iO Academy

I had already been trying to learn programming in my spare time for about 6 months prior to starting the Bootcamp with iOAcademy. About halfway through I realised that I really enjoyed it and wanted to become a professional software developer. I spoke... Read More with a few colleagues at work who were developers and some of them were iOAcademy graduates. They highly recommended the Fullstack Track. I applied, got accepted on one of the in-person bootcamps and haven't regretted that decision for a single moment since graduating. Here are the reasons why: Well designed curriculum: They build you up from scratch. (some pre-course material is required to be completed beforehand but a lot of it is quickly recapped in the first few weeks). The curriculum is constantly being refined based on feedback from previous cohorts and trends in the industry so you are learning the most relevant skills. There are loads of really interesting Guest talks spread across the 16 weeks that cover a broad range of topics from career advice to Cyber Security. Focus on Industry Skills: You get one week of theory followed by a project week to apply that knowledge. This works really well and the projects are fun. The first 2 projects are individual but the remaining are all group projects. The group projects really prepare you for the real world. We are taught how to use version control (Git) and how to work in an Agile way (they teach us SCRUM). One of the projects got us working in an existing codebase which really emulates what it will be like working out in industry. The cohort sizes are limited to a maximum size of 8. This is to mimic the size of typical software development teams and it means you get to know your trainees well and get to make significant contributions during the project weeks. As a side note during the interview process they look for people who can work in a team as it's such an important skill to be able to succeed in the bootcamp and out in industry. Excellent Trainers: They are passionate about teaching and have many years of experience both as professional software developers and trainers. They are able to explain advanced programming concepts in simple terms and instil coding best practices. They are also patient and generous with their time. They are happy to stay on and go through material again if you feel you need it or look into something slightly outside the curriculum if you have a burning desire to learn it. Overall, I would recommend anyone who is serious about becoming a Software developer and has the time and financial support to cover the expenses of the course to apply. It will fast track your career!

As a curious person, I've always wanted to understand better the world of machine learning and maybe even start to use it myself for a personal project or in my current job, I just needed to find the right course to help me start my journey in this huge... Read More subject. iO Academy and its Data Science and ML pathway did just that. The teacher was really nice, really supportive and very knowledgeable. I started the course with very little knowledge and thought that my lack of math or probability would be an issue but I was proven wrong and I'm excited about the future. The course provides you with a very good ground base to be able to undertake more advanced courses. Overall I would recommend anyone curious about the subject as the pace is really nice (5h a week) and the courses are at the end-afternoon for anyone like me that work during the day and have some time after work.

I came to iO looking for a new challenge in my career and, having started the course, was naturally worried about the gamble. But the Academy trains you at pace, in the fundamentals you'll need to secure that first job as a junior developer. The workload... Read More is intense but exhilarating, and the course is structured so that each week builds on the accumulated knowledge of earlier ones. The four months flash past stunningly quickly, but despite the intensity, I looked forward to joining my 5 classmates every morning and approaching that day’s build together. When we graduated, the majority of my cohort secured exciting development roles within days or weeks of the course ending. And in my experience, there’s an incredibly supportive culture towards junior devs once you're in post. After your new job has started, you'll also realise that your time at the Academy was actually about developing a methodology, an approach to problem-solving, that you'll use day in day out, no matter what languages or tools the job involves. I'd recommend to anyone that they put some time into checking that this is the right path for them before committing. There are plenty of free resources (Codecademy etc) online, and you need to be confident you enjoy the process and challenge of learning to code - it will be a big part of your career long after the course has ended. But if development still feels like the right path for you, then go for it! And in my experience, iO Academy can help you get where you’re looking to go.

I would definitely recommend iO academy as a way to transition into a career in development. The small class sizes means you get lots of personalised support and the curriculum exposes you to a good range of front-end and back-end development. Doing projects... Read More as part of the course allows you to build up a portfolio that you can then show to potential employers. The job support at iO is really good. I got a lot of individual advise on my CV, cover letters and applying in general which helped me to feel more confident when going for jobs. I got my first junior developer role within the first month of graduating. The course involves a lot of team work, so it's good to have that as an expectation going in. iO teaches you to code, and it also teaches you about Agile methodologies, which is how many software development projects in the real world are structured. It's a hard course, because you learn a lot very quickly, but for me it was 100% worth it. The teacher's really care about your progress and building projects with the other students was also a lot of fun.

I joined iO Academy after changing career paths with no coding experience and little confidence. After 16 weeks, I could build applications in multiple languages, solve problems with confidence, and present in sprint reviews. Within a month of graduating,... Read More I had a job as a developer in a great company and I had more experience in real industry practices than many colleagues with computer science degrees. The transformation was huge and I am so grateful to Mike and my trainer Neal for building and delivering a process that prepared me for the way things are actually done! The bootcamp also ensures that there is good support for women and there are regular check ins along the way. I’m reminded everyday that this bootcamp was the best decision I made and I would recommend it to everyone!

Returning to software development after a 10 year career break seemed like an impossible feat until I discovered the iO Academy and their bespoke training course. I was able to easily pick and choose which modules I needed to update my skills. Nothing... Read More was set in stone so we could adapt the program as we went. I had a mixture of virtual and in person sessions and both worked equally well. Putting theory immediately into practice was not only a refreshing way to learn, but really effective. I had been dreading restarting my career and was actually pretty scared about finding out out how little I still knew and how much things had moved on but… the sessions were fun and Mike was super encouraging and supportive. What had felt impossible rapidly felt completely doable. I’m now working again and really enjoying it. iO has a really friendly team that I know I will be back in touch to top up my skills if needed. Thank you iO!

When I quit my job to attend iO Academy, it felt like a huge, scary gamble. On reflection, I had nothing to worry about! By the end of the first week, not only had I learned a lot, I was confident that I was completing a well thought out and comprehensive... Read More syllabus. Before starting the Full Stack Track, I presumed that if I wanted to graduate and get a job, I would have to learn everything there was to know about coding. The reality is that software development is an ever-expanding field, and no single developer knows everything there is to know. The important thing is that you leave iO Academy with strong fundamental knowledge in the areas that matter, and have the confidence to tackle new languages/frameworks/methodologies. Further than just a great syllabus, I made some wonderful friends along the way, and enjoyed commuting to Bath to such a relaxed, positive, and supportive environment every day. On my final day at iO Academy, I accepted a job offer as a Graduate Software Developer at a local Healthcare tech company. I will be writing in C# and using the .NET framework, neither of which I know anything about yet (at the time of writing, I start my role in 2 weeks' time). Thanks to the trainers at iO Academy, I feel confident that I will pick up these technologies; many coding skills are transferable between languages, not to mention the ongoing support of the academy alumni group chat. I can't recommend iO Academy enough. If you're thinking of taking that leap of faith... do it!

Don't hesitate to apply for the Full Stack Track course at iO Academy! It really was a life changing 16 weeks for me. I was a successful graphic designer for mainly food and drink packaging for 6 years prior to starting the course. I loved design and... Read More I always will have an appreciation for it but I was starting to think that something I decided on doing at age 17 (more than 10 years ago without giving away my age ;) ) wasn't necessarily what I wanted to do for the rest of my career. After talking to a couple of iO Academy alumni (one of whom also used to be a designer) I was convinced that this course was the right thing to do. I honestly didn't research any other bootcamps other than iO Academy because I thought the curriculum looked fantastic and I really enjoyed the online taster session. Another big plus for me was the fact that I could study in person at the beautiful Bath campus as I knew I would get more out of in-person teaching. I was in a cohort of 7 people including myself which was perfect. A small class size meant that we could work as if we were a real-life dev team, collaborating and learning from each other. It also meant that we each had a lot of attention from our trainer (Charlie) and could ask as many questions as we could! Charlie was a brilliant trainer. He made sure that everyone felt comfortable and gave us as much help as we needed. I was really struggling to understand a concept in week 3 and he was really patient with me, using physical objects, pictures and relatable metaphors to explain it to me in a way that suited my learning style. The content of the course was really well thought out, with normally a week of theory and then a project week where we initially worked solo and then worked together as a team using the scrum agile methodology. This meant that we could get to grips with new concepts and then put them into practice making projects that we could then show off on our portfolio sites (which we built in week 2). I can't believe that in January I had no idea was the command line was and now I'm using it every day in my job! The course is constantly evolving with feedback from the students and industry experts to keep it up to date and relevant to the industry, ensuring that we were all as prepared as we could be to get jobs at the end. We got loads of help with developer-specific CV writing, cover letters and creating our portfolio sites which was better than any career advice or help I've ever had before! Another big plus for iO Academy is the hiring partner event. The Academy has relationships with many tech companies in the South West, and we had about 10 that came to an in-person evening networking event. This actually resulted in me landing my first job as a developer 2 weeks before the end of the course! I am now 2 weeks into my job and really loving it. The full stack track course at iO Academy was worth every penny for me and in many ways surpasses my (much more expensive) 3 year degree. It was challenging in a good way, very fun and I will look back on it as a huge positive turning point in my life.

I’ve recently completed the full stack track course at iO Academy and it has genuinely been an amazing academic experience. Having quite my job in the events industry and spending a lot of time researching bootcamps, I made the decision to apply to iO... Read More and began the course in January 2022. The course content is so well thought out and the balance of theory to projects helped solidify learning throughout the process. There was so many occasions where myself and my classmates would joke about how the order of the course content almost seemed to be intentional - which of course it was. The support from the trainers overall was excellent, especially Rayna who was my trainer. She ensured we had amazingly detailed notes that I’m sure I’ll continue to use as I start my dev career and was super supportive and reassuring throughout the entire process. Before even finishing the academy, I had already had multiple interviews and a job offer. Followed by a further 2 job offers the week following - and I’ll be starting my new job next week (2 weeks after finishing the course). I honestly can’t recommend iO Academy enough!

As someone with a computer science degree I worried the course wouldn't provide me with the challenge I needed. How wrong I was! The course was intense, packed full of information and side projects, so much so that I coded late into the night most of... Read More the week (for fun and to get the most of the course, not a requirement!) Most importantly it gave me the tools to navigate an extremely complex industry with confidence, teaching good working practices and enforcing a doctrine of work-life balance. All in all I would say the course was a winner for me, my career and my general well being. I would highly recommend it!