New survey shows parents considering paying for coding courses, life skills lessons and activities based on health and wellness for their children

Over 200% rise in interest in coding from parents since 2019; survey shows parents considering paying for coding courses, life skills lessons and health and wellness activities for their children

•  Over 200% rise in interest in coding from parents since 2019
•  Over a quarter of parents would consider paying for their children to take part in a coding, software or game design course or club

A survey on parent attitudes to learning by online tutoring platform MyTutor, which had 1138 respondents, has found that parents are considering paying for a wide range of modern extracurricular activities.

27.5% of respondents said they would consider paying for their child to attend coding, software or game design courses or clubs.  Out of School, Out of Pocket, a report from 2019, which included survey results from over 1500 UK parents, stated that only 8% of parents were paying for their child to take part in extracurricular activities to do with computers or coding, meaning the level of interest in coding has shot up over 200% in the last three years. 

When asked by MyTutor to list the main reasons they would consider paying for this for their child, 60.3% of respondents said that their child has shown an interest in coding/software, and they want to encourage them. 45.2% of respondents said that they think it’s important for their child’s future that they learn these skills now – especially given the growing importance of coding in the modern job market – and 30.5% said their child specifically asked them to send them on a coding course.

When asked what other extracurricular activities they would consider paying for in the future, 38.3% chose life skills (e.g. financial skills, social skills, critical thinking etc) and 27.2% stated they would be prepared to pay for extracurricular activities based on health and wellness. 

Bertie Hubbard, CEO & Co-Founder of MyTutor, said: 

“It was fascinating to hear from parents about what sort of extracurricular activities they believe are valuable to their children.  Many of us have reconsidered our priorities and what is important to us since the pandemic began and the level of parental interest in coding, life skills and health and wellbeing activities for their children is notable.  Enthusiasm for these sorts of activities shows that parents are not just thinking about what their children are excited about now, but also considering what will help them in the future. 

“It’s particularly noteworthy that so many parents said their child had shown an interest in coding.  At MyTutor we believe tech knowledge will be vital for young people going forward which is why we are so pleased to have Fire Tech as part of our offering.  Fire Tech provides tutoring for 8- to 17-year-olds in all things tech – like Python, Java, Artificial Intelligence and Game Design.”