Online courses and bootcamps have helped me progress as a beginner developer. They've provided me with:
🗓 External accountability to help me learn consistently
📖 Structured learning with access to experienced instructors.
💬 A supportive community to work with on projects and homework
💻 End of course projects to build my portfolio
Below, I've shared bootcamps and online courses I've completed or have an interest in completing as part of my developer journey. Some are currently accepting applications with their next cohorts starting soon!
Code First Girls
Code First Girls provides free coding courses for women in the UK. They offer a range of learning opportunities with certificates and projects:
💡 8-week Kickstarter Courses in Web Development, Python & Apps, and Data & SQL. For students, they run a 8-week Uni Kickstarter which can be taken alongside your studies, and with students from your own university.
💡 MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) sprints and challenges. Sprints are 4-week learning sessions on a key topic, and challenges mini hack-a-thons that allow you to apply the knowledge learnt from a sprint.
💡CFG Degrees are free 14-week courses in data, software or full-stack, sponsored by CFG partners.
I've taken the CFG kickstarter courses in web development and data and SQL. Both courses were great and left me with a good foundational knowledge of the subject. The instructors were incredibly engaging and the cohort had great discussions in the slack group. I highly recommend their courses and will most likely complete more courses with them soon. Here's my team's web development project: Cafe website.
Class Central
International Bootcamp starting 5th Sept
Class Central is offering free Web Development and Javascript bootcamps that follow freeCodeCamp's curriculum. Instead of learning alone, you follow along with instructors and can learn with a cohort of other students.
You'll earn a freeCodeCamp certificate at the end, get to work on projects with an instructor and attend guest speaker sessions. I signed up to the last JavaScript cohort and really enjoyed having an instructor guide me through and give context to why certain syntax is used.
Next, I’ll share some promising looking bootcamps that I hope to explore in the future.
School of Code
Next cohort starts 26th Sept
School of Code is a free intensive bootcamp that has government funding and employer sponsors. Their 16-week bootcamp covers front-end, back-end, cloud hosting and more. You'll also be supported with networking, job preparation and complete projects throughout.
01 Founders
01 Founders is a free programme that consists of two-years of learning and two-years of paid experience. Their course teaches Go, Javascript and Rust for the first 18-months. Students can then specialise in artificial intelligence, blockchain, video games, mobile & web application development or cyber security & DevOps for the last 6-months. They also offer bursaries for those who need help with living expenses in the first two years.
Skills Bootcamps
The Institute of Coding is providing free flexible courses up to 16-weeks across the UK, funded by the Department of Education. There's a range of 'digital' bootcamps that cover AI, cloud computing, data, software engineering and development, and more. Select your region and check out the bootcamps here.
Free Resources for UK Students
Visual Studio Developer Tools for Students
Do you know of any valuable bootcamp or course opportunities? Leave a comment 💬