FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Wizardry
Straight answers: what Wizardry is, who it is for, how the courses and the feedback work, what it costs, and how student information is handled.
About Wizardry
The short version of who we are and what this is.
What is Wizardry?
Wizardry is an online learning platform that teaches English literature analysis and essay writing to secondary students in New Zealand. It runs specialised courses for NCEA, Cambridge International and IB, and it is used by individual students and by schools alongside classroom teaching. It lives at wizardry.org.nz.
Is this the Wizardry video game, or a book about wizards?
No. Wizardry at wizardry.org.nz is an English literature learning platform from New Zealand. It has nothing to do with the Wizardry role-playing game series, with fantasy fiction about wizards, or with the Wizard of New Zealand in Christchurch. If you searched for any of those, this is not the page you wanted. If you searched for help with English, it is.
Who makes Wizardry?
Wizardry is made in New Zealand by a team of four and operated by Dominik Garfield, who is also its privacy officer. You can reach the team at support@wizardry.org.nz.
Who is Wizardry for?
Secondary students aged roughly 13 to 18, which in New Zealand terms means Years 9 to 13, studying NCEA, Cambridge International or IB English, or simply exploring. Teachers and schools use it to supply the theory strand alongside their own classroom teaching. It also gives parents a structured option for a capable student who finds English confusing.
Courses and curricula
One theory, three courses, and how to pick yours.
Which curricula does Wizardry cover?
Three, each as its own course. NCEA English from Level 1 to Level 3. Cambridge International, covering IGCSE Literature in English and First Language English, and AS and A Level Literature in English. IB, covering Middle Years Programme Language and Literature and Diploma Programme English A. The theory is shared; the practice questions and the feedback vocabulary belong to each course. See the courses.
Which course should I choose?
Choose the qualification you are sitting or working toward, and your year level. If your school set up your account, both are set by your class. If you are between curricula or just exploring, pick the one closest to what you will sit: the theory is identical and only the questions and the feedback vocabulary change.
What is in the theory pathway?
A sequence of stages that builds the method piece by piece. The early stages set the foundations: what English literature is for, what a text is, and how a writer’s technique creates an effect, how effects shape a literary element, and how elements carry a message. The middle stages teach analysis in depth and then the essay itself. Later paths open into literary eras, allusion, psychology and philosophy for students who want to go further.
Does Wizardry teach the texts I study in class?
No, and that is deliberate. Your teacher and your set texts stay at the centre. Wizardry teaches the transferable theory: how to analyse language, form an interpretation, build an argument and write it convincingly. You apply it to whatever you are studying, and in Macropractice you write essays and close-analysis paragraphs on your own texts and send them for marking.
NCEA is being replaced. Does that matter?
NCEA continues to apply until the new qualifications arrive, from 2028 for Year 11, 2029 for Year 12 and 2030 for Year 13, and no student switches systems partway through. The skills Wizardry teaches are the skills of analysis and writing themselves, which every version of senior English assesses, so the course carries across the change. Read about NCEA English.
How it works
The parts of the platform, and what the AI does and does not do.
What are the different parts of Wizardry?
Theory: short modules that build the whole method in order. Micropractice: fast drills, one quotation at a time, where you spot the techniques or write a quick analysis and get a verdict. Macropractice: full essays and close-analysis paragraphs, planned, written and sent for marking, then locked with their feedback. The Lab: a free writing space for pasting in a passage, annotating it and gathering notes and quotes; nothing is marked there. The Toolbox: every language technique in one place, what it is and what it does to a reader, browsable by effect.
How does the AI feedback work?
When you submit an essay, a close-analysis paragraph or a Micropractice answer, an AI model reads it against Wizardry’s marking rubric and your course’s official criteria and returns feedback, scores and a short rationale: what worked, which analytical step broke, and what to improve next. Exactly two things are sent for marking, the rubric and your writing. No name, email address, school or class is attached. The feedback is a diagnostic aid; your teacher’s judgement always governs.
Is the AI mark a predicted grade?
No. It is expressed in your curriculum’s own vocabulary, such as Achieved, Merit and Excellence for NCEA, a level on the 25-mark ladder for Cambridge, or a criterion score for IB, so that the feedback means something to you and your teacher. It is a diagnostic reading of one piece of work, not a prediction of an exam result.
Does Wizardry write essays for students?
No. It does not generate essays, paragraphs or analysis for a student to hand in. It marks what the student wrote, explains the method behind it, and shows worked examples of what strong analysis looks like.
How much time does it take?
As much or as little as fits. The theory is in short modules, Micropractice is designed for little and often, and a full Macropractice essay takes as long as an essay takes. Students use it outside lesson time, at their own pace.
Schools and teachers
Running Wizardry alongside a classroom programme.
How do schools use Wizardry?
Alongside the classroom programme. Wizardry takes on the transferable theory so lesson time can go to the texts, contexts and discussion that only a teacher provides. Students and staff sign in with their school Microsoft account. Teachers see progress summaries, accuracy analytics, the diagnostic showing which analytical step a student breaks at, and submitted work. Teachers cannot read drafts a student has not submitted. For teachers and schools.
How does a school start?
Email support@wizardry.org.nz to enquire about the pilot. Schools taking part are not billed, and school users never pass through Stripe or see a payment page. Accounts are set up for students by the school, and every student is connected to their class from the first sign-in.
Does Wizardry replace teaching?
No. It strengthens classroom teaching and never replaces it. Literary study has two parts: the particular texts, which is where teachers are irreplaceable, and the transferable theory, which is what Wizardry teaches. A coherent system needs both.
Membership and pricing
For individual members. School access is arranged by the school.
How much does Wizardry cost?
A solo membership is $10 NZD a month. It unlocks the full theory journey, the Lab, Macropractice essays and close analysis with AI marking, and Micropractice drills with the Toolbox and word bank. If your school runs Wizardry, there is nothing to pay: school accounts are provided by the school.
Can I cancel, and is there a refund?
Yes to both. Cancel any time from Settings, and your access runs to the end of the month you have paid for. New members can take a full refund within the first two weeks, no questions asked, from the same place.
Is there a free trial?
Not a separate one. The two-week full refund for new members does the same job: join, use everything, and if it is not for you, take the refund.
Privacy and safety
What we hold about students, and what we never do with it.
What information does Wizardry hold about a student?
The minimum the service needs: an email address, a display name, the qualification and year level, a goal and pace chosen at onboarding, the student’s work and its feedback, and a record of learning activity such as which module was opened and how long a student was genuinely working. There is no date of birth, home address, phone number, gender, ethnicity, photograph or government identifier anywhere in the system. Read the privacy policy.
Is student writing used to train AI?
No. Writing is marked through Google’s paid Gemini service, whose published terms state that Google does not use submitted content to improve its products, and it is retained by Google only briefly to detect abuse of the service. Nothing identifying is sent with it.
Can students see each other’s work?
No. There is no messaging, no comments, no forums, no shared files and no public profiles. Inside a school, teachers can see their students’ submitted work; students cannot see anything belonging to another student.
Getting help
When something is not working.
I can’t sign in. What do I do?
Check that you are using the exact email address on your account; school students, that is the address your school set up. There is no self-service password reset: school students ask their teacher, and everyone else emails support@wizardry.org.nz from the address on their account. Support page.
Something not covered? Write to support@wizardry.org.nz, or see the support page for sign-in and billing help.