By Haobo Zhang – Founder of HZ Tutoring, 98 ATAR, University of Melbourne Biomedicine. Haobo builds the AI tools on this page.

Most tutoring companies are scrambling to bolt AI onto their offering. HZ Tutoring builds its own – and gives most of it away free. This page explains what we have built, how our students actually use it, and where we think AI genuinely helps a VCE student (and where it does not).

What we have built

• Burst – a free 24/7 AI VCE tutor. Ask it anything from Methods calculus to Legal Studies remedies at any hour, free, no sign-up walls.
• The English Marking GPT – structured essay feedback against VCE assessment criteria, built with our raw-50 English tutors.
• The ATAR Calculator – built on the current VTAC scaling report and official aggregate tables; one of the most used free VCE tools in Victoria.
• Polarbear – the AI study platform our founder is building, and the engine behind our student-facing tools.

How our students use AI (the loop that actually works)

AI on its own becomes a crutch – students ask, copy, move on, and learn very little. What works is a loop: between lessons, AI answers the 11 pm questions and generates unlimited practice; in the weekly lesson, a top-scoring tutor looks at what the student struggled with, fixes the underlying gap, and resets the plan. The AI makes every hour between lessons more useful. The tutor makes the AI worth using. Neither replaces the other – and we say that as the people who build the AI.

The honest bit: integrity and limits

For parents weighing this up: AI is brilliant at instant explanations and endless practice questions. It cannot hold your child accountable every week, notice when confidence is the real problem, or adjust when a SAC result changes the plan. That is the job of the weekly lesson – AI just makes the six days in between count.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from ChatGPT? General AI does not know the VCE. Ours is built around VCAA study designs, past exams and assessor language – and tuned for hints, not handed answers.

Is Burst really free? Yes – free, 24/7, part of the Free For VCE collection we sponsor.

Can AI mark my English essays? The English Marking GPT is a genuinely useful first pass against VCE criteria. A raw-50 tutor still catches what AI misses – use both.

Is using AI for VCE cheating? Studying with AI is legitimate preparation. Submitting AI-written SAC work as your own is not – VCAA authentication rules apply.

Is AI tutoring as good as a real tutor? No – and we build AI for a living. The combination beats either alone.