Let them loose. Safely.
DIY Degree is a free AI tutor for learners aged 13 and over. It is built so you can say yes to it: every resource is rated before your child sees it, and anything that slips through can be reported in one tap.
Five parts, each labelled with where it stands
Every resource is rated for audience before it is served; a child’s account never sees material above its band by default; you can tighten that further; anything wrong is reportable in one tap and reviewed within 24 hours.
- Live
- In the app at app.diydegree.org now.
- Pilot
- Built and tested, switched off in production until the first pilot.
- Planned
- Designed, not built yet.
- Target
- What the system is built to, not yet staffed to keep.
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Every resource is rated for audience before it is served.
LiveUntil the open commons has rated a resource, its provider’s own minimum age stands in: a platform for 13 and over counts as teen, 16 and over as older teen, 18 and over as adult. A resource nobody has rated says so, and is never started automatically for someone under 18.
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A child’s account never sees material above its band by default.
LiveThe birth year sets a ceiling, and the ceiling is a filter applied before anything is ranked, not a weight a good match can outvote.
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You can tighten that further.
PilotWith the four controls below. They can only ever make things stricter.
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Anything wrong is reportable in one tap.
LiveA report of unsuitable material restricts the resource to adults at once, and every under-18 account stops seeing it within minutes, before a person has looked.
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A report is reviewed within 24 hours.
TargetTwenty-four hours is the ceiling the review queue is built to. We do not yet have a reviewer in post to keep it, so until we do, the immediate restriction above is what protects your child.
No rating system can promise that a child will never see something unsuitable, and we do not promise that. We promise the five parts above, and we tell you which of them are working today.
An age band, and soon the reasons behind it
- All
- Anyone.
- Teen
- 13 and over.
- Older teen
- 16 and over.
- Adult
- 18 and over.
- Unrated
- Nobody has rated it yet. Shown with its badge, and never started automatically for a minor.
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A band on every resource
LiveShown as a badge on every resource in the app. Ages 13 to 15 see All and Teen; 16 and 17 add Older teen; adults see everything. An account with no birth year is treated as Teen.
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A report only makes it stricter
LiveA report can lower a resource’s rating until a person re-reviews it. Nothing a user does can raise one.
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Descriptors, not just an age
PlannedStrong language, violence, sexual content, substance use, mature themes, frightening content, hateful content, self-harm references, gambling, commercial pressure, unmoderated comments, external links or chat, and more. Because a parent who accepts strong language may not accept commercial pressure.
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Rated by a machine and by people, and you can see which
PlannedThe commons gives every resource an automated first pass and human ratings from contributors, teachers and learners. Every rating says how it was produced.
Four controls, and no account needed
Your child invites you by email from their settings. The link in that email opens your page; there is nothing to sign up for. Your controls can only make things stricter, and only you can change them or end the link.
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A maximum rating
PilotThe highest band your child may see. Where it is stricter than their age band it applies; it can never loosen it.
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Kinds of content to leave out
PilotExclude descriptors you do not want, such as commercial pressure or unmoderated comments. These take effect as the commons adds descriptors to resources.
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Providers allowed or blocked
PilotBlock a platform entirely, or allow only the ones you trust.
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Topics or subjects to skip
PilotLeave out a topic or a whole area. Search tells your child how many results your settings hid, and a skipped topic cannot be started.
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Approved coaches
PlannedWhen human coaches arrive: who your child may talk to.
What your child sees about your controls
Everything. What is filtered, and that you filtered it, is on their Today screen, in their settings, on the topic and in search, where a hidden result says so instead of leaving a blank. Controls a teenager cannot see feel like surveillance; controls they can see are a conversation.
Their conversations, answers and minutes stay theirs
A teenager who feels watched stops using the tool, and a tool they have stopped using protects no one.
The guardian link gives you controls, not a view into your child’s learning. You do not see what they say to the guide, their answers to checks, how long they spend, or when.
What you will see, when the family dashboard arrives, is the topics they have mastered. Planned
The guide first, then a person
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The guide, free and first
LiveThe AI guide walks your child through the resource, answers questions about it and checks that it landed. It is the first rung, and it is never behind a paywall.
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A human coach, when one is needed
PlannedVetted and background-checked before they can be matched with anyone under 18. Never off-platform, in either direction. A session is recorded only if you choose that and pay for it, with everyone’s consent.
Free
DIY Degree is free. The loop at its centre (name a topic, learn it from the best free resource with the guide, prove it with a short check, move to the next) is never behind a paywall. There is no advertising, and nothing your child writes is sold or used to train an AI model. The detail is in the privacy policy.