Help Centre
How can we help?
Step-by-step guides for every screen, answers to common questions, and a quick tour. On any page, the ? button in the top bar (or the ? key) opens the help for that page.
Start here
I'm a student
Learn a topic, practise real questions, track your progress
I'm a teacher
Use the site with a class and build your own papers
I'm a parent
What's here, how to see progress, what is stored
Browse by topic
Getting started
Your first 10 minutes on CS with ZAK
Choose your level, open a topic, learn it, test yourself and see your progress — the loop you will repeat for every topic.
Tutorial · 7 steps · 10 min
Take the site tour
A one-minute spotlight walk over the controls that are on every page: the menus, your level, search, Ask Z, your account and Help.
Tutorial · 3 steps · 1 min
Choose or change your level
One setting decides what the whole site shows you first — O Level / IGCSE, AS, A2 or Full A Level.
How-to · 3 steps · 1 min
Find anything with search (⌘K)
Search every page, topic, syllabus section, glossary term, example, video and past-paper set from one box.
How-to · 4 steps · 2 min
Getting help on any page
Where help lives — always in the same places — and who to ask when a guide isn't enough.
Reference · 3 steps · 2 min
A guide for parents
What your child can use here, how to see their progress, what is stored and how to reach a person.
Tutorial · 5 steps · 5 min
Is everything really free?
Yes — notes, lectures, past papers, quizzes, labs, games and Ask Z (within a daily allowance). Only ZAK's classes and Success Packs are paid, through the Tuition page.
Do I need an account?
No. Everything works without one and progress is saved in your browser. Signing in only adds syncing between devices.
Which syllabus does the site follow?
Cambridge O Level 2210 / IGCSE 0478 and AS & A Level 9618, current editions. The Syllabus page has every official PDF, including the next edition.
Learning a topic
Use a topic page and its study hub
Everything for one syllabus topic sits on its page — here is what each part does and the order to use it in.
How-to · 5 steps · 4 min
Read, revise and download Smart Notes
Complete notes for every topic, a 60-second revision sheet, and PDF or PowerPoint downloads.
How-to · 5 steps · 4 min
Find a video lecture
ZAK's whole YouTube channel, sorted by syllabus topic and by kind — lectures, past-paper solutions, revision.
How-to · 3 steps · 2 min
Get the syllabus and full past papers
The official syllabus PDFs and specimen papers, and every past paper with its mark scheme, examiner report and grade thresholds.
How-to · 3 steps · 3 min
Read the Statometer — what to revise first
Every topic and syllabus bullet ranked by how often, and for how many marks, it really comes up.
How-to · 5 steps · 4 min
Plan your exams and revision
Your zone's paper dates and Key Times, a countdown, a calendar file and a revision plan.
How-to · 4 steps · 3 min
Glossary, command words, pseudocode guide and infographics
The four reference pages: definitions in mark-scheme wording, what each exam verb wants, pseudocode beside Python, and downloadable diagrams.
Reference · 4 steps · 3 min
Past papers & exam practice
Practise real past-paper questions by topic
Every Cambridge question for a topic, with the mark scheme and the examiner's comments — filtered, shuffled and saved.
How-to · 7 steps · 5 min
Answer on the real paper and get it marked
Type, tick, draw and run code on the printed question, then have every part marked against the mark scheme.
How-to · 6 steps · 5 min
Sit a timed paper
A fresh exam-length set of real questions against the clock, with results by topic, command word and AO.
How-to · 3 steps · 3 min
Take a quiz
Auto-marked multiple-choice rounds for every topic — a new draw every time, with a weak-spots round.
How-to · 3 steps · 2 min
Revise with flashcards
Shuffled decks for every syllabus section; the site remembers the cards you keep missing.
How-to · 3 steps · 2 min
Do a ZAK Assignment
Three assignment sets per topic with model answers, self-marking and a PDF.
How-to · 4 steps · 3 min
Solve an auto-marked programming task
Exam-style scenario tasks in pseudocode or Python, marked by hidden tests.
How-to · 4 steps · 3 min
Are the past-paper questions real?
Yes — every question comes from a Cambridge paper with its mark scheme, and the examiner report's comment where there is one. ZAK's own model questions are labelled.
How accurate is AI marking?
It marks each part against the real mark scheme, but it is an estimate: read the scheme and change any mark with the stepper. Binary arithmetic is checked digit by digit, not by AI.
Where are my bookmarked questions?
On Past-Paper Questions tick Bookmarked in the filters (or open /tools/exam-questions?saved=1). Topic bookmarks are on your dashboard.
Code labs
Run pseudocode or Python in the Playground
Write Cambridge pseudocode or Python, run it with inputs, see a trace table, and get examiner-style error messages.
How-to · 6 steps · 4 min
SQL, assembly, Prolog and the other code labs
Every code lab works the same way — Examples, Run, results, Ask Z — plus a few controls of its own.
Reference · 6 steps · 4 min
Theory labs
Ask Z, the AI tutor
Why did Ask Z refuse a question?
It only helps with Computer Science and with using this site. Ask it about a topic, a past-paper question or a page here, and say which level you are at.
Who can read my Ask Z chats?
Your chat list is kept in your browser only. Messages pass through our AI provider to be answered; the privacy policy gives what is kept and for how long.
CS Games
Is it safe for students to play online?
Players get generated nicknames and can only send preset emotes — there is no free text between players. Scores are verified on the server.
Progress & account
XP, levels, streaks and your dashboard
How XP is earned, what the levels are, and where to see it all.
Reference · 4 steps · 2 min
Sign in and sync your devices
Optional email sign-in — no password — so your XP, progress and paper work follow you to every device.
How-to · 4 steps · 2 min
What is stored, and how to remove it
A plain-English map of what stays on your device, what goes to a server, and the switches you control.
Reference · 4 steps · 2 min
Can my parents or teacher see my progress?
Only on your device, or on another device where you sign in to your account. There is no teacher or parent view of your account.
I changed phone — how do I keep my XP?
Sign in with the same email on both devices; XP and progress merge. Without an account, use Export progress on the old device and Import on the new one.
For teachers
Teachers: start here
What the site gives a Computer Science teacher, and how to use it with a class.
Tutorial · 5 steps · 5 min
Request teacher access
The Paper Builder is for teachers. ZAK approves each request by hand.
How-to · 4 steps · 3 min
Build a paper and share it with your class
A class test, monthly test, mid-term or mock built to your topics, marks and time — shared as a link, handed out as a PDF.
How-to · 7 steps · 6 min
Sit a paper your teacher sent
Opening a class link from your teacher, answering, and getting your marks.
How-to · 3 steps · 2 min
Why can't I open the Paper Builder?
It is for approved teachers. Request teacher access with your school email; students can sit a paper from their teacher's link.
Phone & app
Is there an app?
ZAPP for Android and iOS is in private beta (details). Meanwhile, add the website to your home screen — it works the same.
Fixing problems
Downloads and printing
Where every PDF, slide deck and image download is, and what to do when one won't save.
Fix a problem · 4 steps · 2 min
Something isn't working
Quick fixes for the problems people hit most often.
Fix a problem · 5 steps · 3 min
Keyboard shortcuts and accessibility
Every shortcut on the site, and the settings that make it easier to read and use.
Reference · 4 steps · 2 min
The site looks wrong or old
Reload with ⌘/Ctrl + Shift + R. If it still looks wrong, tell us on WhatsApp with a screenshot.
Keyboard shortcuts
On Windows use Ctrl where a Mac uses ⌘.
| Keys | What it does | Where |
|---|---|---|
| ? | Open Help for the page you are on | Anywhere (not while typing) |
| ⌘/Ctrl+K | Search the whole site | Anywhere |
| Esc | Close a panel, menu, search or the tour | Anywhere |
| ⌘/Ctrl+Enter | Run the code (Ask, in Prolog) | Every code editor |
| ⌘/Ctrl+Shift+F | Full-screen editor | Every code editor |
| Tab | Indent | Code editors |
| Enter | Send (Shift+Enter: new line) | Ask Z |
| Space | Flip the card | Flashcards |
| ← / 1+→ / 2 | Again / Got it | Flashcards |
| ←+→+Space | Step back / forward, play–pause | Algorithm, Data Structures, Networks, Systems and Compiler labs |
| ⌘/Ctrl+Z | Undo (⇧ to redo) | Logic Gates (draw), Flowchart Studio |
| Enter | Check, then next question | Practice cards, Number Systems Lab |
| ↑+↓+Enter | Move through and open results | Search |
Still stuck?
Ask in this order — the first is instant, the last reaches ZAK's team.
Classes and enrolment: the admissions team on the Tuition page. Other ways to reach ZAK: Contact.