Founders and Coders

I had an amazing experience at Founders & Coders. Undoubtedly, it was a challenge to absorb so much information and to learn so many new things in such a short space of time, but I think more than just the hard skills that you learn in the place, what... Read More serves you even more as an engineer or as anyone going into tech/startups after the course, is the attitude of collaborating and supporting your team members. Founders & Coders helps to create and engender a culture of teamwork, communication and cooperation which has served me excellently in the years since the course. I would wholeheartedly recommend this school to anyone who has aspirations of learning to code and getting into tech.

Founders and Coders (FAC) have a list of prerequisites which at first might seem daunting to a beginner but it helps whittle down the list of candidates that are truly committed to becoming a Software Developer. FAC will be there to help support you at... Read More every step of the way to ensure you complete all the prerequisites. Another advantage of the prerequisites is that all 16 students can hit the ground running on day one. FAC have a full-stack curriculum which comprises of the latest technologies all of which are highly in demand. With regards to the environment, FAC fosters one of cooperation and pair-programming, this ensures no one gets left behind when struggling with a particular topic. Furthermore FAC provides students with the confidence and skills to learn other technologies after the course is complete; which is essential when entering your first role. FAC has a wide range of hiring partners so whether you are interested in the charity sector, start-ups or something a little more corporate; FAC will be able get you in front of the right organisation for you. With the prerequisites, values based on cooperation, ever-growing-community and excellent curriculum; FAC is undoubtedly the best Software Developer Bootcamp in London. I am incredibly grateful to have been selected onto FAC cohort 16, I have made life-long friends and found a career I love. If you want to become a Software Developer and are considering FAC, do not hesitate for a second and apply!

Founders and Coders is a truly amazing experience and education. A brilliant programme in how to code with a focus on building projects so you actually learn what you're doing and then compound that by teaching others. It is also the kindest community... Read More of humans where you can be comfortable being vulnerable about things you don't understand and there is no judgement or bad feelings. Just a group of lovely people working to give the best experience for everyone else around them. You will learn so much about team work and make a bunch of great friends in the process. Learning to code is hard - there is no way around that. But everyday at founders and coders was a joy and I look back at the whole experience as such a happy event in my life. I wanted to take a job after but actually managed to build the MVP of an app I'd been excited to build for ages and managed to get funding and am now a funded tech entrepreneur thanks to the skills and confidence I learnt on the programme.

I've rarely worked with more interesting and passionate people. The staff team and current students are actively involved in supporting applicants to complete the tough pre-course material, and graduate volunteers lead on delivering the curriculum. The... Read More founder puts all of his energy into levering his vast hiring network to offer some of London's most interesting tech jobs, at every level, focusing on the 'social tech' space. This eco-system of paying it forward from day 1 is how Founders and Coders remains free at point of entry, and builds a great sense of community that lasts long after graduation. In our course, there were over 50 volunteers from half a dozen previous cohorts to teach us what we needed to get our first web development jobs. Most importantly, we learned to work with each other in stressful situations, we learned to gain perspective, to say yes to ideas we don't agree with, to challenge ourselves to leave our comfort zones, and we became better people in the process. Whilst the course isn't for everyone, and reading negative reviews here you can see why they didn't enjoy the emphasis on progressive attitudes and peer-led learning, this school and this experience is one of London's hidden gems and well worth looking into before spending £10k elsewhere.

Founders and Coders is much more than a bootcamp.
My experience with it was great and am really happy I went through it.

Beside the fact that in 16 weeks you will be able to get a job as a software developer, u will be part of
a great community where everyone... Read More is just great.

Founders and Coders is a coding bootcamp that is the perfect springboard to jump into the world of coding.

What sets FAC apart from the other bootcamps is the level of support. Since the prerequisites that need to be completed before applying are tough... Read More and the course is highly selective, it has resulted in a community of people who are the best of the best. The beauty of FAC is the people who are always ready to help, and I’ve made many friends from FAC.

Over the four month course, I have learnt more than any other four months of my life. It is an intense learning environment, one where it is best if you do not have anything else going on on the side. You need to be ready to be immersed in the bootcamp. Although at times it was mildly stressful, it was definitely worth it.

FAC has completely turned my career around. I managed to find a job in a small start up in a great place in London within half a month of finishing the course, where I’ve now been for about nine months and having a great time.

I would highly recommend FAC, it was so so worthwhile.

Founders and Coders is a 16 week bootcamp course, that ensures you develop the skills to become a software developer. The first eight weeks are focused on learning the principles of JavaScript (that can be applied to other programming languages), as well... Read More as using popular frameworks such as React and Express. This includes two days each week of mini projects in a group of four to put what was learnt into practice. The latter eight weeks are spent working on two four-week projects, one of which is for an actual client.

The curriculum is open source, mostly based on contributions from previous alumni, and is improved after each cohort based on Agile principles. There is a course facilitator that oversees the process, whilst for the first eight weeks there are mentors from the previous cohort to coordinate the self learning.

I would highly recommend the course - it teaches you the technical as well as the personal skills required to become a software developer. Being able to learn in a safe environment, with support from your peers and the mentors, was invaluable. Although it was intense, and a lot of information to take in, it was definitely a rewarding experience. Our cohort also became a close knit group that still meet quite often as well!

Founders and Coders provided me with the groundwork to pursue my career in the tech industry, and I will always be grateful that I was welcomed into such an amazing community.

To summarise it in a few words: a sheer waste of time.

The course is simply not properly taught and I would have better used my money on some udemy classes. At least they are done by professionals, not by improvised mentors that just finished the same... Read More course a few weeks before us and often had no real work experience, while following an old curriculum.

Reporting problems is more or less meaningless, they are just blinded by their own political views (read: radical feminism in its most dogmatic form) and as long as they make sure that you donate (because you have to, they put it on paper - it is not free, that is just another lie!) and do not ruin their image, they are fine with things as they are.

And I do not say that without evidence: our cohort was a major shipwreck (lot of people not finishing it due to poor selection process, just to get a class going and get some funding, I would say), but still on twitter they keep celebrating the alleged "success" of the campus without any speck of shame.

Oh, no, wait: if you object and complain too much, you can forget to work in their small projects for a very cheap pay. Well, thanks, but no thanks.

Avoid this trap, don't repeat my mistake!

An amazing experience, I couldn’t recommend it enough.

Firstly for the sense of community whilst learning. Students are expected to support fellow students during the course, and you also contribute through hosting meetups for new coders and through mentoring.... Read More There really is a sense of being 'in it together' which makes the whole thing really enjoyable!

The course material was fresh and current, largely because Founders & Coders is based on an iterative model - each cohort of students feeds back on the syllabus and the experience as a whole, so the course is updated & improved each time. As a student the learning is mostly focused on ‘learning by doing’ (workshops and coding challenges, as well as a weekly group project). Don’t expect to be spoon fed, but do expect to learn valuable skills for a developer, i.e. *how* to learn new skills, how to research new technonlogies, and how to work in a team.

Another point of difference from other bootcamps is that for your final project you work with a real client, usually a charity. This is great on your CV as employers appreciate candidates with client experience, and of course it’s fantastic to help out a charity by solving a real-world problem with your newly-learned tech skills!

I am a graduate of Founders and Coders and I can honestly say it is one of the best things I have been a part of.

The curriculum is ever evolving determined by current trends in tech. Topics during our cohort included accessibility, Node, Express, relational... Read More databases, React, authentication. We consolidated our knowledge through weekly projects, which also helped hone our skills in pair-programming, TDD, code reviews, team retrospectives and the Git work flow; all assets in the professional environment.

Not only do you come out with these skills; you also become part of the Founders and Coders community. This was the main selling point for my decision to attend Founders and Coders. All alumni and students go above and beyond to ensure everyone feels welcome, and are more than willing to help out when asked.

One last (and in my opinion the most important) thing about Founders and Coders; it prides itself in diversity and accessibility. My cohort was made up of 75% women. All in our cohort come from a variety of professional backgrounds and are of varying ages. It’s also free.

A truly remarkable boot camp that I would recommend to all without hesitation.