DevelopMe_

I took the opportunity to retrain after an ill timed job move meant i was made redundant during the summer. After looking at various different options to me having decided I wanted to learn to code I was quite sure that DevelopMe would offer the best ongoing support and felt that there curriculum was the strongest.

After starting I found that I was quickly vindicated with my decision finding that the teaching and materials were excellent. The course would take place remotely which worked well for me personally from a learning perspective being able to do it in my own home. For the most part there were no issues doing it remotely the occasional longer wait for help could at times be frustrating but i felt this was mitigated knowing that when i did speak to a instructor or teaching assistant that they would take as much time as I needed to help me.   

The pace of the course can be daunting and there is a lot to learn but it is manageable you just have to accept that you wont always get things first time. The instructors are great at reinforcing that its OK to not to get it straight away and the concepts take time to absorb. The support after in my experience has been really good given I got an interview straight away which came through the course.

Overall if you are interested in making a career change DevelopMe is great place to do it.

 DevelopMe are doing a fantastic job raising the next generation of developers. I took the Full-Stack Web Development course and it was excellent! The tech-stack they teach is modern and relevant to the area so you can rest assured you will finish the course with the right skills and technologies to find a job.

I took the course between March and June 2020. Normally the course would take place in the classroom but due to covid-19 we had to do it remotely. Luckily, DevelopMe did an amazing job adapting to the difficult situation and all the teaching material and lectures were still delivered to high quality. The teachers are experts at their fields and the teaching-assistants are very knowledgeable and are always happy to help. Every week you will have a 1 to 1 session with one of the members of staff where they will give you an honest appraisal on how you are doing and will ask you for any feedback on how they can do things better.

Doing a coding bootcamp with DevelopMe has a lot of additional perks like sending parcels to our homes containing snacks of our choosing and stress management lectures to help you emotionally going through this intensive course. After finishing the course DevelopMe will do their best to arrange for you, as many interviews as possible with companies they work with, who they call "Hiring Partners". 2 weeks after finishing the course I was arranged an interview with a hiring partner which ended up employing me! 

I completed the DevelopMe Coding Fellowship in June 2020. I found the course material and instructors to be excellent. The instructors were all experts in their field, and extremely knowledgeable. The instructors and teaching assistants were always available to help and worked hard to facilitate our learning. The course topics were very relevant to what is required in the current job market. 

I took the course during the Covid-19 pandemic and the team at DevelopMe did a fantastic job of making the course work remotely. They even sent snacks to our homes!

Understandably given the environment caused by Covid-19 there seemed to be fewer hiring partners recruiting than normal after the course completion. However, I was very lucky to get a job with a hiring partner after completing the course.

I would recommend DevelopMe to anyone wanting to move to a career in tech.

I highly recommend this course.

I've now been a web developer for 2 years, in the job I got from one of the interviews Develop Me set up for me at the end of the course.

The instructors were very good. The instructors knew what they were doing with code, and also had put thought into how to teach it effectively. 

It helped me figure out what parts of web development I most enjoyed. The 2 weeks we spent solving JavaScript problems really exercised a bit of my brain that I didn't know I had - I loved it.

It really is a very good way to start in web development. 3 months isn't long, and web development requires you to learn a lot. Develop Me did an excellent job of taking our skills and ways of thinking a very long way in the time frame. I appreciated how much we got to try things, putting things into practice and learning practically (with the support and instruction of experienced people). We were trying out things for the first time that felt so new and challenging at times, but to help us we had clear and thorough explanations of the concepts, and plenty of support. This combination of challenge and instruction/support is excellent. 

Alongside all these challenges, there was wide and thorough coverage of use of essential tools, including Git, and the command line.

It gave me a really solid foundation to go into a job as a junior, where you will then learn more, that it would be impossible to teach in 3 months.

The support was great - they always had both the instructor and another web developer on hand to help. I was pretty much a total beginner when I joined the bootcamp, and whenever I felt overwhelmed or unsure, it was so helpful to have a friendly someone on hand to reassure and help or give feedback.

The overall mood of the course was really positive. There is plenty of kindness in the culture they've built up.

Regular pastoral chats and feedback were really helpful.

I also learned how to play table tennis. I'm not sure if they still have the table!

I'm really thankful for this course.

I completed the coding fellowship nearly two and a half years ago, so I hope this review provides the added benefit of some longer term perspective, having successfully transitioned into a rewarding career in tech as a result of completing this course.

The 12 weeks from start to finish were very intense, you will experience high and lows but I have no regrets about embarking on this course. It will provide you with the fundamentals you need to get started across a wide range of languages, at speed.

The best advice I can give to anyone considering enrolling would be to get to a comfortable level with the basics in your own time first (HTML, CSS, JavaScript and anything else that interests you), talk to developers, thoroughly research the industry and have a realistic target with regard to where you want to be by week 12. If you are prepared to put in the work (and the work IS tough) before, during and after the course you will be amazed by the amount of opportunities that will arise which may not have been possible in your previous or current career. Development is tough when starting out, it takes time, hard work and patience, so make sure you know fully know what to expect.

I was able to forge strong working relationships with all of the instructors on my course- they all have bags of experience, know everything there is to know about their specialisms and their support throughout was invaluable. The location and facilitates are good and you will undoubtedly make friends with your fellow students. 
 
On a personal level, I forged a career in the data science route off the back of this course which wasn't directly covered on my cohorts curriculum, but that is what played best to my interests and strengths. That is one of the added benefits of this course; it will enable you to think about the different options available whilst giving you with the skills that employers will be looking for at entry level. 

I would recommend the coding fellowship to anyone who is serious about starting out as a web developer or is perhaps looking to utilise the Dev role as a platform for a wider career in tech. 

I wholeheartedly recommend the DevelopMe coding bootcamp. I did quite a bit of research on various coding bootcamps before committing to DevelopMe and am so glad that I made the right choice. 

I went into the bootcamp with minimal knowledge of coding - changing my career in my 30s after many years in academia (arts). Whilst the work could be intensive at times (there is a lot to learn!), the tutors and support staff are exceptional and the learning environment is relaxed and welcoming. You are encouraged to ask questions throughout the course and, in a weekly progress review, to discuss how you are feeling about the course, your general wellbeing and what could be improved. 

The mentoring programme is a fantastic idea, pairing you with an industry expert with whom you can chat informally about what it is like to work in web development. And DevelopMe continues to support its alumni after graduation - actively helping students through the interview process and updating the resources from the course at regular interviews. 

I am now in my first development job and loving every minute! :) 

I moved to Bristol to attend this course. I did a lot of research before I decided to do as moving is not an easy choice and now I think it was the best choice I've ever made.

One of the great things about DevelopMe is that each different language/topic is taught by the best-specialised tutors. - this was one of the reasons I chose DevelopMe.

All teachers and Teaching Assistants are not only good teachers but great mentors. When I struggled with some concept they were happy to went through it again with me and give extra support. 

I learned a lot and built a good foundation for my career. The course focused on very practical skills. And the course exercises are specifically designed to train you on how developers think and approach the problems which is very important value. When I had interviews, the employers were quite impressed by the way I've trained on the course. 

More importantly, I felt that they really care about their student not only academic wise but emotion wise as well. We had one-to-one every week to check out how we got on and get advice and feedback and get whatever support we needed. 

 

 

 

I did a lot of research before committing to the course, and really believe Develop Me is the best option in the South West. The support on the course was great, and I really think it's worth the money. All of the teachers were fantastic, and it's great to be taught by people who are actually working in the industry. I considered going to university, but that would have been 3 years and cost a lot more ultimately! Instead, in a few months I've gone from working in a call centre to being a web developer! Best decision I made, and it has really changed my life. I did a couple of part time courses first with other providers, which I would recommend, as I believe it helped me to do well on the Develop Me course, and make the most of it. I also did lots of online courses, but I do think you learn more with a teacher, and it's a bit more interesting too. If you identify as a women/non-binary and are aged 18-23, or 18+ and completed studies in the past 2 years, I would highly recommend Code First: Girls. They run free beginners courses in Bristol (and around the country). It's really great prep for Develop Me and won't cost you a thing.

Short review

Course is great, got a job after the course.

 

The long detailed review

My journey started in November 2018. I was working as a web administrator in a cold car body shop. Administering their website, doing thankless tasks and listening to the boss constantly shouting and swearing at the workers. I came across Develop Me through a google search and attended their open evening. They had beer, pizza and we were shown how to make a basic contact form in PHP with some HTML and bootstrap.

 

I have a Computer Science degree and have attempted the self taught route. I can honestly say that I learned more in 12 weeks at Develop Me than I did in my 5 years of my further and higher education. There are some things on the degree program that aren’t taught on the boot camp such as Photoshop (in detail) and Computer and Law theory but I’m sure you’ll learn this as and when. What my degree didn’t teach me was how to be a proficient developer. My typical Web Programming lecture at Uni would consist of an oversized class with one lecturer speaking to you, as if you should know better. If you didn’t know something, you would get a sarcastic answer and get told to go away and look it up.

With Develop Me, there were 9 students, 1 instructor and 1 (sometimes 2) teaching assistants to assist you. There were always some detailed slides to refer too, lots of correct documentation recommended by the instructor and at least 2 knowledgeable people at hand should you need things explained in detail.

 

During the course, you will feel lots of different emotions, frustration, anxiety, uncertainty and some will experience stress. To experience these emotions alone on a self taught route would certainly make you want to give up being a developer. Which was why I failed on the self taught route.  Most of my fellow students were very supportive and we would have a one to one with the founders every Friday to check in and give any constructive feedback. There was a very positive energy on the course with everybody wanting to learn and grow while everybody kept emotionally aware of each other’s frustrations.

Develop Me provides a table tennis table which for me really helped as it allowed me to bond with my fellow cohorts.

There’s also unlimited coffee and a run biscuits every week. I had many great moments talking to fellow cohorts over coffee about my problem and then finding the solution for myself. A term referred to as rubber ducking.

 

The technology taught on the course was very relevant. I won’t list them all as they can change in a flash, so it’s best to visit their website. I came onto the course believing that I knew HTML, CSS and PHP which was one of my biggest mistakes. Going onto a course believing you already know it all.  The first week, the instructor, Ruth Johns blew my tiny little mind of how much there was to HTML and CSS. Lots of things they just don’t teach you on a degree program.

I will openly admit that I struggled half way through the course and didn’t go on to complete the React Native path. But instead, revisited Javascript, Wordpress + PHP again which was suggested by the course leaders. At the time, it was harsh news to hear but the end result really paid off. I’m no working as a Wordpress Developer at a highly established agency working with technologies I really enjoy. Please not that Wordpress is not just editing an existing theme but writing your own theme that requires an understanding of the loop written in PHP.

 

As for the venue, there’s a very creative energy about Paintworks, lots of great companies that pay a premium to be there and lots of potential hiring partners. I was eventually hired by an agency situated just 4 doors away. As for the Friday night beer? There’s a bar just a up some steps that serve great beer and pizza. Parking was free on the road and a bike rack directly outside. Also to add that you’re just a 10 minute walk away from Temple Meads.  These things are all essential to know if you’re going to be there for 12 weeks.

 

As for funding the £8k fee, having rich parents in this situation always helps, but if you’re someone like me who had little savings in the bank, I managed to get a career development loan which, at the time of writing, the program has stopped now but there are other loan companies out there. You’ll need to check for the best interest rates and ensure you have enough funds to survive for 4 months and not 3.

 

After the course finished, the work didn’t stop there. We were given a technical challenge to complete that we would present to potential employers. At first it was a blind panic but breaking down the task, it was challengingly enjoyable. Everything we had learned on the course, we were able to put into practice.

 

So after 12 weeks of intensive learning and 12 grey hairs later, I’m here at my desk in a web development agency developing themes and plugins, working with amazing people and patting the office dog during times of coding frustration.

 

I can confirm that everybody on the course got employed and most of my fellow cohort got offered a junior salary between £21,000 - £23,000. Some companies offering between £16,000 to £20,000 depending on experience. I have been added to the Develop Me Alumini where I’m notified of future upcoming hack nights and events relating to relevant topics.

So there you go, a long detailed review that I hope will confirm the credibility of this course.

A giant thank you to Pete, Oli (co founders) Mark Wales (amazing instructor) Ruth, Jack, George, Chris.

The experience was amazing.

 

I joined the course with around 10 months of prior experience self teaching in my spare time which gave me a great foundation to make the most of this course. At no point did I feel like the content I was studying was a waste of time because I had already got to grips with it, which was an initial concern.

All of the tutors were experts in their speciality and I felt supported and challenged throughout. I also feel the curriculum was suited to the state of the industry at time of writing, and gave me a great understanding of technologies such as React and Redux which I have continued to build on to this day.

I highly recommend preparing as much as you can before you start, otherwise you may find some weeks incredibly challenging, I felt I had a reasonable understanding of Javascript before I started, due to my prior studying but I still found the JS weeks to be incredibly challenging.

I was provided with ample oppertunites upon completion of the course for employment, though it did take me around 2 months to secure employment. However, in this time DevelopMe_ were in contact to make sure the search was going well. 

Highly recommend the course for anyone looking to career transition, and you can leave feeling confident you have a solid grounding in the core technologies required to begin your journey as a web / software developer.

I was part of the Summer 2018 Full Stack Web Dev Bootcamp and really enjoyed the experience. I wasn't sure I'd be able to re-train at this stage in my life (being ancient at the age of 31) but the trainers were very patient and the course really well structured. It was challenging, of course, but I got through it and learnt this entire new skill set in a crazy short amount of time. There was lots of support available throughout the course and probably just as much support now having finished the course months ago. Timing was unfortunate for work placements as there weren't many companies hiring when we graduated but it didn't matter, I was still able to find a job within about 4-5 weeks of completing the course (and the first 2.5 weeks of that I wasn't looking or applying as I was getting strung along by one of the work placement companies lol). Pete was also really good at keeping me up to date with tons of oppurtunities/vacancies around Bristol and Bath. I've now since left my first junior web dev role and am getting ready to start my second, with a better company with better prospects... all within a few months of graduating from my Developme_ Bootcamp. If this is what you want to do with your life and you're thinking about signing up, just do it. I was apprechensive and a little terrified about investing so much money in myself but you only live once and if you're willing to put in just a little work and effort you can litterally change your life in as little as 12 weeks. 

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.

I began DevelopMe's full stack coding fellowship in early 2019 as a reasonably tech-literate ex-teacher, but with no practical coding experience whatsoever. With the support of DM's tutors and staff, over the next three months I learnt the fundamentals of programming, got on overview of the different disciplines that make up the development industry and, most importantly, acquired the skill, knowledge and confidence necessary to continue developing as a coder independently beyond the scope of the course. The clue's in the name see. 

To say that enrolling on DM's bootcamp positively affected my life is an understatement. I'm now entering my 9th month as a front-end developer for a really exciting e-commerce business; it's a job that challenges me intellectually and creatively, and provides me with a great work/life balance: something that seemed almost unachievable only a year and a half ago. 

So, thank you DevelopMe_ ! If you're thinking about getting into web-development, look no further.

I did a lot of research before signing up for the bootcamp as this was a huge decision for me to make. Being in my 40’s with a family and changing career was a pretty daunting, and I was concerned that it would be difficult for me to find work but it turned out this has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!

The teachers on the course were amazing and it was great to be taught by people with real experience in the industry, who knew what you really needed to know to get a job on graduation. There was also a classroom assistant who was fantastic and always there to help.

They also assigned each student an industry mentor which was great, and gave a real insight into the industry. I still meet up with my mentor since graduating for a beer and a chat!

The support to find work was great as well; preparing us with mock interviews and then helping to get actual job interviews.

Overall the bootcamp has amazing teachers, a great curriculum and fantastic job assistance. I thoroughly recommend it. Go for it, you won’t regret it!!

The team at DevelopMe are super! I completed the Summer 2019 cohort and not only thoroughly enjoyed it but also learned so much about coding and web development - I got offered a job 10 days after graduating! It's a fun and intense 3 months of hard work and bootcamp style learning. But if you want it, it's worth it! Couldn't recommend these guys more highly. They lined me up with job interviews and and helped me prep. And there's a ping pong table! 

I would wholeheartedly recommend DevelopMe to anyone who is looking to become a web developer/work in the tech sector. The material is interesting, fun and relevant, and the teachers truly are experts in their fields. You get a chance to try a bit of everything, to see what suits your own preferences best. The support you get throughout the course is of the highest quality, and the individual 1 on 1's each week are so helpful in getting a solid understanding of how you are doing and where you want to go.

The benefits of studying at DevelopMe go beyond just learning the material - it's also an amazing opportunity to meet people who already work in the industry, network and build rapport in a safe and supported environment. The support continues when you finish the  course, as DevelopMe will do their best to match each student with relevant job opportunities and coach you on how to handle the interviews. This made the whole interview process significantly less daunting!

Overall, DevelopMe is an absolutely amazing opportunity to change your career and enter the tech sector with a solid support network behind you - I can't recommend them highly enough.

I recently completed the bootcamp at DevelopMe, and I would recommend it to someone who's insterested in programming/web development. At first, I was apprehensive, and I wasn't sure if it was going to be the right thing for me. I had some self study under my belt in Python, which isn't covered on the course, so I had some worries that I wouldn't get on well with the languages in the syllabus. Well, I attended an open evening and decided to take the plunge. I was given a pre-course preparation syllabus to work through, and I dedicated a lot of time to completing it before the course began, which I feel really paid off. I found that my worries were unfounded, really, as it wasn't necessarily Python I was interested in, but the process programming. I also wasn't sure if web development was going to be right for me, but in reality, working with programming languages was the thing that interested me, rather than the difference between 'software developer' and 'web developer'.

Once I was on the course itself, I have to say that it felt great to be in the learning environment. The teachers were all great: concepts were explained very clearly and were always followed up with a hefty amount of practical challenges that consolidated everything very well. If anyone ever had any difficulties, the teachers were great about going over things again, helping people understand, and making sure everyone was up to speed in order to move on to the next part. Learning programming languages can be confusing at times, but the moments of satisfaction when you solve a problem are far more rewarding than the frustration of not getting things can be. If you feel like you have the kind of mind that likes to get stuck into a problem and feel motivated to work through something until you figure out how to solve it, then you will probably get on well with the course.

The syllabus was pretty wide, giving us experience of a wide range of technologies which we could choose from to implement a final project at the end. Once we had completed the projects, we were set up with interviews by the course organisers, and our projects were sent to the employers so that they could see what we had created. The support during the interview process seemed great. Each person was set up with ~4 interviews, with continued support after that, meaning that if those interviews didn't lead to anything, they continue to set you up with more. That said, companies seem pretty keen to hire developers, and several companies already have a few past graduates, and continue to come back to hire fresh graduates from the course.

Now, I've been working at a web development agency for 3 months, and things are going great! I'm continuing to learn a lot, and the job is much more fulfilling than anything I've done in the past. If you've been dabbling in code, and find it's the kind of thing that really draws you in, and you can lose yourself for hours solving problems and fixing bugs and implementing things, then you might be coming from a similar place as I did, and will really benefit from taking a fast-track approach to get you into the industry like this.

I've recently finished the Coding Fellowship (12-week coding bootcamp) at DevelopMe. This comprehensive course is taught by professionals with years of experience in the industry. Its curriculum is regularly revised and updated to be in step with the latest trends and technologies.

The class is formed of a small group of selected students. Along with the instructors and the assistants, this creates a strong sense of community in which you feel comfortable and gives you an excellent opportunity to learn from your classmates as well. Everybody starts with a relatively different level of knowledge but the course presents a challenge to all at their respective level.

I've personally decided to go for a career change seeking a more flexible lifestyle which also stimulates my creativity. Coming from a completely unrelated background (retail, customer service), and being English my second language, this course represented a huge challenge for me. I was not sure if I was ready to do it but they help you get ready with a list of lectures and online lessons to go through before starting. This way you'll get familiar with some fundamental technologies which are essential for the course.

There were tough times but I've always counted on the support from the team. And I mean real support:
-they have always been there to talk about my performance, to reassure me and give me ideas about what to do to work on the areas I was concerned.
-1 to 1 feedback sessions that take place every Friday in which they highlight your improvements and point at the areas that need more attention so you know what to focus on. Also, at these feedback sessions, they do want to hear about your own needs so they could better help you. If they can do something, they will not hesitate to carry it out.

Right after finishing the course, they got me four interviews in different companies and sent me the details of a 5th company, in which I've got an interview by showing them the projects I'd built during the course. So 5 interviews in total, which resulted in 2 job offers. I couldn't believe it! A year ago I was wondering what to do with my life, and then after the course, I even had the privilege of choosing where my first dev job was going to be. And that's only my own story, but my other 8 classmates also land a job right after this course. That's why I cannot recommend DevelopMe strongly enough.

You'll surely face a challenging time at some points (and if by any chance you don't, you should be trying harder!) but keep going and trust them. Trust their experience. Trust their knowledge. They really want you to succeed and they will put all their effort into it. And so, you will.

I have recently completed the 12 week full stack web development bootcamp as a part of the winter 2019 cohort.

 

After 12 years working in an entirely unrelated sector and being in my mid thirties I was unsure whether I’d be able to transition into web development in 12 weeks. The combination of the teachers, teaching assistants and well thought through curriculum enabled me to learn so much more than I thought possible.  I worked through as much of the pre-course study as I could (I would advise any other prospective students to do the same) but I would never have imagined that I’d be able to work with so many frameworks and libraries and produce such complex work so quickly.

 

The curriculum is constantly updated to keep up with the most current libraries and working practices and the teachers vary so that you were always being taught by someone with real life industry experience. The teaching was a blend of lectures, challenges and  both solo and group projects that meant you had plenty of time working alone and with others. Within our cohort there was a lot of peer support as well as being helped by the staff. I found analysing and bug fixing other peoples code really helpful for improving my own.

 

I would advise making the most of the opportunities outside of the classroom. Mentoring was worthwhile. I found making contacts in the industry really helpful and encouraging. There is also support available for preparing for job interviews. Every Friday there is a one-to-one feedback session where you receive feedback on your progress and any areas you should focus on or spend some time studying. This is also an opportunity to feed back on the course, something that they take very seriously and noticeably acted upon which was great to see.

 

The course was a rollercoaster of challenges, frustration, eureka moments, occasionally feeling at an utter loss and deep satisfaction when I finally got whatever concept had stumped me/found the bug/got the damn thing to work. It has given me a real desire to keep learning and improving my knowledge and expanding my skills.

 

I’m currently waiting to start a role as a developer and am very happy that I decided to take the leap.

After 18 years working in secretarial and personal assistant roles in various sectors, I began considering my next career move and had been looking into web development for a while.  I had completed a few home learning courses in HTML and CSS and watched various online tutorials but it was the Develop Me bootcamp that enabled me to accomplish my career change.  

I was starting to fear that in my late 30s, it was too late to change career and that I would be out of my depth and competing with university leavers but was assured that none of these were the case.  There were students older and younger than me from various backgrounds, with different skill sets to offer and it became clear that age wasn’t even a factor. 

The course is 12 weeks long with a different subject covered every week.  It was intensive and challenging, with a lot of information to take in but at the same time very rewarding and enjoyable.  The tutors throughout the course are specialised in their topics and so information is relevant and up to date. 

All of the staff were supportive, friendly and approachable and there are weekly 1:1 catch up meetings with all the students for regular feedback and an opportunity to discuss anything.  The class had 10 students in it which was an ideal number for paired and group work tasks and still lots of opportunity for individual assistance and support from the staff. 
Everyone is provided with a key to access the classroom so there was opportunity to go in early or at the weekend if you wanted to. 

In the second half of the course each student was given contact details to their own mentors, all of which were people that work in the tech sector and have lots of knowledge and experience to pass on.  I found this immensely helpful as extra support with getting my CV prepared and gaining an insight from someone who has had a long career in this sector.

The students in my group all bonded really well together and many breaktime and lunchtime games of table tennis were enjoyed by all!

Towards the end of the course we were prepared for interviews and put forward for various work placements.  

I am now 7 months into my first application developer role and am incredibly happy there.  There have been many moments along the way where I have felt out of my depth as there is so much to learn and so many different directions you can go in, but when I think back to where I was and what I was doing a year ago, I realise I have come a very long way, achieved and learnt a lot, met so many fantastic people.

I highly recommend the Develop Me course and thank the staff for all their support in my career change.

As a full time working professional, my only option was to do a part time course if I wanted to learn web development in a classroom environment, so I was very happy to have found DevelopMe! It worked perfectly around my schedule, provided a small class to learn in (there were 5 of us), and the course covered enough to get me started with my learning and continue on my own following the course... Now I’m just waiting for them to do a JavaScript course (hint hint)! 

Thanks to the course I’m now able to build modern responsive websites, and code without too many bad habits (which I would have picked up with self-learning for sure)!

I throughly enjoyed my experience at DevelopMe and would definately reccomend the course to anyone interested in getting into web development.

Before I started the course I was looking for a change in career and was trying to break into web development. I was completing online courses to gain some skills, but I felt I needed a more in depth method of learning before I was compfortable finding a job in the industry. So after attending a taster session I signed up for the the course, and I'm very glad I did.

The entire course was extremely engaging (and brain melting at times), and all of the teachers that lead the different sections of the course were excellent. The staff at DevelopMe are helpful, friendly and knowledgable, and all though the course itself was mentally intense, the atmosphere was always relaxed and inclusive.

The monetary , time, and mental investment into the course was significant, but now being a few months into my first front-end developer job, it has proven to be well worth it.

As a first step into UX, this course packed in a variety of topics/diseplinse plus the opportunity to work with an actual client throughout the course which enabled us to start building a portfolio.

The course instructors were brilliant, they provide a wealth of knowledge and resources as well as being on-hand for support oustide of the sessions. And they taught in a relaxed way that made it easy to digest information.

The Coding Fellowship is not just for career changers, it’s also a great opportunity for self-taught developers to update their skills and to keep up with the industry standards. It’s an intense and challenging 12 week bootcamp that requires hard work and full commitment, but at the end you will be rewarded with job interviews and great opportunities to really start your career as a developer. Bristol is full of great tech companies, which makes this bootcamp even better, as DevelopMe is well known and valued in Bristol’s tech scene.

Within 3 months you will learn the most important skills to become a web developer. The content of the bootcamp is well designed and the instructors are just amazing, always available and willing to help you with any questions you might have. As the class sizes are small (we had 10), you will get very personalized support when needed and they are checking on your progress weekly on one-on-one meetings. DevelopMe is also very open for suggestions and they are constantly updating the content to remain up to date with the industry.

In class there was a teaching assistant available to give you extra help and DevelopMe will pair you up with a mentor, who will advice you outside of the classroom. You will also get great support for job interviews and technical challenges to stand out from the crowd, all personalized just for you.

I got hired by a well established tech company in Bristol just few weeks after the course, so I couldn’t be happier with the bootcamp. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to make a career change to web development or to improve their coding skills. And yes, it’s well worth the money!

The Coding Fellowship was overall challenging, rewarding and incredibly fun. It gave us a broad range of skills that were invaluable for a future in web development.
The course was very well structured and continually updated so that we learnt the most relevant content for going into industry. The modules were one to two weeks each and were taught by very experienced professionals, all of whom were amazingly knowledgeable and always willing to explain anything. The class was small which was a good environment to learn in and as well as the instructor there was always a teaching assistant available to help. It's very apparent that the whole course was very well thought-out as we had weekly quizzes,  feedback reviews and  assigned a mentor who was always willing to meet up and give any advice.
At the end of the course, I was lined up with 6 interviews with a range of really interesting tech companies. This was an intense couple of weeks but we continued to get support from Oli and Pete, by means of interview practice and any additional support needed before and after the interviews.
I am now coming into my 3rd week at my internship, and am incredibly fortunate to be in a great company. I could honestly say that everyone working at DevelopMe has been invaluable in helping me to get here.

The Coding Fellowship has more than met my expectations. I’m impressed that we are taught by different instructors each of them with many years experience working with the technology that they are teaching. Not only that but they can all teach as well, which is obviously important that they have the ability to articulate complex concepts to other people. I have found all the instructors very knowledgeable and inspiring.

I also feel that a lot of hard work has gone into the curriculum as it teaches the latest core concepts of the language or tool and you then get a chance to code and put into practise what you have learnt. It is set at the right pace. The curriculum has been tweaked and fine tuned with every cohort, so it is now difficult to suggest any improvements, which is something we are all asked every Friday in our weekly feedback meetups with a DevelopMe person.

At the end of the day, just about everything you could want to know is available somewhere online for free. But working for hours on your own without the support of knowledgeable instructors or a community of peers will not yield the same results as an immersive program like the Coding Fellowship. It’s certainly a big commitment of time, money, and energy, but I don’t think there’s a better way to prepare yourself for a career in web development.

I chose DevelopMe because their curriculum offered a broad introduction to full stack web development.  Their programme delivery was excellent in terms of teaching content and quality of instructors.  Instructors was highly knowledgeable and supportive but students were never spoon fed learning.  The three month bootcamp was always challenging and very rewarding. 

DevelopMe organised a number of internship interviews for me on completion of my course, one of which led to full time employment as a junior web developer.

DevelopMe's course content and style of teaching prepared me for the kinds of challenge I now face as a junior developer.  I would recommend the course to motivated learners who are able to sustain the intense pace of learning offered by this three month bootcamp.

If you're looking for a direct route into web development then the Coding Fellowship is definitely for you. The course teaches you the latest web technologies and best practices which you can use to build fantastic projects, all whilst collaborating with like-minded people looking to get the most out of the experience. 

The teachers are all industry experts and genuinely care about your learning experience. The people there are amazing and a lot of work is put in to ensure the course content remains up-to-date and relevant. Develop Me keep the cohort size small which means you are well looked after, you are never without support from either your teacher, teaching assistant, mentor or fellow students. 

The support does not stop when the course ends, you are matched with a number of tech companies all of which are offering a 3 month internship to succesful candidates. Develop Me help you write your CV and conduct mock interviews which are especially useful to those who haven't experienced a technical interview before (they're not that scary really). 

In the end I had 3 job offers out of 4. Develop Me displayed the ultimate show of faith in their Fellowship programme by offering me a Developer/Teaching Assistant internship. I'm now 2 weeks into my job there and it has to be said that this is the best decision I've made.

Attend one of the introductory evenings and I promise you won't regret it!