DevelopMe_

I am currently one week into my new job that I secured after completeing the 12-week Bootcamp courrse in Bristol with DevelopMe and I couldn't be happier.

Choosing to study on this Bootcamp was the best choice I ever made, and I feel so lucky to have got on it. The people who run DevelopMe_ are really good people, they work hard to get you the best placement possible, and always have your best interests at heart.

The course is definitely very intense, but I loved every week, even when I struggled which was most of the time. We had a different teacher for each subject, which was normally every 1-2 weeks, and they were incredibly intelligent, knowledgeable and accomplishd professionals in the industry. I felt very lucky to be getting their expertise and advice each week.

This course is perfect for anyone who has looked at some tutorials or challenges online and feels addicted already! It's definitely an advantage to studay outside of the normal working hours too. But all the hard work paid off, DevelopMe_ set me up with 6 interviews at different companies, and I had a few offers which I had to choose between - I had never been in this position before in my former working life, and although really hard to choose, obviously I was so happy.

Now in my new job, my colleagues and team are so lovely and helpful, really generous with their time, and I feel as though DevelopMe_ has given me a life-long passion for learning more. From the first moment I decided to join this Bootcamp I've had no regrets I would recommend this course to everyone that is interested in programming!

I was looking for a way to get into web development and after deciding to forgo a three-year Computer Science degree (which would have been a lot more expensive and time-consuming) I decided to go for the DevelopMe full-stack  fellowship after attending a taster evening. I had little to no experience in development or programming , but the quality of tutoring and materials covered during the intensive 3-month course brought me up to speed to comfortably work with most of the most popular and relevant development tools and frameworks available today including but not limited to HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, MySQL, Laravel, Wordpress and Drupal. 

Learning in a relaxed and creative environment  of the Paintworks HQ, made the fellowship a breath of fresh air, as there are no stuffy lecture rooms and the class sizes are kept to a smaller, more cohesive groups. This allows for more attention paid to each student group and easier to collaborate and socialise with other students. The Job support has been great and I managed to secure an internship with one of DevelopMe's partner companies.  As part of the fellowship, the mentorship programme matches up each student with industry specialists to act as mentors and help with any questions about the world of development and give career advice. The only thing that potential candidates need to be aware of that this is an intensive course and requires a lot of effort and extra reading to make the most of the material. It is recommended to attend one of the taster sessions to see what the course is about and get to know the tutors in person.

The fellowship has definitely been a life-changing experience and I recommend it to anyone looking to make a career- switch into the world of web development!

I came from another country then moved to the UK; did a different job for more than a decade then decided to pursue something that both terrified and intrigued me: web development. It took years of hesitation and then I finally made the jump--- and that jump was the biggest, yet the most rewarding and one of the best life choices I have ever made.

I migrated from the Philippines and worked as an intensive care nurse for the NHS for a good number of years when I realised I have not abandoned that desire to study web development. If there is something I always see in my (previous) line of work, it's that you need to be able to live life fully because we only live once. I then looked for schools that can teach me web development, there are a a couple but I decided to go with DevelopMe's Coding Fellowship. It is a 12-week, full-time, in-person, hands-on full-stack web development course taught in Bristol. They certainly knew what they were doing. Lessons were taught by really good teachers-- really seasoned developers who knew how to impart that experience & knowledge to other people; complete beginners. They taught the "trinity" of front-end web development: HTML, CSS (and SASS) and JS (my favourite week EVER). And there were really solid back-end stuff and other technologies: PHP, React + Redux, Laravel, Git, WordPress and Drupal. It was never easy, but I was never alone. I felt overwhelmed-- but I felt supported. Our class size was small (9 students), and was taught closely since we were only 9. We even had a mentor each, and my mentor helped me a lot when I want to clarify some concept I encounter in the classroom (usually when I wrote so fast I can't understand my own handwriting!). I asked every newbie question, made every newbie coding blunder imaginable yet I found that they were always there to guide me and my classmates. 12 weeks seems a lot but it really goes by quite quickly. And they make sure to do weekly 1-on-1 sessions as to how we were coping, feedback on the lesson and the teacher for that week, and feedback from our teacher as to how we are progressing. Those sessions gave me an insight as to how I can learn and cope better: and it truly consolidated my learning.

DevelopMe has given me that initial foundation to be able to drive myself in a career direction I never thought possible. With their help, I managed to do a 3 month paid internship in a healthcare digital agency and I have found that healthcare and web development can exist in one package-- and I found my dream niche. I have then left in order to move to Manchester and I carry with me every single thing they taught me. The entire experience taught me how to code, and I also learned to persevere, and to remember that I can help other people in an entirely different perspective now. I could not thank them enough for the entire experience.

Coming from a Tech Recruitment background I was looking for a way to get into the world of Web Development and coding but with very little idea of how to go about it. The Coding Fellowship provided me with exactly what I was looking for.

The course covers the full stack of the most current and widely used languages and technologies from HTML, CSS and Javascript through PHP and MySQL and relevent frameworks like Angular and Ionic. The teaching from day one was exceptional. I was part of a small class of very inexperienced wide-eyed students feeling more than a little bit daunted about what lay ahead. Thankfully, every one of the teachers we had pitched the syllabus at the perfect level for us. The small class size meant that it felt like being taught one on one and we all got a huge amount of contact time. The teachers were all highly experienced industry professionals with a wealth of knowledge. They had clearly spent a huge amount of time planning each day of teaching for us and as a result we all picked up even the most complex concepts on the course.

Outside of the classroom we were all paired up with an industry mentor who we were encouraged to meet on a fortnightly basis. These meetups provided me with a further source of learning and a person outside of the classroom to challenge me and help me to understand what I was trying to get out of the course and what I wanted from my future career. Furthermore there are a huge number of social tech meetups in the Bristol area that DevelopMe gives you a list of an encourages you to attend on a weekly basis. These gave us all opportunties to meet likeminded people and write code with others to advance our learning.

Now that I have completed the Coding Fellowship I am about to begin a 3 month work placement with a local tech company. DevelopMe set up interviews for all of us at the end of the course and took us through interview prep before we attended them. This support meant that I was well prepared for the interviews and ended up being offered a place at my number one choice. I would highly recommend the Coding Fellowship for anyone looking to make the move into the world of Web Development. Whilst the course is a substantial investement of both money and time I can honestly say that I would not be where I am today without DevelopMe!

As a 34 year old teacher and musician looking for a new direction, the Coding Fellowship was attractive as it promised a focused, streamlined route into the web development industry. Having increasing time commitments, a year long course seemed an impossibility, and unjustifiable without the eventual promise of work and a return on the investment.

The course was highly stimulating and challenging. The Coding Fellowship covers the full stack, with everything from HTML, CSS and Javascript to PHP and MySQL, content management systems such as Wordpress and Drupal and frameworks such as AngularJS and Laravel. The instructors included some of the most clear thinking and smart people I’ve ever encountered, who were able to challenge us conceptually as well as advise us more practically, drawing on their long experience of the industry. It seems that there is a commitment to remaining relevant to the industry as, comparing notes with previous and current students, the content of the course seems to change with each cohort.

Most impressively, the level of support that each of us received was of a quality that I’ve not experienced in education before. The class size was small which meant that the teachers were able to get to know us, individually and as a group, and pitch the content to our needs and strengths. We had weekly one-to-ones with the team and I felt that any feedback I had was welcome, encouraged and taken on board. We were also given industry mentors who were keen to meet and share their experience - a nice touch.

Aside from coding, we were given practice at the daunting world of technical interviews. Following the course, Developme organised four interviews with local companies, all of which I felt well prepared for and it seemed I was well received. I’m now three weeks into my first job in the industry and, although it’s a challenge and there’s a long road to becoming an expert, I feel well prepared and able to tackle the majority of problems put my way. Most importantly, I’m loving the work and excited to continue learning. The Coding Fellowship is without doubt a significant commitment of time, energy and money but is a decision that - I’m pleased to report - is proving to have been an excellent one.

Having dropped out of uni, not liking my degree, I thought a coding course would be the best option, partly out of interest and partly to find a career direction. Even if you don't have any experience, by the end of the course everyone felt they were confident when it came to programming/coding. I couldn't of wished for a better cohort of teachers and students. This is an intensive course, so be prepared to work, but the results are rewarding. I would definitly recommend developMe to anyone who wants to get into the industry.  

If you're looking to get into web development starting from scratch, this is the course for you. It has excellent tuition, a great and varied curriculum, and sets you up with a paid placement at the end of the course to gain that invaluable experience needed to kick start your career. This is a very intensive course, and if considering enrolling you should be prepared to work extremely hard over the 12 week period out get the best out of it. 

Overall, this has been a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get in to web development.

If you're interested in becoming a web developer and are ready to work hard this course will suit you perfectly. I came into this course looking for a total career change so I could start working in a new and interesting field. I had zero experience in web development but knew it would be something that would suit me. The course is intense and fast paced but if you focus and put in some hard work you will get a lot out of it. The teaching was delievered by industry experts and was of a high standard. There were plenty of opportunities to ask questions, get advice and we got lots of material to work with. Pete and Oli, the course directors were always there to help and I found that they were incredibly supportive and helpful when I needed a bit more guidance. After three months of intense learning we are now all starting or about to start our placements. I think the best thing about this course is that after just three months you will have an opportunity to be in a working environement where you can learn more and get work experience which is incredibly valuable. It was a big risk for me to step away from my old career and start something so new in an intensive learning setting but I am so glad I did it. I feel it has set me up for a successful new career in something I actually enjoy and all of that in such a short amount of time! I'm really happy I did this course and highly recommend it. 

Oli & Pete have really thought through all the elements of this course to ensure that its members feel supported in their entry to the 'real-world' of web development: the mentoring system; the weekly feedback; the work placement; and the fact that each course tutor was currently working in their chosen field and therefore able to offer genuine insight into contemporary 'pro' tools and tricks, meant that despite the course's relative brevity its effectiveness at preparing its students for a career in web development has felt incredibly strong. 

Would thoroughly recommend to anyone looking to move quickly into this field!

Upon completing the coding fellowship I feel very confident that I made the right decision.
The course has delivered everything I wanted and more, All the instructors were very knowledgable, approachable and more than willing to help.

The course directors Oli and Pete know how intense the course can be and regularly check up on you, and make sure you’re heading in the right direction, they’re also constantly looking for feedback which shows they really care about you as a student and the course overall.

The location and studying environment couldn’t be better, with the opportunity to take a time out on the ping pong table when you need switch off for 5 minutes.

I started the course with a small amount of knowledge in HTML, CSS and Javascript. I have since started my work placement and feel confident putting into practice everything I have learnt on the course.

Being assigned a Mentor who is a professional in the industry also offers a great learning experience and really helps to be able to ask about the industry and the different roles available to developers.

I would recommend this course to anyone who is serious about becoming a web developer and is eager to get into the industry. Overall fantastic experience.

A little update following my completion of this course in July 2016...

After just two months of proving my skills at my paid work placement (organised by Pete from DevelopMe_) I was offerered a permanent position by the company in October thus completeing my transition to a professional web developer within 6 months, even seeing off competition for the role from recent university graduates with computer science degrees!

As further proof of the relevancy, breadth and depth of the course content, all of my peers from the Spring 2016 cohort are also working in the industry (bar one who had a baby!), each of us using a variety of languages and frameworks covered during the twelve short weeks.

Well done us! Well done DevelopMe_!

Attending Develop Me’s Coding Fellowship was a great decision.

The instructors are excellent and have a deep knowledge of each of the topics they are teaching. Being able to talk through your coding with someone that is so experienced really is invaluable.

A lot of the course content is based on real- world projects which was extremely useful as pretty much everything that was taught was of real value.

Oli and Pete, the course directors, are very helpful and supportive throughout and do an excellent job of structuring each week. They are also keen to get you involved in the many meet-ups and after work events that happen around Bristol.

I have recently started my placement with a Bristol- based company and have so far found the areas learnt in the course to be very relevant to say the least! I'm also enjoying the culture change with the company which is a million miles away from my previous job.

All in all, I can fully recommend the Coding Fellowship- it delivers on every aspect.

I can’t believe how far I have come thanks to DevelopMe_. I had no prior experience whatsoever but now I am coding every day!

The course provides you with a solid base of full-stack knowledge, giving you the confidence to build on new skills and concepts in your own time. It also opens your eyes to what can be achieved. At times you will feel overwhelmed, frustrated and disheartened but keep the faith, you will not regret it.

Weekly quizzes, meet-ups, one-to-ones, paired coding & self-learning are all valuable parts of the course. I also really enjoyed working on real-world projects and picking up those golden nuggets of information that you may not get elsewhere. 

Oli, Pete and the instructors were there for me when I needed their help and advice. It is also comforting to know that they will be there for me as I progress in my placement/career. 

All the instructors were enthusiastic and very keen to share their knowledge. They all knew when to push us but also when we needed a break. The lessons were well structured and the curriculum provides you with enough variety to help you decide which languages/technologies you would like to pursue further.

The placement offering is fantastic and if you make the most of it you will see the benefits. I also had a mentor which is a great addition to this course. My mentor gave up their free time to support me and provide me with valuable insight to life working as a developer. 

Overall, I am extremely proud to be associated with Develop Me and I would highly recommend this course to anyone looking to start a career as a developer. The founders know what they are doing and are professional and insightful. If you commit to this course 100% you will get a lot out of it. 

Al also deserves a mention. He’s a lovely guy!

I had no prior knowledge of coding and I now feel confident enough to start building my own sites. Thanks to the Coding Fellowship I’m really excited to kick start my career as a developer.

The instructors are all respected Bristol developers in their own rights and this really helps with motivation through 12 tough weeks of full time learning.

All the projects throughout the course felt applicable to the real world whilst giving good structure and direction to the learning.

I was very impressed with the course content considering this was only the second run. I'm sure DevelopMe_ will continue to improve the quality of content even further.

I would reccomend this course to anyone looking for a very solid coding foundation. The help we recieved in getting a work placement is an amazing bonus and I'm looking forward to starting my internship at Bristol agency next month.

I have recently completed the DevelopMe course in December 2016 and will be starting my placement in January. I have found the whole experience very rewarding, it has provided me with the knowledge that I will need to start my career within web development. The 12 week course can be challenging at times but a lot of support is provided, either through assigned mentors or the instructors themselves.

There is a lot of variation on the course, a lot of different languages/frameworks are taught. I think this is very valuable as it allowed me to find what I enjoy and therefore gave me an idea of what I would pursue and focus on.

I am very glad that I decided to do the course and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in the industry.

Attending the DevelopMe Coding Fellowship was a great experience. 

I joined the first cohort in the last months of my pregnancy with the hope to gain new skills just before the start of my maternity leave. The training was high-paced, but we were receiving a great amount of support from our tutors. Over 12 weeks we had a chance to practice different technologies. The tutors were very helpful and flexible enough to accommodate me doing the last few weeks online from the comfort of my home office. I'm glad of my choice and would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn web development. 

I can't wait for my work placement to put all the new skills I gained into practice. 

Taking DevelopMe's coding fellowship course was a very, very good decision.

I'm 46 and for over twenty years I've had a very different career from web-development. I'd reached a point in my life where I wanted to train to do something different. The time and cost of a university course really didn't appeal to me. I wanted an intense, compressed, skills-based programme that would prepare me to become a junior web-developer. 

DevelopMe delivered superbly on all requirements. 

I am now placed with an international company working with drupal, PHP, AngularJS, HTML5 and CSS3. Thanks to the broad nature of DevelopMe's programme I had touched on all of these languages before starting my job-placement. 

The speed of the coding fellowship and the quantity of information will fry your brain at times, but it's worth every headache. I recommend this programme whole heartedly.  

When I heard about what Develop Me were trying to do with the Coding Fellowship I was already excited for them. I was living in Brighton at the time and had no immediate ambitions of leaving. However, the more I learnt about the curriculum and the experts they were getting in, to teach specific modules on the course, the more I realised I couldn’t miss out or delay my decision. We’re now 8 weeks into a 12 week course and I couldn’t be happier with my decision to sign up.

The course and content races along and I’ve learned more in these past two months than I could have taught myself in 2 years. We’re still encouraged to teach ourselves (in the evenings/weekends and solving our own problems before asking for help) but when you know you can get the answer at a moment’s notice it’s not nearly as frustrating. This is a vital skill in becoming a successful web developer and they play the balance just right.

The location and general atmosphere also contribute to a great working environment. The relaxed setting takes the pressure off all the learning, and breaks in the morning and afternoon free you up to play some makeshift table tennis should you wish. I can’t yet comment on the work experience placements but having met two of the three companies involved, I can admit I have high hopes.

Each has its own unique identity, giving us and them the best opportunity of finding a great match and hopefully a continued relationship, maybe even a career. Along with these contacts we have each been given a mentor, as someone to confide in, share our experiences with and learn from. So far my mentor has shown a genuine enthusiasm to get involved with my journey and to offer help along the way. As with every other element on this course, a great deal of attention has been put in to give us the best platform to succeed.