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Everything You Need to Know about Applying to Northcoders

Everything You Need to Know about Applying to NorthcodersPreview: Everything You Need to Know about Applying to Northcoders

Are you ready to learn to code with us? Here are the key things you need to know, including how to apply, free government-funded scholarships, and our Entry Challenge.

Who are we?


Northcoders offers coding bootcamps to teach you all you need to know to start a career in tech. They’re suitable for beginners, even if you’ve never coded before. We’ll provide you with everything you need to get started.

All our courses are full-time from 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, for 13 weeks. (Please note, we don’t offer part-time courses). The courses can be attended entirely remotely from home, at one of our hubs in Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, and Birmingham, or a flexible mix of both. It’s all up to you!

How do I apply to Northcoders?

1. Apply online

The first step is to complete our online application form here. We’ll then send you an email with a unique booking link so that you can create an account with us.

In that same email, you’ll also get a link to join the Northcoders community on Slack. 

2. Prepare for the Entry Challenge

Don’t worry if you have never coded before! You don’t need any coding experience to get started with us.

On your Northcoders account, you’ll get access to our JavaScript Basics course and some  Practice Challenges, so that you can learn all you need to know to prepare for the Entry Challenge. You’ll also be able to get support within our Slack community.

When you’ve completed at least 60% of the Practice Challenges, we’ll send you a link to book your Entry Challenge! This preparation stage takes 20 hours on average, but everyone learns at their own pace. 


3. Pass the Entry Challenge

During the Entry Challenge, you’ll have one hour to solve as many katas as possible. This will be very similar to the Practice Challenges, so there won’t be any unwelcome surprises!

It’s openbook, but you will need to write all your own code and be able to explain it all. Once the hour is up, you will have a short Zoom call with a tutor to chat about the reasoning behind your code.

You’ll have a total of two attempts to pass the Entry Challenge. There is no specific pass mark - you’ll be assessed based on the quality of your code and your ability to explain it. We want to get a taste of your problem-solving skills and drive to learn!

4. Accept your offer of study!

Once you pass the Entry Challenge, we’ll make you an offer to study with us! You’ll get to choose one of our 3 bootcamps: our Data Engineering Bootcamp, our Software Development Bootcamp, or our Cloud Engineering Bootcamp, as well as pick your preferred cohort start date.

You’ll also get access to the precourse to dive deeper into coding and be ready to hit the ground running on your first day on the bootcamp.

Our courses cost either £6,450 or £7,950 each. We have several different payment options available, which you can read about here. Currently, we also have government-funded scholarship places available as part of the Skills Bootcamp scheme which make it 100% free to study with us. Find out if you qualify for one here! 

And after the course?

You’ll be ready to start a junior role in tech!

Our Careers Team will be there to support you every step of the way, from putting together a CV and portfolio, to practising for interviews.

You'll also get access to our exclusive jobs board where our hiring partners advertise roles specifically to hire Northcoders graduates. That means employers are already aware of your skill set based on the curriculum and there's less competition as the roles aren't available publicly. You'll of course be welcome to apply to jobs outside of our network, too.

Kick-start your career in tech

Ready to apply to Northcoders? You can get started here or email us at [email protected] for more information.Â