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Makers Academy is a highly selective, tech program which teaches Software Engineering, Data Analytics, DevOps (or Cloud), and Test Engineering online and in hybrid cohorts at their campus in London, England. Makers Academy is creating a new generation of tech talent who are skilled and ready for the changing world of work. The academy is inspired by the idea of discovering and unlocking potential in people for the benefit of the 21st-century business and society. At the core, Makers combines tech education with employment possibilities that transform lives. The academy accepts only exceptional applicants into the course. While they are highly selective, they focus on a student's passion for becoming a developer by gauging their coding experience. Makers Academy offers apprenticeships through their bootcamps.
The course has been designed by a team of inspirational software engineers with strong backgrounds in educational psychology, enabling students to master any technology in today's marketplace. As big believers in self-directed learning, students will finish the course as a confident and independent software engineer ready to hit the ground running. There's a focus on life-long learning skills, while the course includes technical tests, working on open-source code or even working with the Makers engineering team on live, real-world, production code.
With one of the UK’s largest careers team dedicated to finding students a job after the end of the course, Makers Academy will introduce students to over 250 of London’s top technology companies looking to hire, including but not limited to: Deliveroo, British Gas, Starling Bank, Financial Times, Compare The Market.com, and Tesco.
So 12 weeks and 8k later, what have I got going on after going through Makers Academy? Well I’ve gotten really good at googling stuff, that’s for sure.
Going in to the course I was really pumped up and perhaps a little guilty myself of believing all the hype. I don’t know what previous cohorts were like but I don’t think I got value for money and feel like a lot of time was wasted. Time that could have been used to give us a really solid education....So 12 weeks and 8k later, what have I got going on after going through Makers Academy? Well I’ve gotten really good at googling stuff, that’s for sure.
Going in to the course I was really pumped up and perhaps a little guilty myself of believing all the hype. I don’t know what previous cohorts were like but I don’t think I got value for money and feel like a lot of time was wasted. Time that could have been used to give us a really solid education. The biggest problem for me was the lack of trainers. The first few weeks were fine but it got to the point where all the staff were working on other things or unavailable for some reason. It’s really hard to learn a subject properly if there’s no one around to teach it. I got so fed up of being told to go away and google everything. When I asked what would we do if google wasnt an option, I was told to use bing or yahoo. I’m not sure if this was a joke or not. I understand as a new developer we will have to rely on google a lot but I want to at least understand the basics and have the ability to solve simple problems. When you add up all the time spent clapping, meditating and other non related events you realise you’ve spent half of your 12 weeks doing nothing that is related to the actual course subject. Do we really need so much relaxation and stress management. The only thing stressing me out was not doing the course i’d paid for. One thing that is probably just me but still stood out was the staff and trainers swearing. Now swearing doesn’t offend me and I understand that the odd word here and there is usual in the workplace. The problem is when you swear all the time people don’t hear what you’re saying, they just hear a bunch of swear words. It’s basically very distracting. So, have I walked away as a junior full stack web developer? No. Have I walked away with a solid foundation in ruby and pair programming skills? Yes. Would I recommend based on my course? No.I'll start by saying that I quickly found a development job after graduating from Makers Academy, so in that respect if you're looking to make a career change and break into the web development arena, it's certainly an option, however I'm not convinced if Makers is the best option when it comes to the bootcamp experience...
The on-site portion of the course is broken down into two sections where students are classified as either Juniors or Seniors. Both sections of the course are...
I'll start by saying that I quickly found a development job after graduating from Makers Academy, so in that respect if you're looking to make a career change and break into the web development arena, it's certainly an option, however I'm not convinced if Makers is the best option when it comes to the bootcamp experience...
The on-site portion of the course is broken down into two sections where students are classified as either Juniors or Seniors. Both sections of the course are six weeks long. I found the first six weeks of the course to be to a great standard; learning was well structured, the instructors (Sam, Leo and Roi) were passionate, engaging and knowledgeable in their field. I honestly could not fault this portion of the course.
In contrast, the final six weeks of the course leaves a lot to be desired. I found that the new set of 'Senior' coaches may well have been non-existant as a means of developing our skill set. They were often missing in action, late to stand-ups, unable to explain concepts concisely or convincingly, etc. When posed with a question, the go-to response always seems to be 'Google it', which is palmed off as being a means of improving your investigation skills as a developer. While I can appreciate this to a certain extent, I feel that the coaches should have been more involved in helping to solidify our understanding of certain concepts. Had I the intention of spending the majority of my time 'Googling' issues, I would not have attended the course.
I almost felt like some suggestions went in one ear and out the other, as your questions or suggestions would often be met with an unconcerned shrug (given that one such coach was only recently a former Makers student and quickly left the organisation after I graduated, I'd argue that this is an issue with the Makers hiring process and that they need to more carefully select their staff).
One particularly irritating point was that, upon offerring suggestions on how the coaches could be utilised more effectively, my cohort was often told 'the coaches are busy doing other things, such as working on the curriculum'. Please bear in mind that the curriculum in question is the curriculum that the next Cohort will be using, i.e. it benefits the current Cohort in no way, and as such, is not our concern. From my point of view, the coaches' primary concern should be addressing the needs of their current students.
The after-course careers support service is also, unfortunately, very poor. Makers works in coordination with hiring partners that often employ Makers Alumni, and while this works for some, I found that there were a small number of companies hiring for an equally small number of roles, some of which are based in obscure locations that I can't feasibly see many people being in a position to take. I found that the majority of people are finding work outside of Maker's partner circle.
Now onto the positives; what are you getting for your £8k? You're getting a structured (albeit incomplete) curriculum that progressively builds upon concepts that help to solidify your u nderstanding of the product development lifecycle. You're getting access to equipment and a space occupied by like-minded individuals who you can partner with to solve a common problem - in essence, you're learning from and with your peers. Personally I did not find the course as challenging as others have made it out to be, however if you find yourself in this position the more spirtual aspects of the course (such as yoga and meditation) are there to support your health of mind and body.
Despite the above rant, I've given Makers a 3/5 in recognition of the fact that I was able to obtain a job quickly after graduating. I honestly had a great time on the course, spending time with a fabulous bunch of people, however my critiques are in view of the fact that I, and others, paid a large sum of money to attend the course and therefore expect extremely high standards. Had the second half of the course been in line with the standards of the first half, this would have been a 5 star review without a question.
Makers is capable of great things so I hope they do not allow standards to slip; I only hope that the negative portions of my experience were a result of on-going, unexpected change in the organisation and not reflective of what is to come.
I would urge Makers to strive for improvement and not be content with the current service that they are offering. There needs to be more engagement between coach and student, the curriculum needs to be improved (which I understand is a work in progress), more practical demonstrations should be offerred (whenever they were, I found that they were greatly beneficial in accelerating our learning). There also needs to be more transparency over the careers support, which I hope I have highlighted in this review.
If you are considering a career change then go no further and join Makers Academy. 8k might seem a lot but believe me, you will enjoy every moment and when you start your new job, you will have no regrets!
awesome awesome awesome. Cant recommend this life changing experience enough
So I usually don't write reviews for much but I know this is a huge decision for some and when I was doing my research I was always wishing there were more reviews (especially for some of the online bootcamps). So I'm about to finish up Makers Academy Ronin, which is now Makers Academy Remote and wanted to write this while it was still fresh. Sorry for the length but I tried to be as in depth as possible.
TL;DR- Makers Academy Remote has been an amazing experience. They have a lo...
So I usually don't write reviews for much but I know this is a huge decision for some and when I was doing my research I was always wishing there were more reviews (especially for some of the online bootcamps). So I'm about to finish up Makers Academy Ronin, which is now Makers Academy Remote and wanted to write this while it was still fresh. Sorry for the length but I tried to be as in depth as possible.
TL;DR- Makers Academy Remote has been an amazing experience. They have a lot of positives and a few downsides for people not in London or willing to move to London. Despite that, I was able to get a job offer on Friday of week 10 and in the US starting the Tuesday after the course finishes. I’d definitely recommend Makers Remote to anyone who knows they want to get into Ruby and can dedicate the time and effort to the class. Makers is growing so they're starting to have more reach in the job placement/help department.
My time at Makers has been a little different from my classmates. I'm in the US so with the time difference it's been rough. For the last 12 weeks, I've had to get up at 3:30-4:00 am every day, and when I visited my family on the West Coast, I was waking up at 12:30-1:00am. Going into this class, I was nervous for that reason alone but I knew if I did a self-paced bootcamp that I wouldn't accomplish as much in 12 weeks (I'd have an excuse to delay or put off work). I was fortunate enough to have a 3 month break from work due to my work schedule but that meant I was on a time crunch for the course. I went into the course hoping for a job shortly after graduating knowing if I didn’t, I’d need to go back to my current position. So now that you know what my situation was when I chose Makers, I guess I'll go over why I chose Makers Ronin.
I did my research for probably 6-7 months before I decided on one. I went back and forth between in person and remote courses. I was accepted into 6 or 7 bootcamps that had some pretty rigorous application processes and some low acceptance rates. I actually paid a reservation fee for one but then decided on Makers Ronin because of a few things. First was timing. I needed to start before a certain date so I could finish the bootcamp before I had to go back to work if I didn’t get a developing job. Second was price. There was a huge price difference, especially if you opt for in person bootcamp. I did it from my home and didn't have to pay extra for room and board. That helped tremendously. Compared to other online (Launch Academy, Learn.co) bootcamps it was probably similar if you finish them in 3-4 months. I’m not sure how doable that is with self-paced, I tried finding out but they were just too new when I was applying to bootcamps. Third (as stated before) it wasn't a self-paced course. I know myself. Had I done a self-paced bootcamp, I would have skipped school for the slightest reason. "Oh it's a full moon tonight, I can't do school…” “Gosh darn it, it’s the Asiatic Sparrow-Hawk’s migratory season, guess I’ll stop school for 2 months…" Makers kept me on track to finish in 12 weeks. It was rough given the time difference but doable. Fourth reason was their results. At the time I was doing my research, they were showing, or at least advertising, some pretty incredible results for both in-person and Ronin. It was hard not to do the class since it was everything I wanted and then some. So those are the reasons why I chose it.
Most of those reasons held true and some deviated from my expectations slightly. The deviations mostly were in the job department and basically the whole reason most go to a bootcamp. Most of us do the bootcamps to get a job or help our current career. So first, and it's not really Makers fault at all, is since they're based out of London, their connections are mostly in London. They're slowly branching out to other parts of the world but haven't quite reached the wonderful US of A. So that was extremely nerve wracking. Basically if I didn't want to move to London or the few other European locations (which I didn't), I was on my own for available jobs. I didn’t have the connections that knew what Makers Academy was or sometimes even bootcamps in general. I know there have been a few, not sure how many, Americans that have done the Remote course. I was never given any information on if they received job offers or not, so that was another scary part. I was basically going into this not knowing if I'd be able to get a job at my location. Another deviation was the job report for remoters. What we were told initially was slightly different from what we were told during the class. If I remember correctly they basically told us that if you're not in London, your chances of getting a job drastically decrease. Somewhat expected but still scary. The percentages provided that time weren't as great as they made it seemed when I first started the class. Also, when they were telling us about the results, they informed us that they had one cohort where no one got a job but they took full responsibility for that. Not sure if it was because of the curriculum or coaches or what. The results did seem to be increasing with every cohort but I felt as if they skewed the results to their favor. When someone has to justify why they’re only counting certain people for their results, it gets me wondering what the results really are. This is just my opinion about the information they provided us during the course, it could be off. You might want to ask them for the job placement results for each and every remote cohort. Could help your decision based on your location. They still have really good results and as I said before, they’re getting better with every cohort. We’re not yet at the hiring week where they give pointers about your resumé (CV) and how to deal with interviews and such. I’m sure it’s helpful and I plan to learn a lot from it for future job interviews.
As far as the curriculum goes, I feel it was everything they promoted. Now I’m not sure if this learning style is for everyone. It's very fast paced and a firehose of information. They do a workshop in the morning and then we break off into pairs for a weekly project. On the weekends we had solo projects that were fun and challenging. They are very hands-off because they’re trying to simulate a dev shop as much as possible, well that’s how they sell it at least. If we had a question that we couldn’t find or get answered someway, the instructor was willing to step in and guide us but still never giving a direct answer. It can be extremely frustrating at times when you just want to know the answer but I can see the value in that. Towards the end of the course, it was almost like completely giving up on life if I had to ask the coach for help. I would do everything I could to get the answer without asking him. The majority of the answers are on stack overflow, it’s just a matter of figuring out how to make it work with your code. We’ll see just how helpful it all was when I start my job. Some of the curriculum seemed to be incomplete or pieced together from different versions. It was a huge pain for some of the challenges and as you can imagine, quite frustrating. Their curriculum is open-sourced so it’s constantly being updated and changed for the better. So what I went through won’t be the same as the next cohort and so on. I do believe they have a pretty solid curriculum, not sure all my classmates will agree but that’s how I feel at least.
I’d say the biggest thing when it comes to their curriculum and getting a job is to make sure that Ruby is a popular language in the area you want to work. After starting the class, I quickly realized that I was in a .Net/Java heavy area with very few Ruby companies even in the area. So that drastically lowered my chances of getting a job. Makers Ronin has been great and I’m glad I did it. I met a lot of people, learned a lot (to say the least) and now have a skill under my belt that would have taken a lot longer had I done it on my own. To put it in perspective, I met a guy who was doing the Free Code Camp to try and learn. He started about 6 month before me and after 4 to 5 weeks of Makers, I already knew more than he did. I’m not sure how dedicated he was to the Free Code Camp but that’s part of being on a self-paced curriculum compared to one that’s not. I’d most definitely recommend Makers Remote to someone if their goals line up with Makers’ curriculum. It’s not for everyone, that’s for sure but if you dedicate 12 weeks out of your life to finish the course and make sure you remain enthusiastic along the way, I believe you’ll do fine and enjoy it.
My results: I received a job offer on the Friday of week 10 of the course for a local company who uses Ruby on Rails. I had an interview Tuesday of week 11 with another company and possibly another later in the week or early next week with yet another company. I start my job the Tuesday after we finish the course which is awesome. To have a job before graduating is a great feeling. I’d say the most valuable piece of advice given to me was to get involved in the local developer community. We have a pretty active one where I’m at. I went to as many meetings as I could, messaged and emailed multiple managers and other developers telling them about my past experiences and what I was doing with the bootcamp. That probably helped more than anything. I had a lot of responses and a few that, as stated earlier, led to interviews and an offer. Good luck with whatever bootcamp you decide on, there are a lot of good ones out there, you just need to decide on which one lines up with your goals and expectations.
I applied to Makers Academy (MA) after my younger brother had completed the course and I was, frankly, jealous of the job opportunities available to him, and that he had a literacy in something I could only dream of.
Having graduated from uni I was left feeling like my degree didn't really set me apart and I wanted to upskill myself so I could compete with my peers in the job market. I also wanted to make moves towards a career that would challenge me and provide lots of opportu...
I applied to Makers Academy (MA) after my younger brother had completed the course and I was, frankly, jealous of the job opportunities available to him, and that he had a literacy in something I could only dream of.
Having graduated from uni I was left feeling like my degree didn't really set me apart and I wanted to upskill myself so I could compete with my peers in the job market. I also wanted to make moves towards a career that would challenge me and provide lots of opportunity for growth - something I felt I didn't have in my current role.
In summary, i've doubled my salary and wildly boosted my career opportunities in the space of 3 months, having never touched code before my interview preparation. You get out of MA as much as you put in. It's an incredibly hard course, and you're studying pretty much none stop for the 3 months. There were definitely moments where I felt like I wasn't going to make it. But I signed up to be challenged and thats exactly what I got.
Experience:
The learning environment at MA is great. They acknowledge what a challenge it can be, and work really hard to create an environment that looks after people's mental and physical health whilst they're studying. It was those extra things, the focus on feedback and open lines of communciation, the ethos of supporting one another, and being surrounded by so many passionate and aspirational people is what really made it for me.
Instructors:
For the most part I found the instructors/coaches great. They challenged me, often answered my question with another question which, whilst occasionally annoying, has made me a more independent thinker and confident at solving my own problems. I did feel like my cohort could have benefitted from greater contact time with the coaches. They often felt somewhat absent during the day to day runnings of the place, more so towards the latter half of the course - however, as we became more autonomous and capable their intervention was less and less neccessary.
Curriculum:
The curriculum is rigorous and does what it says on the tin: gives you the skills you need to get a job as a developer. My learning is not over and I doubt it ever will be. But I felt like the structure of the course, and the sue of Ruby as a teaching lagnuage (followed by JS) gave me a fluid and comprehensive understanding of web development. The curriculum will always be a work in proress; students are encouraged to feed back on materials that they don't think are up to scratch or that aren't giving them the clearest understanding of the topic in question. There were a couple of weeks during my time on the course where I felt like that materials weren't as strong as they needed to be to thoroughly teach me that topic, however I have looked at the materials again since graduating and they have been updated and improved based on this kind of feedback.
Job Assistance:
I can't really comment much on this as I found a job relatively quickly after graduating based on my own networking. However, I would say that MA did a lot to encourage me into these kind of networking events, and the careers week at the end of the course in particular I found extremely useful in terms of teaching me how to approach interviews for this kind of industry. They also provide a whole wealth of resources that I will forever be able to reference back to, that cover technical interview questions and how to handle them, tech test advice, and more general guidance on how to job hunt in the tech industry. Their team is incredibly knowledgable on the tech scene in London and beyond, and they were great about advising me on the company I was applying to, and also gave me the confidence and guidance to negotiate a higher salary. I think with the job assistance you get out of it as much as you put in (ie: they won't chace you, the onus is on you to job hunt & keep them in the loop as much as you see fit) and there isn't quite as much support beyond careers week as students expect there to be. I think that MA could do to improve their connections beyond London within the UK but I am aware that they are currently working hard on this matter in particualr.
The course isn't cheap. But I think it is a better investment than my degree, which these days appears to just be a tick I can put in a box. I am glad I did it, it was the right decision, and I would absolutely recommend this if you're the kind of person that doesn't shy away from hard work, likes to be challenged, and is looking for a way to break into the tech industry.
Makers Academy is hard - but it is exactly what I was after when I decided to change careers. I wanted to come out with the ability to build anything I could think of, and that's what I've got. Practical, real world, immersive, challenging learning, teaching me how to craft solid code (fully tested) with in-demand languages and frameworks, how to code with people (in pairs and in teams) and also that I can actually build anything I put my mind to.
I re...
Makers Academy is hard - but it is exactly what I was after when I decided to change careers. I wanted to come out with the ability to build anything I could think of, and that's what I've got. Practical, real world, immersive, challenging learning, teaching me how to craft solid code (fully tested) with in-demand languages and frameworks, how to code with people (in pairs and in teams) and also that I can actually build anything I put my mind to.
I repeat - it isn't easy but it is worth it. And, best of all, it's a wonderful family. Once you've gone through something as emotional as their 12-week program, you'll have made friends for life.
Having taken 4 years out of the workplace to stay at home with my two young children, I decided to do a coding bootcamp in order to find challenging meritocratic work that wouldn't care about my 'career break'. I did a lot of research and felt that Makers Academy were head and shoulders above the rest of the UK bootcamps on offer. Not only do they teach you to code, they teach you how to become a good developer by drumming into you the principles of good design, testing, pairin...
Having taken 4 years out of the workplace to stay at home with my two young children, I decided to do a coding bootcamp in order to find challenging meritocratic work that wouldn't care about my 'career break'. I did a lot of research and felt that Makers Academy were head and shoulders above the rest of the UK bootcamps on offer. Not only do they teach you to code, they teach you how to become a good developer by drumming into you the principles of good design, testing, pairing, and agile working. The instructors were amazing and all really lovely people (a couple of whom have remained good friends). It was a very intense 3 months, but some of the most enjoyable I've had. I was offered a job within 2 weeks of finishing despite the fact I was only looking for part-time work (which is thin on the ground in this field). I would recommend Makers Academy unreservedly!
I am now working in Paris as a junior developer, it took me about 3 month to get my job after finishing the course. Sometimes I think of myself 9 months ago before joining Makers Academy, when I was doing a job I didn't like. It just brings a smile on my face.
After teacing myself coding for several years and working in IT support I applied to Makers Academy to accelerate my learning. After a week of graduating I'd won over £2000 in a hackathon and several weeks later and a lot of interviews I accepted a job as a Junior Developer.
They taught me concepts including TDD and OOP that I was not able to grasp though books and tutorials. The most important thing they teach us how to approach complex problems.
Th...
After teacing myself coding for several years and working in IT support I applied to Makers Academy to accelerate my learning. After a week of graduating I'd won over £2000 in a hackathon and several weeks later and a lot of interviews I accepted a job as a Junior Developer.
They taught me concepts including TDD and OOP that I was not able to grasp though books and tutorials. The most important thing they teach us how to approach complex problems.
The course is hard, intense and they are long days and weekends. The more you put in the more you get out.
Before attending Makers, I had finished university with an unsatisfactory degree and was working dead-end jobs to keep myself afloat with little hope for the future. I half-heartedly applied for Makers, expecting yet another rejection but the day after the intense interview, I received my acceptance letter.
What proceeded was probably one of the hardest yet most fulfilling experiences of my life. They provided an intense curriculum with a very relaxed...
Before attending Makers, I had finished university with an unsatisfactory degree and was working dead-end jobs to keep myself afloat with little hope for the future. I half-heartedly applied for Makers, expecting yet another rejection but the day after the intense interview, I received my acceptance letter.
What proceeded was probably one of the hardest yet most fulfilling experiences of my life. They provided an intense curriculum with a very relaxed atmosphere to complete it in. Whilst at Makers, you are constantly surrounded by happy yet hard-working individuals, which makes for a very conducive work environment. I managed to build things over the course I never realised I would be able to do and feel that now that I have finished, I am ready to take these new skills and motivation into the work place. I have already been offered a job in a company I did not think I would ever be able to work for and feel this course has opened up a whole new career path for me.
I wholeheartedly recommend Makers Academy to anybody looking for a new career or even looking to apply new skills to their current job. It was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to attend Makers Academy
How much does Makers Academy cost?
Makers Academy costs around £8,500.
What courses does Makers Academy teach?
Makers Academy offers courses like Web Development.
Where does Makers Academy have campuses?
Makers Academy has in-person campuses in Bristol, Cambridge, London, and Manchester. Makers Academy also has a remote classroom so students can learn online.
Is Makers Academy worth it?
Makers Academy hasn't shared alumni outcomes yet, but one way to determine if a bootcamp is worth it is by reading alumni reviews. 407 Makers Academy alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Makers Academy on Course Report - you should start there!
Is Makers Academy legit?
We let alumni answer that question. 407 Makers Academy alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Makers Academy and rate their overall experience a 4.78 out of 5.
Does Makers Academy offer scholarships or accept the GI Bill?
Right now, it doesn't look like Makers Academy offers scholarships or accepts the GI Bill. We're always adding to the list of schools that do offer Exclusive Course Report Scholarships and a list of the bootcamps that accept the GI Bill.
Can I read Makers Academy reviews?
You can read 407 reviews of Makers Academy on Course Report! Makers Academy alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Makers Academy and rate their overall experience a 4.78 out of 5.
Is Makers Academy accredited?
No
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