Founders and Coders

I've never learned as much in 3-4 months as I did at Founders&Coders. Thanks to the course, I managed to land a job as a Front-end developer in a very exciting startup in Norway. There is no chance I could have done this otherwise.

The course is also very... Read More social, so I made a lot of new friends. The F&C space is constantly filled with friendly, ambitious and interesting people.

To potential future students reading this: I'd recommend you to spend 100% of your time on the course. Most people need to spend more than the regular 9 to 5-hours in order to get to a good enough level within three months. Plus, get used to figuring out how to solve problems on your own. This is an important skill - both during the course (which is based around peer-to-peer learning) and after you've graduated and take on client work.

It's an intense experience, and it surely isn't easy. You'll struggle from time to time, but you'll get out of it with a hugely valuable skill set.

The founders/staff are super nice and truly cares about every student; both their well-being and learning progress.

I knew I wanted to get into programming. But I didn't know what I should learn in order to get a job. And even if I did, teaching myself would be mega boring. Then I heard about Founders and Coders.

I have, quite literally, learnt more than I could ever... Read More have imagined in an incredibly short space of time. It's quite unbelievable - all of a sudden, half the techy/coding jargon floating around the internet isn't so foreign to me anymore. The command line is becoming second-nature. I'm empowered to have great ideas and be able to code them into reality. In short, Founders and Coders has given me exactly what I was looking for, without having to pay a penny. The organisers are lovely, and symbiosis of 'coding' and 'co-operative' works very well.

If you know you want to get into coding, apply apply apply!

Founders & Coders offered me a chance to develop my interest in computers and web development into a full time career in a matter of weeks. After starting the 8 week course in January I went through what was probably the most intense and enjoyable two... Read More months of my life, spending each week working on a new project with my team-mates that would prepare us for some of the challenges we would face as web developers. After finishing the course I began working on short one or two week paid projects that helped serve as an introduction into the real world of development, with the option of extending contracts with the clients we enjoyed working with. This would not have been possible without the years of experience and industry contacts the F&C membership have.

The course is run almost exclusively by graduates from previous cohorts, who do not get paid to teach but are passionate about the subject and the environment, and this helps produce an atmosphere of incredible motivation that inspires people to learn as much as possible and pass on this knowledge to subsequent members of the Founder & Coders community. The whole course is completely free for successful applicants and is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the first steps towards being a web developer.

I have always been vaguely interested in programming. Everything I heard about it made it seem like it would be a good fit and that I would enjoy it. But exactly what I should be doing to develop understanding, competence and confidence as a programmer... Read More and developer was always obscure at best, and more concrete tasks would get priority.

At FAC, I was surrounded by mentors with a deep understanding and passion for javascript and test-driven development. I also learnt a lot from my cohort, whose energy and passion would always magnify and channel my own. Working on projects with them has taken me from someone who could fill in the missing word on a code learning website to someone who can build a webapp that manages data, user IO and connects to various APIs.

Though the 8 week core course is a vanishingly small amount of time, I feel that I can consider myself a web developer after it, albeit a very junior one. The most valuable things I gained are the ability to be self-sufficient in my learning of relevant technologies and the network of passionate and knowledgeable people I have connected to.

Attending Founders & Coders was a life changer for me. Meeting people that are like-minded, willing to work hard and have a wide range of interests is beyond anything that I have seen so far. You will learn everything you need to code your own web app,... Read More or work as a full-stack web developer. The support system is incredible, you have numerous mentors around that will take any amount of time to explain, and help you out. The fact that admission is free adds a whole new dimension to the course, people there are willing to put in so much effort! Being part of that community also makes me feel confident, that whenever I encounter a problem in future I know whom to get back to for support and advice. Thanks a lot for the great time Founders and Coders!

I was looking for a coding bootcamp in London and found FAC, it was the best thing I could find anywhere in the UK. I applied immediately and was fortunate enough to get offered a place for the summer cohort. The course has been a fantastic experience... Read More and more than anything that I could have imagined. FAC have a unique approach where they group students into four groups of four and each group works on a challenging project each week. The curriculum is fluid, but very relevant - for example in week four we created a twitter clone complete with location based tweets. If you are thinking of joining a bootcamp course then I would highly recommend Founders and Coders.

Pros:
- fast-paced - covers an immense amount of information in a short space of time (would've taken me years to learn it all on my own!)
- covers both Express and Hapi NodeJS frameworks
- focus on test driven development
- chance to build a new website... Read More every week in teams of 4 (8 portfolio websites at the end of the course!)
- great mentorship and support from experienced developers
- friendly, welcoming, non-judgemental atmosphere
- optional extra clubs to learn SaSS, Haskell, Swift and Raspberry Pi
- FREE!

I'm currently 90% of the way through this course, and I can safely say that taking it has been one of the best decisions of my life. I had been learning to code for almost a year before applying, and in that time I had taught myself a fair amount of HTML,... Read More CSS and Javascript, but I was finding it difficult to progress to the next level. After seven weeks on the course, I've learnt more than I could ever have even heard of on my own: Git, Test Driven Development, Agile Development... It's also given me the valuable experience of working in a team, and given me the confidence I need to start a career in web development.

I was drawn to Founders & Coders because a friend did the course last year and was very positive about the experience. Having been involved in cooperatives before, I was also interested in its cooperative working environment and commitment to widening... Read More access to web development. Overall I have had a great time on the course. It is tough, but I have learned so much over the course of the foundation programme that it surprises me. In the end, I have started to focus on a couple of platforms that interest me, as well as F&C's outreach and education efforts.

Six months ago I had never written a single line of HTML. This week I'm building a clone of Instagram.

At the beginning of the year, I spent a few months teaching myself how to code with online courses. Online courses are fun but there is only so much... Read More I could learn in isolation. A change of environment was needed because I want to be building full-stack software by the end of the year.

By the end of the first month at Founders & Coders, we were building things like twitter, from scratch, in a week. The amount and speed at which I am learning is incredible.

This is hands-down the most intense, rewarding learning experience I could have hoped for.

In two weeks time I am going to be paid to write full-stack software for a real client. I will be able to build the infrastructure for an online business out of thin air. I can't believe I'm saying that. I won't be able to do it quickly but I will be able to do it. That blows my mind.

The team at Founders and Coders is an absolute pleasure to be around. I'm one of 16 hand-picked students and all the mentors are people that have gone through the course before. The energy in the place is fantastic.

If this interests you at all. Have a look at the [pre-requisites for applying](http://www.foundersandcoders.com/academy/#prerequisites-anchor) and get started on code wars. I couldn't believe my luck when I was accepted.

Thank you Founders and Coders.