Starter: try the course free

Starter lets you try the course before you apply. It is free, needs no application and no payment, and gives no right to an internship placement. The Pricing page compares it with the full course.

What Starter includes

• Every lesson of module 1, in full.
• The first lesson of every other module, as a preview.
• The outline of the whole course: every lesson's title, so you see what comes next.
• The AI mentor under each lesson you can open, for 5 questions a day. The count resets at midnight UTC.

Lessons are marked "Free", "Preview" or "Full course" on the course home, in the lesson menu and on the public course outline at /course. A "Full course" lesson shows its title, "Part of the full course" and "Apply for the full course".

Starter does not include the other lessons, the capstone, an internship placement, or your public page and build log.

Start free

1. Open /start-free, or press "Start free" under "New here?" on the login page, or "Start free with module 1" on the "For students" page or the course outline.
2. Tick the box to agree to the Terms of Service.
3. Press "Start free with Google" and choose your Google account, or type your name and email and press "Start free". We email you a link that signs you in and opens the course.

If you signed in with a new Google address and landed on the application form, "Not ready to apply? Start free with this Google account" does the same with that account.

To stop people misusing it, Start free sends only a few links to one email address a day. If it says so, use the newest link in your inbox, or try again the next day.

Your account

Press your name at the top right to open "Your account" (on a narrow phone screen, go to /learn/account). On Starter it has:

• "Your details": your name, phone and city to change, and your sign-in email, which you cannot change on the page.
• "Your plan: Starter": what Starter includes, and "Apply for the full course", or where your application stands.
• "Sign out everywhere".
• "Delete your account": type your email address and press "Delete my account". Your account, your progress, your questions to the mentor and any application are deleted at once, and you land on the home page signed out. This cannot be undone.

See Your account.

The AI mentor

Under each lesson you can open there is "Ask the AI mentor". Ask about the lesson in front of you: what you ran, what you expected and what happened. On Starter you have 5 questions a day; the box shows how many are left. When they are used up, it says so and that the full course has the normal allowance.

Finishing module 1

When every core lesson of module 1 is done, the course home says so, and we email you once to say you can apply when you are ready. We do not chase you after that.

Applying from Starter

Press "Apply for the full course" in the course menu or on a locked lesson. The form opens with your name and email filled in, and your application joins your free account. While we decide, module 1 stays open. If we accept you and you pay $300, your account becomes a full course account: every lesson opens, and your progress and your questions to the mentor carry over. See How to apply.

If we are not able to offer you a place, you keep Starter: module 1 and the previews stay open. You can apply once more, from 24 hours after our email; "Your account" and the guide show from when. See How to apply.

Starter is free, so there is nothing to refund. Once you pay, the refund rules apply from the day you pay; finishing module 1 on Starter does not use up rule 4.1. See Refunds.