Code Institute

My journey with Code Institute has been nothing but positive. I started with the five-day coding challenge and was instantly hooked. I started the Full Stack Developer course with the full intention of making a career change, which I have been lucky enough... Read More to have achieved. The course is well-structured for somebody with zero experience, to give them the tools needed to create full stack web applications. On top of the technical know-how, there is a big focus on the factors required for actually landing a job, outside of the code itself. This involves factors such as LinkedIn, your CV and building up your software portfolio. There are multiple avenues of support, most notably the CI Slack group, which has channels catering to all aspects pertinent to the course and beyond. Code Institute offers something rare - a chance to grow and change your career with no downsides! I chose Code Institute to forward my career and would highly recommend it to anybody seeking a meaningful challenge.

I have been wanting to change my career for a while from being a chef working in kitchens. I started the course with not much of a background in IT or software development. The course became more challenging as the projects progressed. I found the learning... Read More content in the first three projects to be excellent, with challenges included in the units that really helped me understand the syntax before moving on to the next challenge. This gave me full confidence to build a project with all that was taught. However, in the 4th and 5th projects (more backend development, Django, Databases, Stripe), I found the content not to be as thorough. There were many videos to watch with lots of information thrown at you, and no challenges to learn and test the code. I would begin my 4th or 5th project being able to develop the front end easily but having to almost walk through the unit videos. It almost felt like I was copying the demo projects. I personally had to outsource a lot of learning content to help me understand the code properly. But, other than these few minor issues, the content is outstanding. I have to praise the student care team, though. They were absolutely brilliant for me. Unfortunately, at the time, I suffered a family event that made me unable to commit to the coursework. Student care understood and gave me study leave, so I could not thank them enough. My tutor, Tim, was also amazing. I was able to achieve higher grades with the insights and information he gave me and he was always there to help if I was stuck on an error. Overall, I highly recommend this course. For me, it has been a very good investment in my future.

This course is life changing for me. I had no background of IT and had not even seen a line of Code but after this course I had built various Websites. I was also able to get a job within 3 weeks after completion of course. I would love to thank Code... Read More Institute for such an awesome Team and Tutors to support me in achieving this success in life.

+ Great linear learning platform + Fast answers and amazing support both from Student care and Tutor support + Flexible time frame to fit career changers + Portfolio projects are great to show future employers + Good help after the course with the job... Read More hunt + Detailed feedback from assessors - A few inconsistencies in quality in a few modules

For me, the careers support provided by Code Institute is what persuaded me to sign up. This additional resource is not something you get with other learning institutions. There are regular webinars with career partners, and practical help provided by... Read More the careers team which is tailored to career pivoters to leverage their expertise and skills from previous career and life experience. The Full Stack Software Development course is thorough in its material, fully remote so accessible whenever the student best learns, and is so supported by a community of staff, alumni and peers that there is always someone available to help if (when!) you get stuck. I went from having only a little HTML experience to being able to build my own websites and collaborate on projects with other Software Developers in only a year!! The course is not easy and it is a huge time investment, but you get out of it what you put in. There is a steep learning curve after the first project as the principles of object oriented programming begins, but those solid building blocks of information build into a real understanding of coding very quickly. I was amazed at how I started thinking logically to solve problems and build projects. The course also taught me a great deal about time management in meeting tight-deadlines, how to search for and filter information, about how to ask for help, and how to structure problem statements to help other developers to understand what exactly I needed help with. I wholeheartedly recommend the course. Jump in, you won't regret it!

I've recently graduated from Code Institute's Diploma in Software Development specializing in E-Commerce. The course is very well laid out and very beginner-friendly in the first few modules. There's quite a learning curve as the course goes on with some... Read More sections not as fleshed out as the earlier sections with a bit of googling and side research required (not necessarily a bad thing as it's good prep for the real world). Luckily I had a bit of prior programming experience but I can see how this might throw a complete beginner off a bit. Some of the code-along walkthrough videos are dated with notes added to inform students of where their code should differ from the code in the video. Not a huge issue but it would have been nice to have some of the videos updated. Code Institute offers fantastic support through its tutoring team and mentorship program for students. The mentoring in particular was an amazing asset for me during my studies and going forward as a software developer. The Code Institute Slack community is also very helpful and I've made some very strong connections through it during my year of studying. They run monthly hackathons for students and alumni which is a great way to get to know your fellow students, learn more by doing, and experience working as part of a team. I would highly recommend Code Institute to anyone who is considering making the move toward a career in Software Development and is willing to put the work in to get there. It's not an easy course by any means and there are parts that require you to broaden your knowledge yourself but it is so incredibly rewarding in the end.

Pros - full stack, option to choose from specialisations for final project, 1-1 mentoring, career support (1-1 and webinars) Cons - learning material becomes much less interactive after the first module, little to no wellbeing support, 12 months is not... Read More enough time if completing the course part-time and have no prior experience in software development

This was a great course and I really enjoyed it. I spent a lot of time researching the course and then even more time considering whether or not I should enrol but it has been one of the best decisions I have made. I had already taken courses in HTML... Read More and CSS but was otherwise fairly new to any sort of programming. Consequently I found the HTML and CSS modules relatively straightforward but more in depth than anything I had done before. Inevitably, the course became more challenging as it went on, covering JavaScript and then Python. I chose the Advanced Frontend specialisation which I found hard going at times but the tutor support team were excellent and managed to solve most issues. I would really recommend calling on them for help if you get truly stuck. The Slack channels are also a really useful way to gain or share feedback from other students, alumni and tutors. There will be times when the course material might seem insufficient but I believe this is by design and it encourages you to use Google, official docs and just general research; something that is commonplace in the “real world”. Upon enrolling on the course you are assigned a mentor who will help your development and challenge you; reading comments by other students, I am clearly not alone in stating how invaluable mentor input is when it comes to navigating the projects and course material in general. My primary goal upon enrolling was to find a job as a software developer and (with a little luck) succeeded a few days before receiving my final grade. It’s entirely down to Code Institute and this course so would definitely recommend it.

I really enjoyed studying at Code Institute. Not only it have me the knowledge I need to apply for my first programming role, but it allowed me to be part of a fantastic community of programmers, where we motivate and help each other. This experience... Read More is something I could not find in any other course. Highly recommended.

I was able to do the course while working and running a family due to its flexibility and remote option. I had tutor support and the slack community to ask for help. The course content was voluminous for me. I found myself breezing through the course... Read More so I could submit my project on time. I guess I'd have preferred if it was a bit longer but overall it's worth thd time, money and energy.