Full Stack Track

Like many people, over the last year I decided I wanted to re-train and do something that felt more stimulating and challenging. I've spent most of my working life being the unofficial resident tech support person, so it seemed a natural progression to formalise things and actually learn what makes the internet work.I quit my job in February and was accepted into iO Academy with a scholarship to complete their four month Full Stack Track course. I had an incredible time learning the ropes with my remote scrum team (the Mountain Goats) and am so grateful to all of the trainers and staff who made 8 hours of Zoom a day feel like a breeze!The academy teaches the fundamentals of programming which means that I have the confidence and knowledge to apply this learning to any languages that weren't covered on the course. The curriculum is comprehensive, there were plenty of challenges and stretch goals, and the balance between theory and project work kept things interesting. Overall, I would encourage anyone considering applying to a coding bootcamp to give iO a go!

Absolutely fantastic. From amazing teachers and supporters to outstanding and indepth content. I couldn't believe how much I have learnt within 16 weeks and how far I have come. My tutor was incredible and very knowledable and he is still available to answer any questions I might have, help out or just give me a boost of confidence when needed. The course provided me with a knowledge that gave me a strong foundation to build my career upon.The course was very intense and coding focused, so I would recommend it to anyone who is sure that being a software engineer is what they want to do (even with no previous experience).

After 14yo in the music industry I decided to take a massif step in my life by continuing an old dream of mine, Which was to become a software engineer.iO Academy Helped me archiving that goal with an incredible support and kindness. I got offer 4 jobs before the end of the school and got the chance to pick and choose ! So technically the school help me to get a job in 15 weeks out of the 16 weeks of school !If you are like me and want to change your life around and start a career in web development do not think twice !At first glance the school seems very expensive but if you start to do some research you will quickly realise that iO offer on of the best Curriculum concerning full stack development.Regarding the fees there is funding available, the size of the class is perfect 8 peoples maximum, which for me this was one of the main point.8 peoples in a class allow you to get to know everyone and the more important the teacher is not overwhelm by 20 student and can then focus on each of the student.The curriculum is fantastic, the school make you aware of old way of doing thing but for the big part your are learning the industry standard of nowadays.Do not be afraid to make the big jump with them you will not regret it  ! 

I’ve always dreamed of having technical skills and becoming a developer. I wasn’t sure how and where to start until I found out about iO Academy and decided to join the bootcamp. It was the best decision I’ve ever made! You cannot believe how many things you can learn in such a short period of time (especially when you have amazing trainers but more on that later).The curriculum Is really well structured and it helps you build a solid foundation. The focus isn’t placed on learning a particular programming language (even though you pick up quite a few during the bootcamp) but more on logical thinking and understanding how to write best practice code regardless of the language used. Having a good understanding of the fundamentals puts you in a great position pick up other languages in the future.The course combines theory with project weeks where we worked as a group, following agile methodologies to complete awesome projects. Working as part of a team you also get a chance to develop your soft skills and learn how to collaborate with different people.The best part of the course is the people and building a bond with others going through the same journey. The trainers, students and everybody involved with iO Academy is really nice.Our trainer was Mike and he was the best trainer that I could have ever asked for. He was very supportive, always explaining things in a way that would make sense to you. Even after hours he was replying to any questions I had and was always there for us whenever we had down moments or doubting ourselves, offering reassurance and building our confidence.We also met Charlie, Ash and Neal who are some of the other trainers at iO and all of them were really nice and incredibly helpful.The support we received was not limited to the technical side. We had a lot of help with our job applications including writing CVs, cover letters, how to prepare for an interview and what are some of the challenges that come up during an interview.In the final week of the bootcamp I had numerous interviews and in the week after finishing the bootcamp I had already received a job offer.For me the iO Academy bootcamp was the best experience of my life and I’ll always be grateful because it helped me get my dream job. The only bad thing about the bootcamp is that it comes to an end!

I looked at quite a few bootcamps before deciding on iO Academy; the two main reasons were the size of the classes (8 people) and a shining recommendation from someone who went there and whose opinion I trusted. It was a slight risk because I live in London and imagined that any connections made in the industry afterwards might all be based in Bath and be less useful for me, however I now know it was a risk worth taking.The support at iO is amazing; Mike is a fountain of knowledge and there's a real community spirit to everything that's done (which is no mean feat considering our cohort were fully remote!). The only thing I would have liked to have done differently is to have done it in person, so if you get the opportunity to do this go for it. In terms of job prospects, I had around 5 interviews before the course was even complete, which culminated in two job offers and I'm now starting my first job as a junior developer 2 weeks after graduating.If you like small family vibes with genuinely good quality, conscious teaching then this is the place for you.

Enrolling iO Academy was the best decision I have ever made. The curriculum and the teaching is very solid and the support received from Mike, head of the school, is surreal. Nothing was too much trouble for him and would help you with the questions at any time even after hours. The most important thing is that we all got job offers from various companies towards the end of the bootcamp. Many thanks iO Academy for helping me to achieve my dream!

The course at iO Academy has enabled me to transition from a completely unrelated career into tech. Before the course I was an estate agent and had very little coding experience - 5 months later and I have received multiple job offers from really exciting companies. Something I never thought possible beforehand. If you are worried that you may not have any relevant experience, or your technical skills aren't up to scratch, then don't be. This is what you are paying for - and iO will bring you up to speed. Companies you interview for after the course care about your passion, enthusiasm and current skills far more than previous employment. The curriculum is curated to give you a solid foundation from which to specialise further. It also caters to different skill levels and the trainers manage to keep those more advanced busy by supplying them with 'stretch goals'. You are exposed to a multitude of different technologies encompassing the full web-development life cycle. This means that you discover more about what you enjoy and the type of position you might choose after the course. In one interview I had, the interviewer mentioned that he was impressed by how much the course covered. The certified Scrum Master certification is a huge competitive advantage as many companies adopt agile methodologies. The best part about the course though is the people, both trainers and fellow students. Firstly, your fellow students will go through the same meticulous process as you and this ensures that everybody has similar aspirations, despite coming from wildly different backgrounds. This creates a really fun, tight-knit group of people who are wishing for each other to succeed and will continue to be friends long after the course. Secondly, the trainers are all fantastic and are desperate for you to succeed. I was lucky enough to have Charlie for my course who completely made the experience for all of us. He was so welcoming, knowledgeable and encouraging and immediately put us all at ease. The type of bloke who is hard not to like and you want to go for a few pints with. Since the course has finished, he's helped me with job applications etc and really gone above and beyond. We were also lucky enough to be taught by Ash and Rayna and different stages of the course who were amazing and managed to fill Charlie's big shoes. Shout out also to Margaret and Sophie who helped with everything from the onboarding process to editing my CV. Overall, an incredible opportunity which will genuinely change your career trajectory in a matter of months. The 4 months is intense, but you will make friendships and massively improve your technical skills. Afterwards, the world's your oyster. 

The Full Stack Track really gives you a an applied & focussed learning experience, providing you with all the tools needed to become a software developer. They teach you important principles to guide you to writing professional code, introduce you to important & modern frameworks & importantly help you learn the necessary soft skills for being a great dev team member. Everyone picks up the content/skills very fast due to the well designed course & the patient, knowledgable & friendly trainers. If the cost looks like a lot to you, please know that you will get your money's worth through the 9-5 attention of your team's trainer, the extra assistance in preparing yourself for job-seeking & the numerous guest lectures you will receive on a myriad of related topics.

Enrolling in the iO Academy Full Stack Track is one of the best decisions I've made. I couldn't have felt more supported over the past 16 weeks by the team at iO and highly recommend to anyone looking to start a career as a developer.

Overall iO boto camp course was excellent,  they offered an incredibly well-structured curriculum that always kept an eye on employability and real-world skills.  Weekly guest lectures gave a sense of the breadth of employment possibilities and project weeks gave a real sense of working on existing codebases and delivering the product within the scrum framework. A slight overfocus on front end web development stuff and we didn't get onto the exciting React stuff until right at the end but other wise perfect.during the course I had an accident that required emergency spinal surgery that meant I took a couple of weeks off to recover. After this, Mike the head of the school, gave me one on one tuition to get me back up to speed. I felt this went above and beyond in terms of student support and made finishing the course despite my accident possible. Incredible levels of care and attention paid to students. 

The teaching at iO Academy is truly superb. The content builds very clearly and the instructors are fantastic at adapting to the skill level and competency of each student. The instructors really take the time to explain concepts to you so you at no point feel left behind. As part of the bootcamp there is support with CV writing and interview preparation and the post-graduation support was also incredible. I am so grateful for everything iO Academy has done for me.

I am so glad that I took this course! I had no previous coding experience or technical background, so this was a huge switch of mental focus for me. But the support we received during and even after the training is incredible. The atmosphere is very community - like and welcoming. The trainers are amazing - very knowledgeable, approachable and supportive. They are also the most patient people you may ever, ever meet. If I had teachers like that as a teenager, I would be a different person today! I couldn't have chosen better place to start a new career. I am endlessly grateful for the encouragement I received - that definitely helped me to believe in myself and my abilities.My group started in person and moved remote after a few weeks but it wasn't a problem at all. iO Academy team adapted really well to these circumstances and I found learning on - line even easier. The course is very intense at times but it is manageable and we were actively encouraged to look after ourselves, take our breaks and use our weekends for rest. Trainers are also very adaptable and responsive to any issues or struggles you may experience. I become quite easily overwhelmed and I did it, which means you can do it too! I would advice starting preparing for the course as soon as you can - the more you already know, the easier it will be. And taking good notes is also important, as they become handy after the training, when you realize you need to go over it all again!

If you're debating joining iO Academy, do it! it's the best decision I've ever made. The training and support is great and they really help prepare you for your first role as a developer. And the support continues even after finishing the course, helping with any coding problems and searching for jobs. I started the course in person and after a few weeks got moved to being remote which I was dreading but it was actually even easier than in person. Can't recommend the academy enough! I got a job a week after graduating and am excited to begin my career as a developer.

Having an established career already, it was a bit daunting to say the least to leave employment and retrain. However, the course at iO Academy has given me the best start to launch my new career that I could have hoped for. It was an amazing experience from the start and I honestly wouldn't change a thing.The course is structured really well, with a general format of one theory week followed by a project week to put your newfound knowledge into practice. You come out with a solid portfolio of work, which is probably the most valuable thing when starting as a new developer. As you might imagine, it is intensive and definitely hard-work at times. However the pace is achievable and the support is always there to help if you need it.The agile aspects are invaluable for those who haven't worked in a similar environment before, with the Scrum Master certification being a real bonus. There are also regular guest speakers which are really interesting and a great introduction to life in the industry and the dev community in general.I couldn't have asked for better trainers - they are really friendly and approachable, incredibly knowledgeable, excellent teachers, and always available and eager to help whenever needed. They are very conscious of continuous improvement, asking for feedback after each module. They also offer one-on-one chats (both planned and ad-hoc) where you can go through anything you need. The whole course is underpinned by an excellent office team, who do a great job at supporting students and trainers alike throughout.Learning remotely for the majority of the course wasn't a problem at all, in fact I think it actually worked better than it would have done in the classroom with social distancing.Towards the end of the course there are excellent job planning sessions, including support with CVs, interviews, tech tests, hiring partner events, recruiter contacts etc., which are essential to get the best start to the job hunt.Overall I am really pleased that I decided to go down the bootcamp route and wouldn't hesitate to do so again if I were to start over. It was an amazing experience throughout and I honestly wouldn't change a thing. I now am part of an ever-expanding alumni of like-minded individuals, who continue to provide opportunities as I start my career.I'm very happy I made the leap and couldn't/wouldn't have done it without the course - thanks to all at iO Academy!

I left my job in Sept 2020 (in the middle of Covid... perhaps not the soundest decision but it turned out very well!) to attend iO (or Mayden Academy, as it was named at that point. The name changed, nothing else!). Before iO: I did some research on coding generally, some short courses on Codecademy, some of the free tester sessions you can find online. I wanted to be as sure as I could be that I actually would *like* coding - nothing I saw put me off, so I started researching bootcamps in my area. I was optimistic that I would be able to find one I could attend in person (at this point we were in between lockdowns, it was summer and it sort of felt like that would be feasible... yeah, I know). Anyway I did a lot of reading reviews, lots of digging into old blogs and so on, and I interviewed at two bootcamps. I already had iO pegged as my favourite and the interview confirmed it. There was also an entrance "test" - I got really hung up on this beforehand but would reassure anyone reading not to get too worried. It's not the kind of test you can revise for, and if you're the kind of nerd who's considering a coding bootcamp, you're probably going to find it fun. I took it online, in my own time, and had my face-to-face informal interview later.During iO: We did actually start in person, which was really nice. We were masked and behind plexiglass, but still. We moved to remote working in week 4, I think. I was worried about it but honestly it was actually really easy, and working in pairs over zoom is actually much more intuitive than working in pairs through plexiglass..! So if your cohort look like they're going to be fully remote, don't worry. The course is intense. It is fast, and if you've been out of education for a while, like I had been, it might take some getting used to! I would advise you to do any and all of the prep work you get sent beforehand (I did it for about half an hour an evening for a month or so beforehand, just to get to grips with things). You do a week or two of theory, followed by a project week. The first couple of projects are solo (you can obviously ask for help and so on, but what you make is personal to you), and then the rest are group based. Programming in a group was probably the biggest learning curve for me; it was so not what  I was used to, but by the end our final project was something none of us could have achieved by ourselves, and we were all really proud. There are well-timed talks throughout the course from people in industry; these range from broad overviews of how certain companies work to fairly in-depth looks at how certain software works. Lots of the speakers are ex-students and it's really nice to see them and how happy they are in their work.After iO: Well, I'm only just after iO now, and I start my new job in two days! I had a few interviews during the final couple of weeks and the role I have accepted is a Masters degree apprenticeship - I do not have a computer science degree, I have a very doddery Film & Media degree from the dark ages, but in a couple of years I will be a software engineer with a masters degree! It would have been unthinkable to me this time last year, I'm thrilled. iO have lots of hiring partners within Bath / Bristol, and they will introduce you to whoever is hiring at the time you graduate. We graduated at Christmas, during covid lockdown, during a time when it is really hard to get work, and still had a handful of partners keen to interview us. Other notes? There were eight people in my class. We were all totally different in terms of learning styles; and all of us were accomodated. The size of the team means you get to know each other well and you get to learn how to work effectively with people who have different styles to you. It also means your tutor can take the time to give you each the individual support you need. 

I completed Mayden Academy with an apprenticeship scheme; it gave me all the core information I needed to graduate on the Friday and to start working on industry projects on the Monday. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience I had and would recommend it to anyone interested in fast-tracking their career in software development.

Excellent course with dedicated and helpful trainers. Even the switch to remote learning due to COVID-19 was seamless and the course retained its high standards. The whole team really goes above and beyond to help the students in any way necessary from learning to job hunting.

I joined Mayden Academy with some programming experience, but what I learnt over the past sixteen weeks really enhanced the basics.The team over at Mayden Academy teach you much more than how to program: how to work as a team, how to think like a developer, how to plan your work and much more. You are taught programming principles generically and not to the languages being taught, being made aware of any quirks that do not apply to other languages, allowing you to easily pick up a new programming language(s) after the course. Our cohort had to move online, due to COVID-19, this allowed us to learn skills around remote working and being online did not affect our ability to learn at all. The team are willing to chat and adapt at any point to discuss any needs or questions you have and are always there to support you along the way. There is not a single negative thing I can say about the team or the course.Mayden Academy has given me the confidence to work on applications without questioning my ability.

Like others have mentioned, I was sceptical reading these reviews as it seemed too good to be true, but it really is fab! I thoroughly enjoyed my whole Mayden Academy experience: the wonderful trainers and everyone helping to run the academy; the other students; the course content; the structure of the course (love the alternating project and theory weeks as it helps you solidify the concepts and build up a great portfolio); the small class sizes; and the great place you get to study. Overall I really enjoyed everything I leant and made some great friends; and even though I attended having barely written any code before and from a totally different career path it prepared my for my first developer job - thanks to the number of hiring partners the academy put you in touch with! Thank you Mayden Academy :)

I had a great time at Mayden Academy. The content is excellent, the staff and students are friendly, and the course is set up in such a way as to give you a good idea of what it is really like in a dev job.  The general principles of software writing are covered so that you don't have to fear learning other programming languages.