Code Institute

Introduction

I'm a student now but my experiences with this course are so bad that I feel an urge to warn people before investing their money in this course. I have to also mention that I asked them to give me money back, because of my bad experiences with stream 1 I'm going to write about below. There is also stream 2 and stream 3 I've no taken yet.

Do you want to know how to make a nice responsive mobile navigation with a button to hide it? Do you want to know how to make a tooltip? Tabs? Popovers? Photo-slider with testimonials on it? 

And the answer for 4500 euros? Add class to Bootstrap. Do you want to know how to make it yourself? Too bad.

I asked the director about it and he told me over the phone "I don't want students to worry about the design, that is why we chose Bootstrap". You know what their sell page says? LEARN HOW TO USE CSS3, FROM BEGINNER BASICS TO ADVANCED TECHNIQUES, BUILDING UPON YOUR HTML5 SKILLS, TO DESIGN AND BUILD BEAUTIFUL RESPONSIVE WEB APPLICATIONS FOR ANY TYPE OF DESKTOP OR MOBILE DEVICE. You won't be taught to design anything, just add a class to Bootstrap. Is it an information worth 4500 euros? Don't you want to know how to design page elements yourself? No? Than this course is for you. 

There are tons of free resources where you can learn Bootstrap for free, I expected this course to have something extra considering the amount of money I paid. I got even less than I get from those free resources. Search for DevTips - Travis Neilson, he was recently hired by Google, he is the best teacher I ever had and I've learned a lot on his channel and for free. Btw. he also teaches Bootstrap.

Project for the stream 1

This is what the assignment says: 

• Use bootstrap or flexbox for main navigation and grid layout.

 Allright, I want to know how to design these page elements so I choose flex-box. I don't want to take any shortcuts in case I'm asked about these in a real job. There was nothing besides flexbox tutorial in the course content, that would help me to create these page elements I've mentioned above. I've searched elsewhere. I expected jQuery lessons to teach me how to create these page elements, but nothing besides pointless exercises on how to change background-color was available. Thanks to my book "Javascript and jQuery by John Ducket",  I've managed to create some tabs and accordion. Also this book is "practical examples" based which helps to remember stuff. This course just teaches you the language, it does not teach you to create anything with it. But so does Codecademy and bunch of other free courses. Is wrong from me to expect a little more for 4500 euros?

• Please use AngularJS as your framework.

After I finished designing the layout of the page which took me much longer than expected (course content was almost no help) I started integrating Angular in my project. The code that Code Institute provided on their pages didn't work. I've got an $injector error. Not sure if they fixed it yet but I've spend couple hours figuring this out. Allright, I could have asked them about it, took me bit more time, it isn't all that bad. What was bad was what happened to my tabs made with jQuery. I asked my tutor about it and he told be jQuery and Angular aren't a good match in some cases and that is not recommended to use both in one project. Yet I was asked to include both in my project. It was extremely frustrating. I got a correct code but it does not work. No warning about that in the course. Code Institute tutor told me. I've send them an open letter mentioning a lack of concept even before I encountered this problem. This just proves it. They just glued lessons on different topics together without worrying about the big picture. How is that even possible for the amount of money they ask for?

Tutors

Online tutors don't have a proper chat equipment. My last session was done over mobile phone microphone. I bought myself one of the best available web cameras to get most out of the course. How come that people paid for it didn't? The lack of common sense I have encountered in this course is mind blowing - let me remind you this is a 4500 euros course. I've had three tutors already. The first one was from India. He was more than qualified to be my tutor, very impressive resume. But the reception was so bad I had to ask for replacement - his accent didn't help. I got an Irish tutor who just started doing web development. He helped me to set up the stream 1 project with gulp and npm (not in the course content) but other than that he struck my as inexperienced and even he had heads up, he wasn't prepared for our session. That was a point when I sent Code Institute an open letter mentioning all the problems I had with this course and I respectfully asked them to either give me my money back or hire me to help them improve the course. So I could actually do something about it not just whine about it. 

Won't give me my money back

Neither happened. Brian O'Grady - Code Institute director told me that it's over 30 days, so they won't give me my money back. Because I completed stream 1 I tried to be fair and asked them for 2/3 of the money I paid.  Instead he forced himself on me by saying he wants to help me. I'm basically extorted to stay. If you have any other questions about the course, please, contact me here: daniel.hoksza@gmail.com . 

Look elsewhere. 

A lot of content that is covered in Stream 1 is available for free in the Viking Code School.

Btw. they canceled a course with part-time classroom students, because the students weren't happy about the course. They gave them money back or let them join the online course. My reasons aren't big enough I guess.

The good?

HTML, CSS, D3 lessons and Angular were decent.

I recently completed the web development course at Code Institute, and overall, I found it to be a valuable learning experience.

The course is divided into five sections, each beginning with a theory block that includes explanatory videos and quick coding challenges. These theory blocks are well-structured and provide a solid foundation in the respective topics.Following the theory, each section features a prebuilt codealong project, where you replicate a project step-by-step using the concepts learned in the theory block. This practical approach really helped me connect the dots and solidify understanding.The personal projects are where I learned the most. They take up a significant portion of the course. Be prepared to invest a lot of time into these personal projects (80% of the full course time). It's very important to carefully read the project requirements multiple times. Missing even a small requirement can impact your grade significantly.

The theory is quite good, and there's a visible effort to keep the content up to date with modern technologies (html, css, javascript, python, jquery, django, stripe api, react and some more ...), though it's understandably difficult to have everything current at all times. The coding challenges, however, weren't always my cup of tea. They sometimes required specific answers, and minor syntax issues could cause hang-ups, which wouldn't have been an issue using an IDE, as the challenges are done completely within the browser just like with the 5-day coding challange that Code Institute makes avaliable as a taste of whats to come - though keep in mind that the course will get much more challenging compared to the 5-day challenges.

A major plus of the course is the monthly hackathons hosted online. These are excellent opportunities to gain team coding experience, learn agile development, and use Git.

For me, the best aspect of the course was the one-on-one help from a mentor. You have meetings three times for each project, each lasting 30 minutes. While I found this a bit short, it was incredibly helpful to get professional feedback from someone with experience. When I started the course, the lessons used to be 45 minutes which was definitely much more helpful (they got shortened while I was studying). These sessions were key in resolving issues and advancing through the course.

Additionally, the course offers job search assistance through a separate mini-course that helps you create your CV, teaches you about LinkedIn, the job market, and job interviews. There are also job announcements and listings in the course's Slack channel that you can apply to if they fit your profile. There's another 30-minute one-on-one session where you review your CV with an advisor for feedback. Ultimately, you're responsible for writing applications and finding a job that works for you. While this is fair, I feel the course could provide more hands-on assistance in this field given its pricetag (i.e. multiple coaching sessions).

As for the difficulty, it's hard to comment definitively as I had some prior coding knowledge. The course was challenging and required a big time commitment. I spent about 6 hours a day on it for 8 months, with 3 or 4 weekly breaks for holidays (maybe more :) who knows). It's possible to complete the course faster, but I believe the quality of my projects and what I learned would have suffered.

Overall, I would recommend Code Institute's web development course to anyone looking to gain practical skills in web development. The structure, content, and emphasis on hands-on learning make it a worthwhile investment in my opinion.

My journey with Code Institute began unexpectedly with the 5-Day Coding Challenge. I enjoyed that brief introduction and, years later, found myself enrolling in the full course. My goal was simple yet meaningful: I wanted to gain enough knowledge in coding to teach my kids.The course was far from easy. Juggling full-time work and family responsibilities with the rigorous curriculum made it a struggle, especially in the beginning. The material was challenging, and with so many demands on my time, I often had to skip learning modules. At one point, especially during the second project, I nearly quit. However, I pushed myself to keep going, despite countless late nights and the pressure of a 12-hour workday. I eventually realized that my health was more important than any timeline, so I slowed my pace, prioritizing sustainable progress.Code Institute organized regular hackathons. I participated in several of them, which turned out to be invaluable parts of my journey. Through these events, I improved my coding abilities, learned new techniques, and gained insights from working with other team members.Looking back, I’m proud of how far I’ve come. I am no longer the beginner who once hesitated. I now feel confident in my coding skills and am grateful for the rewarding experience that Code Institute provided. It was a hard journey, but sticking with it was worth it in the end.

I am having an amazing experience with Code Institute, and I highly recommend their course to anyone looking to break into web development or further their tech skills. The curriculum is comprehensive, hands-on, and designed to give students the practical skills to excel in the industry. I particularly enjoyed the structured yet flexible approach, which allowed me to learn at my own pace without feeling overwhelmed.
One of the program's standout features is the Careers module. It goes beyond technical skills, focusing on job readiness, CV building, interview preparation, and more. This helped me feel confident about my prospects. The team at Code Institute provides invaluable guidance throughout this process, and the result is that students graduate not only with solid coding skills but also with a polished portfolio and job-seeking strategy.
The supportive community is another big plus. Whether through the Slack channels, peer support, or mentors, there’s always someone to help or provide encouragement. The hackathons are a great opportunity to collaborate, build connections, and put your skills to the test in a fun environment. Overall, it’s been a fantastic journey, and I’m grateful for the learning and growth I’ve experienced.

The course was quite challenging, especially since I had no prior experience with programming. However, the support I received at every stage of my learning journey was invaluable in helping me complete the program and earn my diploma. I want to especially highlight the community organization, where help and guidance were always readily available.The course is excellently structured, with a focus on practical application rather than theory. While the deadlines were strict, they motivated me to mobilize my resources effectively. I consider myself a fully capable specialist, albeit at a beginner level, who can design an application from concept to implementation. I have fallen in love with development, and I owe this to the team at Code Institute. I would highly recommend this bootcamp to anyone unsure of where to learn programming!

I'm not sure what level of overall accreditation this course provides, but I needed to retrain as a programmer.
I am a developer who started my professional career in the 90s, with languages like ASM and C, and I developed many projects in working environments like Visual Studio and with Waterfall methodologies. Today it is essential to work with rapid prototyping languages, in cloud-oriented projects, and in much more flexible development environments.
This course has provided me with the level of information and skills to tackle new projects with current tools and methodologies.
Because of my availability and the complexity of the projects that CI requires, it was not easy for me to graduate, but I do not regret taking this course.

I have done a lot of self studying before and it felt lonely at times. 
Joining Code Institute made me feel so much part of a team with extreme support on each step of a journey. I have attended 2 Hackathons and each was an incredible speed up of my learnings along with presentable soft skills that are so much in demand. (eg. Teamwork, collaboration). Employees love theses skills and knowing there is so much opportunity to showcase them with Code Institute is a huge bonus. 
Havent seen anything like this, curriculum is changing along with the new trends ! You only learn what is really needed today! Not something you will never use again.  100% reccomend if you want to streamline your learnings. 

I completed Full Stack Web Development Diploma with specialisation in e-commerce. It takes 52 intense weeks, a lot of discipline and self learning but you learn plenty. At times it felt course structure could to be adjusted slightly and content updated (something they are doing slowly) but overall they managed to fit in a lot of knowledge in fairly short time. Support is great from peers, tutors and your own mentor too. It always depends how much work you put in yourself and this course is definitely the case. Having option to join hackathons is fantastic, it really helps getting a better feel for real life experience.

I recently completed my bootcamp last month and overall, I found the curriculum to be quite comprehensive. The classes were highly interactive, which kept things engaging, but there were moments where the theoretical aspects felt a bit tedious. My specialization was in data analysis, and in this area, I felt that there wasn't enough support from the student care team, which is something they could improve upon.However, regarding the rest of the full stack course, I believe it covers a wide range of topics effectively. One suggestion I have is that upon completing the course, they could offer graduates the opportunity to pursue an additional specialization, even if it means paying an additional fee.Overall, the bootcamp provided a solid foundation and valuable skills, but there are areas where enhancements could make the experience even better for future students.

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.