DevelopMe_

I would recommend the DevelopMe bootcamp to anyone who is committed to becoming a web developer, and willing to put in a lot of hard work, keep asking questions and really make the most of all the support available here. The course is very intense, even if you have been through all or most of the preparation materials, but it is a brilliant, well-structured way of learning vital skills, and ultimately getting started in the industry.

The syllabus is regularly updated with new technologies based on current trends, and we were taught for 1-2 weeks at a time by a professional developer specialising in a particular area like React Native or GitHub. There is a lot of support available - instructors and teaching assistants are always on hand to answer questions and point you in the right direction. We worked on coding challenges individually, as well as projects in twos or threes, which I found very useful as it involved justifying everything you were doing to your team and thinking more about how the whole project worked. Every Friday we would have a one-to-one chat for five minutes, which was a chance to talk about anything you were struggling with, particularly enjoyed, or felt could be improved about the course.

After the 12 weeks of teaching we were set a week-long challenge which would be sent out to prospective employers, which was lots of fun to work on once I got into it. Then DevelopMe organised interviews for each of us with interesting tech companies around Bristol. I spoke to five companies, and was getting quite nervous that no one would ever hire me, but Pete was always checking how things had gone and looking into other opportunities, and in the end I got a great job as a Front End Developer/Quality Assurance Tester.

During my time on the course I also had a job in the evening...which just about worked out, but I'd recommend avoiding if you can! Ideally you want to be immersed in development, getting into a good routine with enough rest so that you're prepared to learn, and keeping some time free to go to things like hack nights and talks with your coursemates. If this sounds like a commitment you're happy to make, then go for it!

I absolutely loved the Develop Me 12 week bootcamp and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in a career as a web developer.  

The course was definitely intense (and there were times where my brain felt like it was melting!), but it's such an achievement to learn as much as you do in 12 weeks. I would never have dreamed that I could go from knowing virtually nothing about coding to getting a job as a junior developer the week after the course finished!

I loved having different teachers for each part of the course - this gave us a variety of teaching techniques and exposed us to different insights into the industry. All the teachers were amazing, really passionate about teaching, and created a supportive environment in which to ask questions. Having a teaching assistant as well as the teacher is amazing - Pete was always on hand to help out with all excerises. We were also paired up with mentors in the industry - I got on really well with my mentor and met up for coffee every few weeks. This really helped me gain a better understanding of work as a developer and the industry as a whole.

Learning how to use git was really helpful in my interviews and prepared us well for our placements after the course. Pair programming and working together as a group was always really fun - you learn so much coding with someone else, like developing the ability to talk through your code.

The course had such a friendly atmosphere with Pete and Oli really caring about us as individuals. Our group became really close over the 3 months, and it was great to be able to work together with such a motivated group of people.

I've been working as a junior developer with Ecotricity for 3 months now and absolutely love it. One of the best things about the course is the help that Pete gave us to get a job upon graduating - from setting up the interviews to helping us with mock interviews. 

In summary - it's really intense but completely worth it!

I have just completed the DevelopMe web development bootcamp and I can definitely say it has been one of the most fulfilling 12 weeks of my life.  I didn’t know what to expect coming into the course; I thought perhaps we would become proficient enough to build a one page website but little did I know that we would be working with all the best tools a web developer could have to build fully functioning, multi-paged websites and apps.  Not only did we learn solid industry standards of HTML, CSS, and Javascript front-end development we also learned PHP and worked with content management systems to incorporate both front-end and back-end aspects of web development.  We went on to creating apps and mobile apps with React, Redux, React Native, and Laravel.  We were expected to work like a web developer would at a company so we got comfortable with pushing our work up to Github and pair programming.

My favorite thing about the program was the instructors and teaching assistants.  We had a different instructor for the topics based on the instructor’s expertise and it was very obvious to me that DevelopMe had very high standards for their instructors.   As a beginner coming from a completely unrelated field (hospitality) I was afraid that I would not understand the concepts but the instructors and TAs patiently explained things, even if it meant sitting with me and going through the code line by line at times.  I was in a bit of a unique situation as not only had I just moved to the UK from the States a week prior to starting the course, but also being pregnant into my second trimester! There was one other pregnant person in one of the past cohorts who attended the course and we have both successfully made it through the course with the help of Oli and Pete.

Although the program is quite intense, I never felt like it was unmanageable.   I can honestly say that it would have taken me years to learn what I learned in the 12 week program!!  Working in a setting where you can ask and get immediate answers, and being surrounded by people who are just as motivated as you are to learn is invaluable.  I recommend doing as much precourse work as possible, the more you learn prior to coming to DevelopMe the more you will understand and therefore take away from it.  Living in Bristol, I have bumped into a lot of other web developers and every one of them seems to have a very high opinion of graduates from DevelopMe.  Although the students in my cohort are still finishing up their interviews, as far as I know they have all gotten at least one offer. 

If you are serious about becoming a web developer and you want to work with people who are just as serious about turning you into a top notch developer, DevelopMe is the place to be.

My experience with DevelopMe_ has been overwhelmingly positive. The syllabus provides an excellent foundation to build your career on and the instruction (from both tutors and TAs) is very strong. My cohort was the first to be run entirely remotely due to Covid, but DevelopMe_ adapted well - providing the same high standard that I experienced in the study sessions onsite prior to lockdown. This is an intense course - I can honestly say I've never worked harder, particularly in the personal challenge week - but it's also huge fun. The team cultivate a warm and supportive atmosphere, you work on some cool projects and collaborate with a real mix of people from a range of different backgrounds. Shortly after graduation I was taken on by a hiring partner. I'm now six weeks into an interesting and rewarding role. 

Coding Fellowship, Bristol: Mar - Jun 2020

I am very pleased with my decision to study with DevelopMe_ as part of the Spring 2020 cohort. I had had some reservations regarding how things would proceed in light of lockdowns, but I in fact found myself immensely impressed with the way DevelopMe_ adapted to restrictions, and succeeded in delivering an immersive and personal experience despite the challenges of online teaching.

The curriculum itself and the technologies taught are thoughtfully chosen to teach a skillset thorough and broad enough to be job-ready and building your own projects alone in just 12 weeks, which is no mean feat. The instructors were able to strike an effective balance between supporting those who need help, and stretching those who did not. Without fail, everyone in the cohort graduated with a solid knowledge base in popular frameworks and languages providing them an excellent platform on which to start their job search.

Throughout the course, I felt engaged, challenged, and supported. The later weeks of the course I found particularly demanding, but this only added to the sense of satisfaction and achievement upon successfully building and presenting our final project at the end of the course. The instructors made themselves available throughout the course for whenever help was required, and DevelopMe_ even sent out care packages to get us through lockdown. As a cohort, we were able to meet up virtually outside the course, and were able to enjoy the social aspects of the course despite the restrictions.

There are many bootcamps out there, but DevelopMe_ stands out for three reasons:

1..  Instructors, Teaching:
They're knowledgable, personable, friendly, and approachable. Wed development is not a simple subject, yet the instructors are able to explain difficult concepts in a way that is methodical and comprehensible. There are thousands of YouTube tutorials out there on all sort of subjects pertaining to web development, but not a single one comes close to the thorough, up-to-date, and surprisingly straight-forward lessons these instructors are able to deliver.

2.    Comprehensive Curriculum:
The course is extremely well-designed, and in retrospect is impressive in its ability to take a student from no-experience to Full Stack in 12 weeks. The course steadily progresses through programming concepts to specific languages, to specific frameworks. The cumulative nature of this learning means that difficult concepts dont feel quite as difficult, due to already possessing the prerequisite knowledge. By the end of the course, you will have skills broad enough such that if you have an idea - you already have the skills with which to build it.

3..   Personal touch, care, support:
Care packages, weekly one-on-ones, virtual social meetups, dedicated virtual rooms to drop in with a TA any time, practise interviews, and job support. There is a well established graduate community offering help, advice and support, and DevelopMe_ will continue to assist you even after you have finished the course.

Given the chance again, I would choose DeveloipMe_ Bristol again without hesitation. I would strongly recommend this course to anyone looking to get into web development, whether they be university graduates or career changers; or those looking to develop their web development knowledge.

How do I award 6 stars? Outstanding.

I underwent DevelopMe_'s coding fellowship determined to make a career move into web development, and that's exactly what the course allowed me to achieve. The level of support throughout the course is exceptional, and the amount of attention and help each student receives rivals any university. While some students came from tech backgrounds, if the pre coursework is completed, the course can easily take someone with no background in tech to the skill level of a junior developer. While COVID has meant that jobs are more thin, the course provided me with a foundation where I could confidently apply for junior roles. 

The course is intense as you are constantly learning new things, but days are broken up with regular breaks, and you are made to feel more than comfortable with snacks sent to you and weekly one to one meetings. Highly recommended!

Now I am one of these people who is... technologically challenged at the best of times. 
Or at least I was 3 months ago. Cause these days I'm developing my own well-being app :) 
It has been incredible experience. Teachers were excellent, thanks to them, teacher assistants and Nicola we never felt like we were left in the darkness. 
It is mind-blowing how much information they managed to teach. I will not lie it has been very intense, but if you are willing to give it your 100%, go for it. 

DevelopMe was a fantastic experience. I felt very well supported throughout the entire bootcamp by both the Instructors and Teaching Assistants. You can tell they really care about their students and creating a positive community. This was especially important for me as I attended the bootcamp (remotely) during covid lockdown in Bristol. The quality of the instructors is top notch with most of them having over 10-15+ years of experience. 

They have weekly 1-to-1s with different people from the course to check in, give you feedback on your performance, and for you to provide any feedback. They also arranged 2-3 group mental wellness sessions with an expert where we learned about dealing with stress and how the brain works. This was amazing!

The tech stack taught is modern and up to date. There are quite a few jobs around Bristol that match it as well. I ended up getting a job in a fairly different stack so don't feel like it locks you into that stack. You learn programming fundamentals and how to learn a language which are very important skills in the fast-changing world of web development.

Getting a job was the most difficult part of the process. I graduated at the end of June 2020, so not many companies were hiring junior developers. DevelopMe was supportive in providing guidance, resources, organizing a project to work on, and helping with connections. The projects done during the course were invaluable in discussing during the interview process. There was not much activity with hiring partners (I had 1 interview arranged by DevelopMe), but my understanding was that was mainly caused by covid. I was able to get 7 more interviews on my own and landed after 2mo of full-time job hunting. 

Post-course you are part of the Alumni Slack channel which is a nice little community of fellow web developers. It's a great place to learn about new happenings in the industry or get help with a question you're really stuck on. 

My experience of the Develop Me Coding Fellowship was fantastic. After becoming interested in coding through a friend, I contacted the school directly and had a great conversation with the founder Pete and was able to have an honest conversation and ask all the questions I had about the course. The level of support prior to the course beginning was fab - there are fortnightly virtual catch ups where you can ask questions and chat to alumni, the Slack channel is very active and members of the Develop Me team were easy to contact if you had any questions about the prep work. The prep work itself is very time consuming but incredibly helpful and definitely sets you up well for the coming months. Once the course had begun I was incredibly impressed by the quality of teaching from all of the teachers and very pleased with the balance between lectures and time to work on challenges, as well as opportunities to work individually and in groups. I completed the bootcamp virtually, however there was a great community feel on the course and all of my coursemates were lovely people who was I happy to see every day (albeit over webcam)! Finally, although I technically completed the course 2 weeks ago, the level of continued support from Develop Me has been wonderful as they put a lot of work into helping you get a job once the course is over - from mock interviews to sessions on how to write skills-based CVs, it has all been great. Over all I can't recommend this bootcamp enough - it was definitely the best decision I've made in my career so far and if you're ready to take the plunge into web development, I can't think of a better place to take the first step.

I discovered the course online after doing a lot of research into bootcamps for web development in Bristol, I went along to a coding fellowship bootcamp taster evening to see what it was all about. On the evening I met Pete and Oli running the course and made a little game as my first introduction to coding - and I was sold on doing the course.

I wanted a new direction in my career having previously worked in animation, despite loving my area of work, I wanted to learn something different and in demand. I discovered there was great need for skilled web developers and coding is something I have always been interested in so thought it was an area I should look into.

The course is a big investment of time, money and risk - but it was definitely worth it! I have enjoyed the intense learning experience and has opened my eyes to a new creative industry.  The teaching was excellent - it was great to have various tutors each with their own skills, specialist knowledge and interests. Also the support from developme e.g. the 1 on 1s every week where we reflect on how that week's subject has gone were invaluable.

I have managed to get a job pretty soon after the course and am enjoying being a front end developer - I would recommend doing it. 

Absolutely superb course! Definitely recommend to people who are thinking about a career change or just kickstart their IT career. You will learn all the fundamentals and best practices that you need to land a developer job after graduating and all this just in 3 months (plus pre-course). Teachers and teaching assistants were best in the industry with years of experience. Support was amazing throughout the course. Really liked the 1on1 meetings every Friday where you review the actual week and get lots of feedback. If you're still not convinced, attend one of the taster evenings and have a chat with postgrads and instructors.