Code Institute

I've always had an interest in programming, though I was quite inexperienced before the diploma. Being a creative individual, I always tried to imagine what you could build using computers. My decision to finally take the plunge, was made thanks to the five day coding challenge. Enrolling in the course, I assumed it would be challenging, but for students with little or no experience in programming, the learning curve might appear steep and the material overwhealming at times. However, I never felt that I was alone on this journey, thanks to our wonderful slack community, frequent tutor support and the mentoring sessions provided by Code Institute. At times I experienced the course material to be a bit outdated and I had to work with earlier dependencies to make my projects work. However, employing a solution-focused mindset is somehing that I believe is important if you want to be a developer. Anyone looking for a serious challenge and who is willing to be teachable, will reap the rewards of being familiar with several programming languages and having built five portfolio projects at the end of the course. 

I started this course out of pure desperation to get out of my mundane minimum wage lifestyle, not just for the money but to be what my 10 year old self always dreamt to be, a creator. A creator of what? Well only 22 years later could  I answer that question, a software developer and I do thank Code Institute for giving me an opportunity to achieve it. But it was not easy… From having a full time job, being a full time dad, 1 hour commutes each way to and from work, waking up at 6 and getting home at 6… and only later on in the evening could I learn and code. But I made it, I made my 10 year old self proud, I achieved something that has always eluded me… And I do thank you Code Institute, I will never forget this experience.

I recently completed the Full Stack Web Developer course with Code Institute, and I must say, it was a valuable experience. The course content is comprehensive, covering everything from the fundamentals to advanced topics in web development. I particularly appreciated how the curriculum is designed to be practical, allowing me to build real-world projects that truly reinforced my learning.One of the highlights of the course was the level of support provided by the Code Institute team. Whenever I encountered challenges or had questions, I received prompt and appropriate help, ensuring that I never felt stuck. The mentors were knowledgeable and approachable, always ready to guide me through any difficulties I faced.Overall, I highly recommend the Code Institute's Full Stack Web Developer course to anyone looking to break into the tech industry. The skills I gained, along with the support from the team, have left me feeling confident and prepared to embark on my new career path.

I recently completed the Level 5 Diploma in Full-Stack Software Development course with Code Institute, specializing in Advanced Front-End, and I couldn't be more satisfied with my experience.

The course content was comprehensive and well-structured, covering all the essential topics needed to build a solid foundation in full-stack development. The advanced front-end specialization was particularly impressive, with a deep dive into modern frameworks, responsive design, and best practices. The practical projects were challenging but rewarding, allowing me to apply what I learned in real-world scenarios.

The support from tutors, mentors, and the wider community was excellent. They were always available to provide guidance and feedback, which made a huge difference in my learning journey. The flexibility of the course also allowed me to learn at my own pace, which was a big plus.

Overall, Code Institute provided a fantastic learning experience that not only enhanced my technical skills but also gave me the confidence to pursue a career in web development. I highly recommend this course to anyone looking to break into tech or even upskill.

Before taking this course, the closest I ever came to coding was making elaborate formulas in excel! I was a complete beginner, but now after completing the Diploma in Full Stack Software Development I am ready to start taking the first steps in a new career chapter.

From learning HTML, CSS and Javascript to utilising Python and the Django framework to develop a fully functional e-Commerce site, I feel the course has equipped with the fundamentals to build upon further and has given me a good sense of direction.

The content delivered through the LMS was engaging, well thought out and appropriately structured to guide students through the material. Also, the student supports available are incredible, the Code Institute team really goes above and beyond to ensure students can be as successful as possible on the course.

Overall, I highly recommend this course to anyone who is new to coding and wants to enhance their skillset or wants to take their first steps towards a career change!

I had never built a web site before and was very interested in learning how. Code Institute gave me that opportunity and in one year I have achieved an L5 Diploma in Web Application Development. I won't lie, the learning scope is daunting at first as their is a lot to get through but with the planning and support available the course is easily achievable. The learning curve is steep at times but it is well structured and easy to follow. At times I lost many hours (in a good way!) working on my projects as I got so focused on what I was doing I didn't want to stop. And this was the best learning curve, getting stuck in to the projects boosted my knowledge immensely. If you have an eye for detail and a mindset of problem solving, give it a try, you might like it. 

I did the Diploma course full-time over 20 weeks.  It was very intense doing it this way and left very little time to interact with others, however since handing in the final assignment I have been able to participate to a much greater extent, and wow it has made a difference.  When I started I noticed a huge rework of the course work happening, and I got stuck once or twice because the section was removed or reworked.  But on the whole, it didn't cause me too many issues.  Interacting with tutors/mentors/student care is very easy and I appreciate the ability to be able to change mentors if needed.  Given the increase in AI integration generally, the slight change in focus seems to be sensible, embracing it not fighting it.

It is on the expensive side, BUT getting an actual accreditation from a real University is a massive benefit, and I think with the careers support included it is well worth the price.

I really enjoyed the code institute’s bootcamp and found the combination of video lessons, quizzes and written materials really interesting and helpful in learning process. It is a good introduction to coding and offers both learning materials as well as practical lessons and applications of learned coding techniques. The mentoring and tutoring services are extremely helpful in the whole process. The CI team is excellent and knowledgeable. I am still in a process of learning, developing my skills and finding a job, but I have really enjoyed learning at Code Institute.

I just recently received my degree in "Software Development (E-commerce Applications)" from Code Institute. And through the curriculum I would ay for the most part is structured very well in some cases you will find your self seeking the answers online or through your network. Not Ideal a bad thing but it is note worthy.

Was it worth the money spent I mean its not the cheapest course out there I was looking for an academically accredited course my self and the structure I needed to be successful. It was a great challenge for some one who's always been classed as a slow learner in academics to put my hobby into real skills.

I didn't utilize many of the benefits during the course ie tutors or mentors. Sadly my main mentor had to leave when he joined the US Army in a new exciting role. I could have reached out for a new mentor although working as much as I do it was not really something I had the time for. I had a solid grasp of the course the whole way through. This is very hustle and bustle if your doing other things on the side such as working full time or part time.

The overall courses were very well presented but as mentioned above there will be times you need to do some external research whether through the web or slack. Its bound to happen. Curriculum is great overall personally speaking I feel students should continue to have access to the course after completion as this is online and the overhead should be fairly minimal at worst. Maybe even if its only a year or so after just so they can go back and refresh on some stuff if they wanted to not that there aren't other sources of information.

As for the Job Assistance its there pretty standard stuff such as CV, Cover letter, and Linkedin support in making yourself stand out. They tend to have ins to recruiting circles and can get the scoop prior to a company posting a role. You wont out right get a position just by completing the course you need to take action yourself to make this happen they will support you as much as they can in the process.

Final thoughts:
Was it worth the price tag? To an extent I would say yes if structure and having a university accredited diploma is what your looking for. Overall I think I enjoyed it even knowing I can get the same knowledge else where cheaper or even free. I wanted structure and deadlines as it makes me work better. I also wish Code Institute could partner with companies and move graduates possibly into internships or Junior roles with companies directly just a nice help boost. I also understand that Code Institute is not a recruitment agency but it would add tremendous value to the course.

At the time of enrollment, the content was extremely outdated (no Flexbox or grid for HTML/CSS, the libraries used for the Advanced Front End project were from 3 years ago, the authentication method is not aligned with the HTTP standard -and nobody was able to explain to me how it works because the tutorial is just a code along with no real explanation of this-, and the Django tutorial was disappointing, to the point that even using the same project, the course was recently changed 100%).

When I approached tutoring, they were not able to help me most of the time, because they follow the templates on the tutorials, therefore, if the student tries to use the updated version of the libraries/frameworks, or even come up with something new for her/his project, they are not able to help you.

Probably it was a matter of bad luck, that I got into the course right before the content was updated, but paying the same amount of money as the student enrolling 3 months after me and getting better content was frustrating.

On the other hand, if the student has doubts about the content, or technologies, or wants to go deeper into a topic, there is no one to help you. In the end, there is almost nothing more than the content and being able to use the community on Slack (which IMHO is not worth thousands of Euros).

If you decide to enroll, I would advise you to stick to the tutorials as much as possible when creating the projects. Change one or two things to have a pass, and create an awesome README for merit. If you would like to probably have distinction (because the criteria are unclear), try coming up with something new but simple, and write an immaculate code.

If you need a diploma, Code Institute is a good option. But if not, I would recommend buying Udemy courses (which are not more than €18… never pay the higher amount, there are discount codes all over the internet, just Google it). There is no other advantage. Also, most of the Udemy courses are updated as soon as there is a new version of the frameworks (speaking about the Django, Javascript, and React courses I needed to buy to complete the course) and, if you have doubts, most of the courses will give you access to a Discord server where, sometimes, even the creator of the course answers questions, no matter if they are part of the content or not. That would more or less compensate for tutoring and the Slack channel. 

NOTES:

1. It seems like CI is going through a change in almost everything. But, my experience was not good. I hope they manage to sort everything out, which is a lot.
2. Student Care and the facilitators (at least the one I had) are extremely supportive. Still, the internal politics seem to have them hands-tied in helping you have a better learning experience.