  • How and when to convert values between common data types
  • What control flow is and how conditions change the execution path
  • How to use if, elif and else
  • How to repeat operations with while and for loops
  • How range() works in a loop
  • How to use break, continue, loop else and pass
  • How to nest control structures without making code unnecessarily complicated
  • How to write useful Python comments
  • What functions are and why they are useful
  • How to call selected built-in Python functions
  • How to define a function with parameters and a return value
  • The difference between parameters and arguments
  • How positional, keyword, default and variable-length arguments work
  • How to collect and validate keyboard input
  • How local and global scope affect names
  • How to document a function with a docstring
  • Why programs are divided into focused files and packages
  • How nested functions can retain values from an enclosing scope
  • When a lambda expression is appropriate
  • How to create and import your own Python module
  • How different forms of import affect names
  • How to use selected modules from the Python Standard Library
  • How regular packages organise related modules
  • How to avoid common problems with imports and module names
  • What object-oriented programming is and when it can be useful
  • How encapsulation, abstraction, polymorphism and inheritance relate to Python
  • The difference between a class, an object and an instance
  • How to define a class and initialise instance attributes
  • How instance methods use the self parameter
  • The difference between instance and class attributes
  • How properties can manage access to an attribute
  • When a function or simple collection may be clearer than a class
  • How a subclass can reuse and specialise behaviour from a base class
  • How method overriding and super() work
  • When composition may be clearer than inheritance
  • How Python resolves methods in multiple inheritance
  • How to raise and handle expected exceptions
  • How to read and write text and JSON files safely
  • How to create a virtual environment and install a third-party distribution with pip
  • How to assess third-party code before using it
  • How to continue developing your Python skills
  • ID: YDFT67YHJ
    certificate

    of achievement

    This certificate is presented to

    Your Name

    NSA

    For completing the

    Coding for Beginners Certificate

    on 21st November 2026

    Selena Hurford

    Selena Hurford

    Course Tutor

    cpd

    Daniel Morgan

    Daniel Morgan

    Head of Academy

    Certificate Example

    Anyone who has an interest in learning more about this subject matter is encouraged to take the course. There are no entry requirements to take the course.

    The course is broken down into 10 individual modules. Each module takes between 20 and 90 minutes on average to study. Although you are free to spend as much or as little time as you feel necessary on each module, simply log in and out of the course at your convenience.

    You can study the course any time you like. Simply log in and out of the web based course as often as you require. The course is compatible with all computers, tablet devices and smart phones so you can even study while on the move!

    Once you have completed all 10 modules there is a multiple choice test. The questions will be on a range of topics found within the 10 modules. The test, like the course, is online and can be taken a time and location of your choosing.

    The pass mark for the test is 70%.

    If you don’t pass the test first time you will get further opportunities to take the test again after extra study. There are no limits to the number of times you can take the test. All test retakes are included within the price of the course.

    You can either use your Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Solo cards or PayPal account to pay for the online course. Our site uses the latest SSL encryption to ensure your safety. All payments are handled securely by PayPal.

    You can begin the course immediately after your payment has been received. You will create your login details during the checkout process. We will also send you an email confirming your login details.

    We estimate that the course will take about 11 hours to complete in total, plus an additional 30 minutes for the end of course test.

    Once you have been awarded your certificate it is valid for life. The certificate does not expire or need renewing.

    I decided to take this course to help me understand my 8 year old son with ADHD and ASD.

    I managed to join the course and find the site with ease and after making my payment it was easy to start to find my documents and download my test sheets after the relevant modules.

    I found other links which I am yet to explore further and can see me contacting a few of the organisations mentioned. I now am to put some strategies to the test.

    The information was useful and I learnt a lot and got a certificate at the end. Thank you.

    Nicki Openshaw

    The course was very well structured and I have a clear idea from all subjects. All the subjects have examples and highlight very important information during the course.

    It is suitable for my needs in improving my qualification and doing an online course which transmits all necessary information.

    The material is very relevant to the day-to-day activities in a bank and show me how many options I have available inside the bank industry and which qualifications I need. I am very happy with it and I recommend everyone who has some curiosity to learn more about the banking sector.

    Diogo Miranda

    I am 3/4 the way through my Legal Secretary Diploma Course, I have studied full time and it has taken me about a week (few hours per day) Very informative course which makes you memorise each module well, with worksheets at the end of each module. Gave a brilliant knowledge base into the different areas of Law and the secretaries roles within them. I have never done an online course before as thought they were not very credible, but this they are good providing you are willing to put the work in, all the information is provided for you , you just need to use it. Thoroughly recommend to anyone who has some spare time and wants to expand their legal knowledge - this course is not just for legal secretaries!!

    Georgia Smith

    Helpful tips learned during the course and many fun facts. I will be completing 6 more courses after this one. Such a great learning experience. The knowledge in each package is phenomenal!

    Each course is broken down into modules to make it easy to break down the course for short breaks and as soon as you sign back in again it remembers where you left off in your course. How clever!

    I would highly recommend this course to anyone looking to brush up their knowledge and skills. Best of luck!
    100% Recommended. New Skills Academy is the best!

    Dora Christou

    I love being able to study from home, the site is easy to use and I like being able to just log in and study for as long as I have free then pick it up again the next day or a week later. I lost my job suddenly with no notice and decided to take the opportunity to get back into something new I intended to do long ago but just never had the time or money to do so. The great prices for online learning and being able to learn from home whilst doing part time work have helped out so much when on a budget and being unable to be able attend full time college courses.

    Kirsten Owen

    This course is very comprehensive. It is packed full of very helpful information to aid the Teaching assistant to use his or her skills and knowledge to the full.

    If this course is being taken by those who have no knowledge of being a TA, then in my honest opinion they would certainly know about the role when they finish.

    I do like the online tests at the end. It does make you think and definitely reinforces what material has just been read. It is also an incentive when seeing a 'grade' to realise how much has been taken in thus encouraging enthusiasm to proceed to the next module.

    In all I would say that this course is certainly worth doing, I'm enjoying it and what it has to offer.

    Samantha Morgans

    Duration:
    11 hours

    Access:
    Lifetime Access

    Approved by:
    CPD

    Learning Type:


    Text based modules  Images 

    Cost:
    $100.00

    If you are curious about how software works or would like to write your own programs but do not know where to begin, this course is for you. Coding can help you develop practical technical skills, strengthen your problem-solving abilities and better understand the technology used in everyday life.

    This introductory course may be useful if you are considering further study, exploring a career in technology or simply looking to improve your digital confidence. You do not need any previous programming experience.

    Coding for Beginners Certificate Course

    This course introduces the essential concepts needed to begin writing simple programs. It has been designed for beginners and includes practical examples using Python, a widely used general-purpose programming language.

    You will progress from basic computing and programming concepts to variables, collections, decisions, loops, functions, modules and object-oriented programming. You will also learn how to handle errors, work with external files and JSON data, and manage third-party packages in a virtual environment.

    By the end of the course, you should have a foundation for continued study and be able to plan, write, test and improve small Python programs.

    What you will learn:

    The course combines explanations, example programs and practical activities to help you apply what you learn. Topics include:

    • Important developments in the history of computing and programming
    • How computers represent and process information using binary
    • How to create variables and use common Python data types and operators
    • How to work with strings, lists, tuples, sets and dictionaries
    • How to control program execution using conditions and loops
    • How to define functions, pass arguments and return values
    • How to organise and reuse code with modules and packages
    • The principles of object-oriented programming, including classes, objects and methods
    • How inheritance and composition can be used to organise related behaviour
    • How to handle expected exceptions and respond to errors appropriately
    • How to read and write text files and structured JSON data
    • How to create virtual environments and install third-party packages safely

    Benefits of this course

    By completing this course, you will:

    • Build a clear foundation in computational thinking and core programming concepts
    • Gain practical experience writing, running, testing and debugging Python programs
    • Learn how to break problems into smaller, manageable programming tasks
    • Understand how to select suitable data types, collections and control structures
    • Develop reusable code using functions, modules, packages and classes
    • Learn how to handle errors and work safely with text files and JSON data
    • Gain experience managing project dependencies with virtual environments and pip
    • Complete practical activities that reinforce each stage of your learning
    • Develop the confidence to create and improve your own small Python projects
    • Establish a strong foundation for further study in programming, automation, data analysis or software development

    This course includes

    24/7 Student Support

    End of course certification

    Lifetime access to your course

    Compatible with modern devices

    PLUS - Access to the exclusive New Skills Academy Study Group!
  • The difference between programming code, codes used to represent information and cryptographic ciphers
  • How early calculating machines contributed to the development of programmable computers
  • How Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace influenced the history of computing
  • How codebreaking during the Second World War accelerated the development of computing technology
  • How early electronic computers developed into commercial and personal computers
  • Why encryption remains important in modern digital systems
  • The difference between data, information and knowledge
  • What coding involves and how programs solve problems
  • The difference between high-level and low-level programming languages
  • What syntax, semantics and logic mean in programming
  • How to install the current stable version of Python 3
  • How to use the Python interpreter and run a Python file
  • How much mathematics a beginner needs for programming
  • How decimal, binary and hexadecimal number systems work
  • How to convert simple whole numbers between binary and decimal
  • The roles of the processor, memory, storage and input/output devices
  • How computers represent and measure digital information
  • The difference between decimal and binary units of data
  • What variables are and how assignment works in Python
  • How to choose valid and meaningful variable names
  • How Python represents Boolean values, numbers, text and the absence of a value
  • How lists, tuples, sets and dictionaries organise collections of data
  • The difference between mutable and immutable objects
  • How to inspect and convert common data types
  • What operators, operands and expressions are
  • How to use arithmetic and augmented assignment operators
  • How comparison, membership and identity operators differ
  • How Python evaluates and, or and not
  • How operator precedence affects an expression
  • How and when to convert values between common data types
  • What control flow is and how conditions change the execution path
  • How to use if, elif and else
  • How to repeat operations with while and for loops
  • How range() works in a loop
  • How to use break, continue, loop else and pass
  • How to nest control structures without making code unnecessarily complicated
  • How to write useful Python comments
  • What functions are and why they are useful
  • How to call selected built-in Python functions
  • How to define a function with parameters and a return value
  • The difference between parameters and arguments
  • How positional, keyword, default and variable-length arguments work
  • How to collect and validate keyboard input
  • How local and global scope affect names
  • How to document a function with a docstring
  • Why programs are divided into focused files and packages
  • How nested functions can retain values from an enclosing scope
  • When a lambda expression is appropriate
  • How to create and import your own Python module
  • How different forms of import affect names
  • How to use selected modules from the Python Standard Library
  • How regular packages organise related modules
  • How to avoid common problems with imports and module names
  • What object-oriented programming is and when it can be useful
  • How encapsulation, abstraction, polymorphism and inheritance relate to Python
  • The difference between a class, an object and an instance
  • How to define a class and initialise instance attributes
  • How instance methods use the self parameter
  • The difference between instance and class attributes
  • How properties can manage access to an attribute
  • When a function or simple collection may be clearer than a class
  • How a subclass can reuse and specialise behaviour from a base class
  • How method overriding and super() work
  • When composition may be clearer than inheritance
  • How Python resolves methods in multiple inheritance
  • How to raise and handle expected exceptions
  • How to read and write text and JSON files safely
  • How to create a virtual environment and install a third-party distribution with pip
  • How to assess third-party code before using it
  • How to continue developing your Python skills
  • ID: YDFT67YHJ
    certificate

    of achievement

    This certificate is presented to

    Your Name

    NSA

    For completing the

    Coding for Beginners Certificate

    on 21st November 2026

    Selena Hurford

    Selena Hurford

    Course Tutor

    cpd

    Daniel Morgan

    Daniel Morgan

    Head of Academy

    Certificate Example

    Anyone who has an interest in learning more about this subject matter is encouraged to take the course. There are no entry requirements to take the course.

    The course is broken down into 10 individual modules. Each module takes between 20 and 90 minutes on average to study. Although you are free to spend as much or as little time as you feel necessary on each module, simply log in and out of the course at your convenience.

    You can study the course any time you like. Simply log in and out of the web based course as often as you require. The course is compatible with all computers, tablet devices and smart phones so you can even study while on the move!

    Once you have completed all 10 modules there is a multiple choice test. The questions will be on a range of topics found within the 10 modules. The test, like the course, is online and can be taken a time and location of your choosing.

    The pass mark for the test is 70%.

    If you don’t pass the test first time you will get further opportunities to take the test again after extra study. There are no limits to the number of times you can take the test. All test retakes are included within the price of the course.

    You can either use your Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Solo cards or PayPal account to pay for the online course. Our site uses the latest SSL encryption to ensure your safety. All payments are handled securely by PayPal.

    You can begin the course immediately after your payment has been received. You will create your login details during the checkout process. We will also send you an email confirming your login details.

    We estimate that the course will take about 11 hours to complete in total, plus an additional 30 minutes for the end of course test.

    Once you have been awarded your certificate it is valid for life. The certificate does not expire or need renewing.

    I decided to take this course to help me understand my 8 year old son with ADHD and ASD.

    I managed to join the course and find the site with ease and after making my payment it was easy to start to find my documents and download my test sheets after the relevant modules.

    I found other links which I am yet to explore further and can see me contacting a few of the organisations mentioned. I now am to put some strategies to the test.

    The information was useful and I learnt a lot and got a certificate at the end. Thank you.

    Nicki Openshaw

    The course was very well structured and I have a clear idea from all subjects. All the subjects have examples and highlight very important information during the course.

    It is suitable for my needs in improving my qualification and doing an online course which transmits all necessary information.

    The material is very relevant to the day-to-day activities in a bank and show me how many options I have available inside the bank industry and which qualifications I need. I am very happy with it and I recommend everyone who has some curiosity to learn more about the banking sector.

    Diogo Miranda

    I am 3/4 the way through my Legal Secretary Diploma Course, I have studied full time and it has taken me about a week (few hours per day) Very informative course which makes you memorise each module well, with worksheets at the end of each module. Gave a brilliant knowledge base into the different areas of Law and the secretaries roles within them. I have never done an online course before as thought they were not very credible, but this they are good providing you are willing to put the work in, all the information is provided for you , you just need to use it. Thoroughly recommend to anyone who has some spare time and wants to expand their legal knowledge - this course is not just for legal secretaries!!

    Georgia Smith

    Helpful tips learned during the course and many fun facts. I will be completing 6 more courses after this one. Such a great learning experience. The knowledge in each package is phenomenal!

    Each course is broken down into modules to make it easy to break down the course for short breaks and as soon as you sign back in again it remembers where you left off in your course. How clever!

    I would highly recommend this course to anyone looking to brush up their knowledge and skills. Best of luck!
    100% Recommended. New Skills Academy is the best!

    Dora Christou

    I love being able to study from home, the site is easy to use and I like being able to just log in and study for as long as I have free then pick it up again the next day or a week later. I lost my job suddenly with no notice and decided to take the opportunity to get back into something new I intended to do long ago but just never had the time or money to do so. The great prices for online learning and being able to learn from home whilst doing part time work have helped out so much when on a budget and being unable to be able attend full time college courses.

    Kirsten Owen

    This course is very comprehensive. It is packed full of very helpful information to aid the Teaching assistant to use his or her skills and knowledge to the full.

    If this course is being taken by those who have no knowledge of being a TA, then in my honest opinion they would certainly know about the role when they finish.

    I do like the online tests at the end. It does make you think and definitely reinforces what material has just been read. It is also an incentive when seeing a 'grade' to realise how much has been taken in thus encouraging enthusiasm to proceed to the next module.

    In all I would say that this course is certainly worth doing, I'm enjoying it and what it has to offer.

    Samantha Morgans

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