iO Academy

After making the decision during the pandemic that I needed to switch my career path, I spent a lot of time researching the best way for me to get my foot in the door of the tech industry. It was then that I came across coding bootcamps, with iO Academy... Read More standing out due to its great location in Bath and it's excellent reviews. On the surface it seemed to good to be true: over 16 weeks, I would learn about and use a wide range of technologies and by the end I would be able to confidently apply to software developer jobs. After attending a virtual taster session and chatting to the staff, I decided to take plunge despite having a smallish feeling that I was taking a risk. Well... By the end of my first week at iO Academy, I was confident that I had made the right choice in starting The Full Stack Track; writing this review a month after starting my role as a Graduate Software Developer, I could not be more certain about my choice! Offering small group sizes (mine had 7 including myself) and an experienced, highly knowledgable trainer, iO Academy's modern approach to teaching worked amazingly as each day it felt like I was learning more than I had in any other educational context. It is fair to say that the course is intense: it is not a golden ticket to a job as you do have to put lots of effort in. It is essential that you complete the pre-course materials provided by the academy before starting and doing extra work in the evenings is beneficial too. If you are motivated to learn and ask your trainer questions, your experience will be fantastic! In terms of funding, there are options available to help spread the cost after employment if you are unable to pay up front. You will not regret attending iO Academy!

I absolutely loved the course at iO academy. I had looked at quite a few different bootcamps before I decided for this one, and have never regretted the choice for a moment. What made me decide for iO academy was mainly the small classes (only 8 people),... Read More and I do think it made all the difference. With classes that small everyone always had the support they needed, and we all really got to know each other. Since the course is definitely not always easy, it was amazing to have such a nice group of people that could help each other through the tough bits. The support from iO academy was great. We had several teachers and they were all extremely knowledgeable. Towards the end of the course you get a lot of support with the job search as well; they help you out with your cv, portfolio website etc. I was lucky enough to get a job immediately after the course ended. I'm really loving the work and everything I was taught at iO academy has proven itself more than useful already. I really think they did very well with the curriculum and taught us everything you need to know to start your first developer job.

EyUp is a collaboration between iO Academy and Wandisco and I was part of the first cohort. Initially I was skeptical that the entire course could be packed into 16 weeks but I really wanted to learn how to code and I didn't want to spend more than a... Read More year in further eduction after my degree. The course absolutely delivered on it's promises, I learned Php, Javascript, React, Node.js, slim framework and much more. I also learned how to work as a developer in a real world environment, we alternated between 1 week of theory and then a poject week which let us apply the skills that we had learned in an actual sprint! I would highly recommend this course to anyone in the Sheffield area who wants to learn how to code!

TL, DR - Course good, got job. Believe the hype. Prior to joining iO Academy (then Mayden Academy), I had no previous development experience other than a few HTML/CSS courses on freeCodeCamp. I'd been working in tech support/retail for longer than I would... Read More have liked and needed a change. I'd spent weeks trawling through forums, watching countless YouTube videos espousing (and demonising) bootcamps vs self taught vs university and reading reviews on websites like this one, and after weighing up my options, a bootcamp seemed like the best choice for me. So, why iO? - Small cohort sizes. The benefits of this in hindsight have been: more personal teaching, comradery/community and preparation for post-iO life. - Non-code stuff. Being familiar with Scrum and following the rituals of daily standups, sprint reviews, merge requests (etc) made the transition into my first developer role that much less daunting, and is a huge benefit over going the self-taught/university course route. You don't know to learn what you don't know! - Easy payment options. Not really having a nest egg to fall back on, the option to pay once employed was a huge plus. Being shorter than a transitional degre - Support finding a job. The academy Slack job's channel was incredibly hlpful during the search for my first role, and trainers really went above and beyond, helping with my CV, portfolio, tech interviews and just generaly being there for a chat if things were stressful. Despite the difficulties incurred by Covid, the iO Academy team were nothing but outstanding and professional. The trainers are knowledgable, personable and managed to simultaneously make the single most intense course of my life into the most enjoyable one. The term "life changing" is thrown around a lot, but this course truly is. Thanks again iO team! Misc tips: - Do as much of the pre-course work as possible. Familiarising yourself with some of the vocabulary used will make things easier later. - Ask for help when you need it (you will need it).

I have been ummming and arring for many years whether I should step into software development. I was apprehensive about bootcamps in general but I do not regret joining and completing the iO Academy full stack development course. Our coach Charlie is... Read More a great and has the patience for stupid questions! We completed a number of team projects in an agile environment to get you prepared for the real world. We also had many talks from ex-students and also from engineers from Mayden which they are attached to.

Like many people, over the last year I decided I wanted to re-train and do something that felt more stimulating and challenging. I've spent most of my working life being the unofficial resident tech support person, so it seemed a natural progression to... Read More formalise things and actually learn what makes the internet work. I quit my job in February and was accepted into iO Academy with a scholarship to complete their four month Full Stack Track course. I had an incredible time learning the ropes with my remote scrum team (the Mountain Goats) and am so grateful to all of the trainers and staff who made 8 hours of Zoom a day feel like a breeze! The academy teaches the fundamentals of programming which means that I have the confidence and knowledge to apply this learning to any languages that weren't covered on the course. The curriculum is comprehensive, there were plenty of challenges and stretch goals, and the balance between theory and project work kept things interesting. Overall, I would encourage anyone considering applying to a coding bootcamp to give iO a go!

Absolutely fantastic. From amazing teachers and supporters to outstanding and indepth content. I couldn't believe how much I have learnt within 16 weeks and how far I have come. My tutor was incredible and very knowledable and he is still available to... Read More answer any questions I might have, help out or just give me a boost of confidence when needed. The course provided me with a knowledge that gave me a strong foundation to build my career upon. The course was very intense and coding focused, so I would recommend it to anyone who is sure that being a software engineer is what they want to do (even with no previous experience).

After 14yo in the music industry I decided to take a massif step in my life by continuing an old dream of mine, Which was to become a software engineer. iO Academy Helped me archiving that goal with an incredible support and kindness. I got offer 4 jobs... Read More before the end of the school and got the chance to pick and choose ! So technically the school help me to get a job in 15 weeks out of the 16 weeks of school ! If you are like me and want to change your life around and start a career in web development do not think twice ! At first glance the school seems very expensive but if you start to do some research you will quickly realise that iO offer on of the best Curriculum concerning full stack development. Regarding the fees there is funding available, the size of the class is perfect 8 peoples maximum, which for me this was one of the main point. 8 peoples in a class allow you to get to know everyone and the more important the teacher is not overwhelm by 20 student and can then focus on each of the student. The curriculum is fantastic, the school make you aware of old way of doing thing but for the big part your are learning the industry standard of nowadays. Do not be afraid to make the big jump with them you will not regret it !

I’ve always dreamed of having technical skills and becoming a developer. I wasn’t sure how and where to start until I found out about iO Academy and decided to join the bootcamp. It was the best decision I’ve ever made! You cannot believe how many things... Read More you can learn in such a short period of time (especially when you have amazing trainers but more on that later). The curriculum Is really well structured and it helps you build a solid foundation. The focus isn’t placed on learning a particular programming language (even though you pick up quite a few during the bootcamp) but more on logical thinking and understanding how to write best practice code regardless of the language used. Having a good understanding of the fundamentals puts you in a great position pick up other languages in the future. The course combines theory with project weeks where we worked as a group, following agile methodologies to complete awesome projects. Working as part of a team you also get a chance to develop your soft skills and learn how to collaborate with different people. The best part of the course is the people and building a bond with others going through the same journey. The trainers, students and everybody involved with iO Academy is really nice. Our trainer was Mike and he was the best trainer that I could have ever asked for. He was very supportive, always explaining things in a way that would make sense to you. Even after hours he was replying to any questions I had and was always there for us whenever we had down moments or doubting ourselves, offering reassurance and building our confidence. We also met Charlie, Ash and Neal who are some of the other trainers at iO and all of them were really nice and incredibly helpful. The support we received was not limited to the technical side. We had a lot of help with our job applications including writing CVs, cover letters, how to prepare for an interview and what are some of the challenges that come up during an interview. In the final week of the bootcamp I had numerous interviews and in the week after finishing the bootcamp I had already received a job offer. For me the iO Academy bootcamp was the best experience of my life and I’ll always be grateful because it helped me get my dream job. The only bad thing about the bootcamp is that it comes to an end!

I looked at quite a few bootcamps before deciding on iO Academy; the two main reasons were the size of the classes (8 people) and a shining recommendation from someone who went there and whose opinion I trusted. It was a slight risk because I live in... Read More London and imagined that any connections made in the industry afterwards might all be based in Bath and be less useful for me, however I now know it was a risk worth taking. The support at iO is amazing; Mike is a fountain of knowledge and there's a real community spirit to everything that's done (which is no mean feat considering our cohort were fully remote!). The only thing I would have liked to have done differently is to have done it in person, so if you get the opportunity to do this go for it.  In terms of job prospects, I had around 5 interviews before the course was even complete, which culminated in two job offers and I'm now starting my first job as a junior developer 2 weeks after graduating. If you like small family vibes with genuinely good quality, conscious teaching then this is the place for you.