Northcoders

I couldn't recommend Northcoders more highly. The bootcamp gave me skills, experience, and built my confidence to attain a great position. I'm doubtful whether I ever learned more in thirteen weeks.At the time I took the bootcamp, it was available under the DfE Skills for Life scheme, so it was available at no cost to myself and with no strings attached -- this is a fantastic and uncommon opportunity. Doing a software bootcamp is one of the main routes into software engineering, the other being a computer science degree. Northcoders is also one of the best-established bootcamps in the UK, to my understanding.You could teach yourself the same things online, but the bootcamp adds a lot of value because you follow the Northcoders curriculum, do a real team project, network with other skilled engineers, and pair-program, which means you learn to communicate clearly about code. My peers were talented, courteous, enthusiastic, and invariably had interesting careers before joining Northcoders.If you already have a STEM degree / programming experience, the bootcamp can put you in a very good position, because you will already have foundational skills and concepts. If you're new to programming it's going to be harder, because the intensity ramps up and you need the right mindset gained through experience to direct your own learning and solve your own problems. Concepts in programming need time to settle in, and the 13 weeks are fast, intense if you're going to be seeing everything for the first time.If you have the luxury of time, Harvard CS50x would be an excellent (and certainly not minimal) free online preparatory course.If you do the data engineering (new option) or DevOps / Cloud engineering" (even newer) course

I strongly believe that self-confidence is a crucial prerequisite for embarking on a programming journey. Unfortunately, many students encounter a significant obstacle in the form of self-doubt. This is precisely why I wholeheartedly recommend Northcoders—a remarkable team of knowledgeable professionals who possess a genuine passion for teaching and nurturing their students' confidence.From the moment you step into Northcoders, you will be greeted by a welcoming and warm atmosphere created by their friendly staff. Their approachable nature instantly instills a sense of trust, reassuring you that you have found the perfect place to begin your programming adventure.I have only one piece of advice: place your trust in the expertise and experience of the Northcoders team, and they will undoubtedly guide you towards success. With their guidance, you can rest assured that you are on the right path to acquiring the essential skills you need.

I was interested in doing the course as I want a career change. I have been doing the training course for a while now and have decided that the training platform is not good enough. I personally think that it generally tells you things but doesn't offer anywhere near enough explanation. I do wonder why the company doesn't provide its own training platform.

The best educational experience I have ever had. By a lot. A LOT.The staff are amazing and the support available is brilliant. I really didn't expect the level of staff allocation we got.The structure of the course has clearly been continuously refined over the years and they're responding and acting on feedback and changes in industry.Ultimately you will need to put the effort in to get the most out of it (as you'd expect). Myself and most of the people I made friends with have gone on to have high paying junior roles in tech.I did some freecodecamp over the years prior but this really gives you the drive and resources to really make the career change.

NorthCoders is a great course provider. They are super supportive and inclusive environment in which learn code. Got a new tech job two months after the course!

I graduated from the Developer Pathway at Northcoders just over a year and a half ago, having previously been working in IT support. I'd highly recommend the course to anyone looking to start a career in software development. The teaching staff were great and offered plenty of support. I learned a lot in a short time - more than I did in years at university - made a lot of new friends and really enjoyed the experience. I found a job at a software consultancy shortly after graduating and have been there since. The work I do now is incredibly fulfilling and I'm grateful to Northcoders for helping me find a career I love, I just wish I'd done it sooner!

Northcoders is - without any doubt at all in my mind - the best professional education I've ever done in my career. I was a little nervous coming into the programme in my 40's because I thought it would be full of teens and twenty-somethings and I'd be out of my depth and comfort zone. That fear couldn't have been further from the truth. From day one, hour one it was absolutely clear how inclusive and diverse the cohort and trainers were. My biggest regret having completed the training is not discovering Northcoders earlier.The structure of the course can feel a little strange at first, layering new learning on top of what you've learned the day before. At the time, I found parts of the first couple of weeks frustrating and I beat myself up a bit on the progress I might have been making. But when you look back later in the course, you realise you actually understand way more than you did at the time. The key thing to remember is this: it's a model that works tremendously well and has done for thousands of graduates. Trust the process. Trust the knowledge layering. Trust the practice katas and the pair programming opportunities. The mentor support is first class and very empathetic. It's a huge help and reassurance that so many of the mentors have come through the bootcamp themselves, so they totally understand the learner's perspective every day, every week and can relate their experiences at that point to yours. The value of this is huge.I cannot recommend this programme highly enough to anybody considering a shift (big or small) to a career in software development. The return on 3 months time investment will last a lifetime.

The support I was given was great, I was provided with one-on-one and group support for the entire course via Slack and Zoom. I believe this is what helped me get through the course and kept motivation up. The tutors were very experienced in the field and were able to provide excellent feedback on all the work quickly. The mentoring team was also very helpful in ensuring we were fully prepared for each task.The course was really helpful in preparing me for finding work as I was provided with a lot of information about what you should be prepared for when starting the job search after finishing the course. This included lectures about personal branding, creating a resume, and preparing tailored cover letters. I believe this really encouraged me to prepare effectively as I was really worried about finding a job straight after finishing the course, but the preparation really put my mind at ease.I would encourage anyone thinking about applying to Northcoders to not be afraid of taking the first step. The process of applying was really easy and the mentors were really supportive as well, so I believe that with the right attitude and a bit of effort anyone could complete the course and start a career in tech. I would further encourage people who don't have a lot of tech experience to not worry about that either, the course is really good at preparing you no matter what your background is.

Avoid. I attended Northcoders a few years ago, drank the cool-aid and spent £6000 on the course. Graduated with flying colours, but not a single job vacancy when I left. Eventually, I was thrown off their job portal for requesting feedback exactly a year after graduating. I felt scammed and 6k out of pocket.

Their data engineering bootcamp feels like a simple money-grab. Half of the time is spent learning JavaScript, a language which is fundamentally useless as a data engineer - they do this so they can save money by piling you in with the people doing the regular Web Dev bootcamp. Then when you get to the data-engineering part of it, none of the so-called mentors seem to have any actual experience being data engineers. In the end, a good Udemy course worth £15 is a better learning tool in my opinion, don't let these people waste your time.I will say that that their web-dev bootcamp seems okay though.