The growing demand for cybersecurity professionals continues to outpace the available talent pool, highlighting a critical need for effective and accessible cybersecurity education. Capture-the-Flag (CTF) competitions provide an engaging, gamified approach to skill development, yet their complexity often discourages beginners. This research introduces CTF Prep, a structured CTF onboarding platform that integrates learning technologies, guided problem-solving, and educational scaffolding to lower entry barriers for novice learners. An initial survey (n = 63) identified key challenges faced by beginners, including unclear instructions, lack of foundational knowledge, and difficulties navigating CTF challenges. To address these issues, CTF Prep incorporates structured learning paths, interactive problem-solving exercises, and strategy-focused challenges to enhance engagement and comprehension. A beta test (n = 101) demonstrated the platform’s effectiveness, with participants reporting improved understanding, increased confidence, and greater motivation to participate in Jeopardy-style CTF competitions. This study contributes to the field by developing and evaluating a structured learning platform tailored for novice CTF participants, addressing a gap in existing cybersecurity education tools. While these findings indicate short-term learning gains, further research will focus on long-term impact assessment, tracking users’ continued participation in CTF competitions, skill progression, and career pathways in cybersecurity. This study underscores the importance of integrating structured learning technologies into cybersecurity education and advocates for the development of scalable, adaptive learning models to enhance cybersecurity training.