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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.
Disclaimer: I am writing this review in return for a free hoodie (I do love free hoodies), but apparently I can be as honest as I like 😋
I was part of the April 2017 cohort at Makers and finished at the end of June. It took me about two weeks to get a job as a Software Engineer afterwards. Before Makers I was a marketer and only had a tiny amount of coding knowledge, all front end.
I joined Makers because I was making a conscious career change....
Disclaimer: I am writing this review in return for a free hoodie (I do love free hoodies), but apparently I can be as honest as I like 😋
I was part of the April 2017 cohort at Makers and finished at the end of June. It took me about two weeks to get a job as a Software Engineer afterwards. Before Makers I was a marketer and only had a tiny amount of coding knowledge, all front end.
I joined Makers because I was making a conscious career change. Before the course I was sceptical that I'd be able to get a job coding straight after, but I've been proved wrong 🙌
The biggest thing I've got out of Makers is a mindset change. Whereas before I wasn't confident about learning new things, especially technical things, I feel way more confident now. Get yourself a growth mindset 📈
What's good about Makers Academy?
What's not so good about Makers Academy?
Firstly – during the application and selection process, they can be a bit pushy. Although they make a big deal of the fact that you've been 'selected' and try and make you feel special, they are clearly under pressure to get you to commit ASAP and pay your deposit. It's a huge life decision to leave your job (if you have one), take three months out, spend £8k etc., and I think they should make more of an effort to not put so much pressure on people at that stage.
Secondly – your cohort will very much a peer-led learning group. The coach is there as a guide and to give you some structure early on ('leave the stabilizers on') before you're confident enough by yourself. As a consequence you're reliant on your fellow learners to (a) show up, (b) be attentive and engaged, (c) be forgiving if necessary. Undoubtedly, not all of your cohort will match this profile.
As an prospective student, if you're hoping for lots of structure and lots of teacher/student type coaching and quantitative feedback, then Makers is not for you. You need to be confident enough to ask for help if you think you need it, too.
Top Tips for Applying to Makers Academy
Don't freak out. When they invite you for face-to-face interview, read the email they send you with instructions (from memory it's about doing some Ruby on Codeacademy and a couple of other things). What they ask of you is not hard and it doesn't take a huge amount of time. Just make you prepare by doing all the things on their list and you'll be fine.
Final thoughts
If you know that you're interested in coding, this is a great place to start (if you have the money and the time). It's expensive but if you look at the salaries for the roles from the careers team, a lot of the time it will pay off very quickly.
If you don't yet know that you're interested in coding, do some more Codeacademy or similar, or check out free coding meetups like Codebar.
From what I can see so far, programming is creative, thoughtful and challenging work, and Makers gives you a good taste of that. It's intense only if you want it to be; there's no pressure from the coaches to be working all hours. Take your time and you'll be all the more confident for it.
Any other questions? I'm on Twitter as @baileytalks – tweet or DM me. Always happy to have an honest chat 👍
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. 408 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. 408 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 408 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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