Founders and Coders

Are you looking to become a great developer, but do not have previous experience in web development?
Do you want a great learning journey, and share it with a group of young people you'll soon be calling friends?

Founders & Coders is the answer!

Founders... Read More & Coders is not only incredibly good to learn Full-stack Web Development, it is a community you can rely on to keep on learning, and a place which feels like home.
You will learn from day1(!!) to build powerful websites. By the end of the course you will be highly confident building full-stack apps, whether in 1-2 day hackathons or over the span of several weeks. I am now a much better developer than I could have ever imagined when applying.

One of the key differences with other bootcamps is that the learning doesn't stop after the course! You have a community which supports you! I have just finished the 16th (and last official) week of the course and am looking at working immediately on customer projects as a freelancer with my friends from the course. We will carry on learning and exploring new technologies together, and have the support of the FAC community (the experienced developers who graduated before us).

Web development cannot be taught on a whiteboard and a set of manuals, so this calls for a very practical approach. F&C's learning method is very powerful and unique for three specific reasons: exploration, group work, peer-led learning.

Exploration
You will learn how to learn new topics, practicing every week. I cannot emphasize how important this is in tech, where new technologies will be coming up all the time! You will also never experience spoon-feeding, and grow as a learner as well as a developer.

Group work
I have learned more in 2 weeks working in groups, than in 3 months learning on my own! And it's been way more fun and rewarding! Working in groups and pair programming, you will support, push and help each other to do more and better and to keep learning.

Peer-led learning
It may not be clear right now (it wasn't for me at the start), but teaching is an invaluable way to learn... for you and for the FAC community. It's what makes the course FREE (I still cannot believe it is!!) for the students, and will consolidate your learning! It will also not take too much of your time as a teacher (it is perfectly compatible with working the rest of the day). I'm really excited to do that!

If you are still not convinced, here are some other great reasons why F&C is so good!
- Javascript is the future, and is probably the only language which alone can allow you to be good on frontend & backend development. The myth that Ruby is much more beginner friendly is false (and if that were true, I still think you should challenge yourself and aim high!). I am now in the position to learn to build mobile apps
- You can contribute to making F&C an even better place! F&C values your opinion and asks for your feedback at least on a weekly basis (e.g. we have group sessions where you can potentially propose new best practices).
- Highly selective entry. I believe this ultimately leads to a higher learning standard. Being a free course, only means that the selection criteria are based on your motivation and aptitude/mentality rather than your willingness to pay (I have successfully applied to all other major bootcamps in EU and US as well, so I know this for a fact).
- All common best practices included: Test Driven Development (TDD), pair-programming, learning-by-doing, etc.
- Variety of backgrounds, experiences and cultures - F&C recognizes the importance of ensuring a balance between men and women, which is rewarding to the overall experience.

This course is great because it makes coding accessible to anyone regardless of their background. All you need is to have a keen interest in learning to code and enjoy problem solving. You get to work with the latest Javascript frameworks and collaborate... Read More with so many people on lots of projects. After the course you can freelance with the Founders & Coders freelance cooperative. Continued learning is highly supported and encouraged. And it's totally free! Highly recommend applying :)

A truly stellar peer-led coding course that submerges you fully in full stack JavaScript development, ability to learn React and Node.js, a cooperative environment with support from 0 to developer. As a mentioned in the title, it is entirely free, a meritocratic,... Read More supportive, social-democratic collective.

After a masters in Art History, I was unhappy about where my career was going. I found out about the school and joined Founders and Coders a couple of months later and honestly could say it was one of my best life choices. I've met lots of lovely people;... Read More the work is challenging and creative; my career looks much more promising. I have found that the collaborative way of teaching suits me very well. I have learnt so much in the last few months. In addition, I have been given the opportunity to work with amazing clients such as Breast Cancer Care and other reputible charities so early on in my career as a developer. I would highly recommend.

What surprised me about Founders and Coders was that at its core, the key to its success was a group of people in a room committing to learning together. It's so simple but deceptively powerful.

It was one of the hardest, most intense experiences of my... Read More life, Founders and Coders doesn't hold you hand, it teaches you how to learn.

I learnt more in 16 weeks than I did in 3 years, met some extremely talented people who I want to continue working with and am really excited about my future in software development.

This is full-stack javascript boot camp with a twist - there are no tuition fees and no teachers. This is a model based on peer learning combined with excellent support and structure - the ideal environment in which to develop the practical skills needed... Read More for coding. Stay at the forefront of cutting-edge technology, learn with and from some of the smartest people you'll ever meet, begin working for real clients, use your newly-acquired skills to make a real difference to people lives..... too good to be true? I can assure you it isn't. It's happening right now so get involved!

In no particular order:
- A rounded introduction to fullstack development
- A modern syllabus (ES6, Node, Hapi, React, etc)
- Supportive environment and mentors
- Encourages resourcefulness, self-directed and peer-supported learning
- Regular feedback sessions... Read More to shape and tailor aspects of the course to each cohort
- High entry requirements, very selective
- Lots of external speakers from industry on a variety of topics
- Social enterprise which encourages engagement with third sector
- FREE

It's hard to believe how much I have learned on the course when I think back to how little I knew before starting. Having finished the course, I feel comfortable setting up a full-stack, fully functional web-app - frontend, backend, database, and any... Read More of a number of powerful modern frameworks.... I remember before the course, I barely knew how to make a simple static web-page.

The fact is that Founders & Coders is an incredibly effective way of learning the skills you need to start a real career in software development. IT WORKS as a way of gaining an incredible amount of knowledge and experience in a very short amount of time. It's also amazing fun, thanks to the people teaching and running the course, as well as the close ties you build with your fellow students.

I can't really think of many cons. The fact that the course is free means that it gets a lot of applicants, and so you have to put substantial time and effort into learning the prerequisites before you actually start the course. Another possible con is that you can't expect to have your hand held. The course relies on self-learning and peer-learning, and the instruction you receive from the teachers is limited to the essentials - this means that you get out of the course what you put in.

As far as getting jobs goes, I think Founders & Coders offers more help than many other bootcamps. They have a great system in place to get graduates paid freelance work after you finish the course - this lets you gain experience and build a portfolio to show to recruiters in the future. If you're thinking about applying, I can't recommend it enough.