General FAQs

Frequently asked questions

Do you offer a free trial?

Yes, we offer a free 14-day trial for you to explore our learning environment. Visit our “Free 14-day trial” page, fill in your details, and your temporary login codes will be sent to you via email.

Can students work at their own pace?

By joining our online school, you can work at your own pace in your own space! At any hour of the day, you can log onto your profile, access your subjects and work on the content on your dashboard. You will receive weekly electronic feedback via the weekly reports which are emailed every Monday morning. You are encouraged to interact with the tutor via the tutor chat to ask for assistance with your work.

You are welcome to work ahead of the suggested schedule, but you must maintain a minimum pace to successfully complete the curriculum.

Remember that grade 10 to 12 CAPS learners must stick to the standard 4 term calendar to ensure that they meet the mandatory deadlines for submissions.

Is technology successful as a method of delivery for educational content?

Generation Z children are drawn to technology – why not use this to your benefit and use it to teach your children? The aim of online education is not to match traditional classrooms but to improve it. Our content carefully balances video, animation and text. Although watching a video can be valuable, it is still a passive activity. For online learning to be successful, it needs to be engaging and interactive. At traditional schools, if a student is bored or performs badly, he/she fails. In technology, if the user is bored or performs badly, the product designers have failed. Our aim is to offer the most technologically advanced solution to ensure your student’s success.

What are the IT specifications and requirements?

Desktops, laptops and tablets can be used. Tablets need to run Android 7.0 and later (7.0 was released in 2016) and iPads need to run iOS 11 or later (released in 2017). Microsoft devices need to run Windows 10 or later.

Please use the latest version of Chrome (no other browser is officially supported).

Minimum internet speeds of 4mb per second are required (if only one student is online, higher speeds are required for more than one student).

Uncapped lines are recommended but not essential – each student will use approximately 4 Gigs a month depending on how often they watch and re-watch the content.

Also see what stationery and equipment you will need.

Do we need to buy textbooks?

Textbooks are so old school. When you attend a new age school such as Think Digital Academy, there is no need to purchase any additional resources. As soon as you enrol, you receive instant access to all your content online, including interactive lessons, study notes, assessments and other resources.

How do the online tutors and student success coaches work?

Students who opt for the “With Tutor Support” option upon registration, will have access to a panel of online tutors on their dashboards.

These tutors can be contacted from Mondays to Fridays between 08:00 and 16:30, and will respond within 15 minutes.

Tutors can be consulted for any related content or general questions. We also have Maths and Science experts to promote a love for all things complicated. Tutoring includes assistance via images, videos, additional resources or text explanations.

Please note, this does not include face-to-face tutoring and is not a solution for students struggling with content comprehension or mastering concepts. The tutors would then recommend private tutoring, which should be sourced independently.

All students can contact a panel of success coaches for any kind of assistance relating to their content or portal.

What stationery must we buy?

You’re kidding yourself if you think you’re going to make it through 5 hours of your favourite subjects without taking down any of your favourite facts. We recommend an exercise book per subject, some pens and pencils, a ruler and an eraser. A mathematical set and Scientific calculator is required from Stage / Grade 7.

See our comprehensive stationery and equipment list.

Can my child go back into mainstream learning with a TDA report?

Absolutely! We follow the curriculum strictly so that children can mainstream seamlessly at any stage throughout their education journey.

May we do two grades in one year?

Students who have been approved to do so by an educational psychologist may complete more than one grade per academic year up until Grade 9. FET CAPS students may only complete one grade per year.

How and where are exams written?

Grade R – 9 students write all assessments at home with a parent/facilitator as an invigilator. Grade 10 – 12 students must have an appointed invigilator (Think Digital offers a free online course for invigilators). These invigilators may not be direct family members or personal tutors and must be over the age of 18. Only final Grade 12 exams are written at a SACAI examination centre. Cambridge International students write their final GCSE, AS and A levels at a registered Cambridge examination centre.

What is the difference between the CAPS and British International curricula?

The main differences between CAPS and British International are listed below.

The number of subjects

In the CAPS curriculum, students are required to take a total of 7 subjects in their primary grade 4-6 phase, 11 subjects in the intermediate grades 7-9, and 7 subjects in their FET years grades 10-12.

In the British International curriculum, students are only required to take 7 subjects in Stages 4-8, 6 subjects when they reach GCSE and 4-5 subjects when they reach AS levels. The advantage of taking less subjects and doing a more “focused” study, is that students have more time to invest in their chosen subjects.

The volume of content

Although there are fewer subjects with the British International curriculum, some of the subjects, for example Maths and Science, are explored in more depth.

Learning freedom

The FET CAPS phase (Grade 10 – 12) contains an assessment and task schedule which students must adhere to. Each topic is listed on the termly planner and the content is intended to be learnt in the order in which it is laid out. All other grades are completed at your own pace.

All British International students are free to complete the year’s curriculum at their own pace. This leaves plenty of opportunity for integrating learning objectives into other learning experiences.

Assessment

In the CAPS system, there is an emphasis on testing. The CAPS curriculum specifically details the formal assessment that must be taken for each subject and projects are very specifically phrased and detailed.

Although testing is required within the British International curriculum, the approach is rather different. Assessed projects are not encouraged at all for Stages 1 – 8 and only minimally from IGCSE, with emphasis being placed on progression. Only four assessments per year are required. This leaves much more time for learning.

Subjects

The major differences between British International Stages 1-8 and CAPS Grades 1-8 lie in the Sciences, Maths and English.

British International students are introduced to Science from stage 1 whereas CAPS students are only introduced to basic scientific concepts in grade 4. In the British International syllabus, English is centred around developing language, reading and writing skills while Maths covers a little more content in the curriculum.

How are we kept informed about our child’s progress?

Weekly e-mailed reports
A weekly report is mailed to the parent or the tutor of the student every Monday morning. This report details all of the student’s activity on the system during the preceding week. The report includes useful information such as which lessons the student has viewed, which have been completed, what scores were achieved in the lesson quizzes, how long the student spent on each lesson, etc.

Assessments and feedback
Assessments are completed once all the content for the term has been successfully completed and covered. Students in Grades/Stages R-9 will receive instant feedback on their assessment once it has been completed and a copy of the assessment is emailed directly to the parent or tutor. This is a useful tool which enables parents/tutors to easily identify and remedy any areas of concern.

How do we receive quarterly and final reports?

Students are able to download and print their final reports at the end of each term. Once all four terms have successfully been completed, a final report displaying results for each term can be printed.

Our reports are recognised and accepted by all government and private schools, globally.

Students who receive the National Senior Certificate (NSC) certificate, can apply at their prospective universities, provided they meet the minimum entry requirements. Similarly, students who receive the British International certificates for GCSE and AS levels, can also apply at their perspective universities locally and abroad, provided they meet the minimum entry requirements.

We encourage all parents and students to do their homework as to what the entry requirements are for the various university facilities, in order to select the correct combination of subjects when making their final subject choices in Grade 10 or GCSE level.

Are prerecorded lessons available to view offline?

All our lessons have been recorded and taught by subject matter experts and masters in their fields. These lessons can be accessed from anywhere at any time, provided you have a stable internet connection. Lessons can also be viewed “offline” on our Think Digital Academy App which is available on the Google Play App Store.

Are study notes and memos available?

Printable study notes
All subjects across all grades have printable PDF summaries which can be used as study notes in preparation for your assessments.

Memos
Each lesson contains one or more activities which have to be completed either online or in your workbooks. Memos have been provided for all the lesson activities which enables you to check and mark your own work.

Can Think Digital accommodate my special needs child?

Absolutely! Think Digital is ideal for children with learning difficulties. Our recorded lessons can be viewed as many times as required. Students can work at their own pace and spend more time on subjects that they find challenging.

Does Think Digital provide socialisation for students?

Every student has access to a “forum” tab where they can interact online with students in their grade worldwide. Students are able to communicate in real-time, on their portals. It’s like Facebook, just better and safer.

What do the terms and abbreviations used on this website mean?

Confused by some of the abbreviations and jargon mentioned on our site? Find explanations of all of our technical terms and abbreviations on the Glossary page.