Raspberry Pi Foundation

What the Raspberry Pi Foundation is

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is an educational charity that gives away the materials to learn and teach computing: coding projects for children and teenagers, a worldwide network of Code Clubs, showcases and challenges, and free curricula, a classroom platform and training for schools. Its stated aim is "We enable all young people to realise their full potential through the power of computing and AI." The site footer describes it as "a UK company limited by guarantee and a charity registered in England and Wales with number 1129409," and names a wider group that includes Raspberry Pi Foundation Europe, Raspberry Pi Foundation North America, Inc. (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit), an Indian company set up "to deliver educational services," and Raspberry Pi Foundation Kenya.

The Foundation is not the company that makes the computers. The home page sends hardware buyers to raspberrypi.com and says it is Raspberry Pi Holdings plc that makes "computing accessible and affordable for everybody." This entry is about the education charity and its free learning products.

The About page frames the work in three parts. For teachers, "We enable every school to teach students about computing and how to create with digital technologies," by providing curriculum, resources and training. For young people, it reaches them "outside of school, through online resources and apps, clubs, competitions, and partnerships with youth organisations." And it runs research to "advance the field of computing education."

For young people: projects, clubs and showcases

The Learn section is built for children and teenagers learning outside school, and the Foundation says "Our free resources are created by specialist educators and are designed to be age-appropriate, safe, and easy to use."

Code Club Projects is the self-paced route. It "has step-by-step instructions to help kids, teenagers, and young adults of all skill levels learn to code," for use "in club sessions or at home." The home page describes these as "Easy-to-follow guides to help kids learn how to build their own games, animations, apps, and websites with different software and hardware." A child can work through a project alone at home, at their own speed.

Code Club is the in-person route. "Code Clubs are a fun and supportive place for young people to learn coding at their own pace," the Learn page says. "Young people use free, step-by-step project guides specially created by us. Club mentors help them progress through these projects to create games, animations, and web pages." The home page calls Code Club "a global movement of coding clubs where young people develop the confidence to get creative with digital technologies," and quotes a young person from the Liverpool Central Library Code Club whose favorite part is "being able to interact with other people and to share ideas on projects." Families can search for a club, and the Teach menu has a page for adults who want to start one. The governance page lists a co-founder of Code Club and a co-founder of CoderDojo among the Foundation's members.

Coolest Projects is the showcase: "Online showcases and in-person events for young tech creators to share their projects, get feedback, and be inspired." The Learn page tells the story of Selin, who set out to build a robotic guide dog for the event and "has since built seven robots." A June 2026 news headline on the same page reads "Celebrating over 15,000 young creators at the Coolest Projects 2026 online showcase".

Astro Pi is the most unusual offer. "The European Astro Pi Challenge gets young learners to write code that runs on the International Space Station," and the news section announces the launch of Astro Pi 2026/27. The home page also mentions the UK Bebras Challenge 2026.

For schools and teachers

The Teach section offers "Free training, resources, and guidance to help you teach computing with confidence," and the home page lists the main products.

• The Computing Curriculum: "A complete set of evidence-based classroom resources to teach computing."
• Code Classroom: "A free, safe platform for teaching and learning computing in schools." This is the Foundation's own platform for running computing lessons with a class.
• Experience CS: "A free, integrated computer science curriculum." A recent news story follows a Minnesota teacher who uses it to set the tone for her whole year.
• Experience AI: "Lessons and practical activities to help young people understand AI and how it is changing the world," with new themed resources for AI literacy announced in September 2026.
• Ada Computer Science, listed in the teacher menu beside the others.
• Professional development: "Free training and PD to help you develop the skills, knowledge, and confidence to teach computing," including online training courses.

Teachers also get Hello World magazine and the Foundation's research, which the home page says covers "teaching and learning of programming, gender balance, culturally relevant pedagogy, and AI education," with online events, seminars and publications. Its new position paper, "Why kids still need to learn to code in the age of AI," sets out five reasons the Foundation thinks coding still matters as generative AI spreads.

Scale and funding

The About page gives four headline figures: "250,000 +" teachers trained, "2.3 million" young people who attended Code Clubs, "6.8 million" young people who completed digital projects, and "4.9 million" teaching resources downloaded. It also says "Half of our activity is funded by generous contributions from our supporters," and it is governed by a Board of Trustees responsible for using its resources "to achieve our charitable goals." Annual reviews and accounts are published as downloads, and the site carries a safeguarding policy, stating that "all events, clubs, and activities we support can be fun and safe spaces for young people."

Who it suits

For a parent, the Foundation is a no-cost way to start a child on coding: open a Code Club Project at home, look for a local Code Club, and aim for a showcase or Astro Pi when the child has something to show. Teenagers and young adults are included in the project guides, so the material does not stop at primary age.

For a teacher or school, it is a complete set of free tools: a curriculum, a classroom platform, AI lessons and training, from an organization whose stated focus is helping every school teach computing. A teacher new to the subject can start with the professional development and the Computing Curriculum.

The caveat is that the Foundation is a charity that publishes resources, not a tutoring service or a commercial LMS vendor. There are no teachers assigned to a child here; learning happens alone, in a club with a mentor, or in a school that uses the materials.