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About Northcoders

  • What does Northcoders do?

    Northcoders is a multi-award-winning tech education house that helps brilliant people build exceptional technology. Our coding school offers courses for absolute beginners and junior software developers to help them kick-start and advance their coding careers from across the UK. Meanwhile, our team of specialist software developers help businesses solve education problems with technical solutions. A passion for tech drives our mission to grow and diversify the tech ecosystem.

  • What type of people do you teach?

    People like you. We have taught people who are mid-career and looking for a change, school leavers, recent graduates and also those looking to embark on a new career after having children.

    Learning with such a diverse group of people is great for everyone. We all bring something unique to the mix.

  • How do I get to your Manchester campus?

    Our Manchester campus is at Manchester Technology Centre with easy access by train, tram, bus or car. Find out how you can find us here!

  • How do I get to your space in Leeds?

    We’re based at West One with easy access by train, bus or car. Find out how you can find us here!

Coding

  • What is coding?

    Coding is the process of creating software, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, websites, games and much more. The programs on your computer, apps on your phone, Facebook, and this website – they’re all made with code.

    Computers don’t understand words. So in order to communicate with them, programming languages like JavaScript were created. These languages are made up of words and numbers and when arranged in order they form a set of instructions. Coding in these languages tells your computer what to do.

  • How do I know coding is for me?

    In just a couple of weeks you can get through a lot of our JavaScript Basics course and gain a good sense of whether coding is right for you.

    Do as much coding as possible. If you enjoy it for the sake of it, it’s probably for you!

  • Do I need to be good at maths?

    No! To build websites and apps, thinking logically is far more important, and the maths you learn in school will see you through our course nicely.

Our coding bootcamps

  • What time do your courses run each day?

    Our coding bootcamp runs from 8:30 to 17:00 Monday to Friday.

  • How many contact hours will I get?

    You'll get a whopping 480 contact hours while you're at Northcoders. That's what you will need to fully prepare you for a career in tech.

  • Will I get a mentor?

    Yes, you will have a dedicated mentor for each part of the course.

  • How much experience do I need?

    None. You can apply to our bootcamps with no prior experience (although you might enjoy getting started prior to application!) If you've never coded before, we will help you get started and help you discover whether it is right for you before you commit to the course, and support you every step of the way.

  • Do I need any qualifications to do this course? 

    No. We're far more interested in what you want to achieve. This course is designed for people from any and all walks of life who are interested in starting a new career in tech, regardless of what you have done before.

  • Do I need my own laptop?

    Yes. You’ll need to bring your own laptop for all of our courses. For our coding bootcamps, we recommend using either OSX running on an Apple Mac or the Linux Ubuntu operating system running on a PC laptop. If you have a PC laptop, we'll help you set that up. Find out more here.

  • Will I get a certification?

    No. We offer an alternative to certifications - we offer to teach you the skills employers want. Complying with a framework means not being able to teach the skills our Hiring Partners tell us they want – and one of the best things about Northcoders is that we can update our courses straight away.

    We don't deny that courses such as Computer Science degrees teach important skills. If you want to gain highly detailed theoretical knowledge, our course isn't for you. If you want to become an effective software developer with a great understanding of workplace best practice, you're in the right place.

  • Is there an age limit?

    We’ve taught students as old as 18 and as young as 56!

    You need to be at least 18 years old on your chosen start date to enrol on our coding bootcamp.

  • How far in advance should I apply?

    Need to get onto a cohort as quickly as possible? If you’re already pretty confident with basic JavaScript or another programming language like Python, it shouldn’t take you long at all. Just brush up using our preparation materials and book your Entry Challenge! If you’re new to coding, it will take you 2-4 weeks to prepare for your Entry Challenge, provided you’re willing to put in the work. Places are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis so we’d always recommend applying ASAP if you’re keen to get on the Bootcamp fast.

    No particular rush? It's never too early to apply, it’ll only give you more time to prepare for your Entry Challenge and set yourself up for success. Remember, it’s usually possible to defer to another cohort if you don’t feel quite ready to join the course yet. 

  • Can I study outside of England?

    Yes! Our courses are delivered live online via Zoom, so you can attend remotely from home.

  • At what point can I officially reserve my place on a cohort?

    You can reserve your place after you’ve passed your Entry Challenge. 

    If you’re looking to get a government-funded place on the course as part of the Skills Bootcamp scheme, we’ll send you some paperwork to fill out so we can make sure that you’re eligible. Once we have processed your information, we’ll confirm your place.

    If you’re paying for your place on the course, we’ll confirm your place once you have chosen one of our payment methods and paid your deposit/fee.

  • What are Northcoders Core and Career Plus tiers?

    We have two pricing tiers for our self-funded programs: Core and CareerPlus.

    Both the Core and CareerPlus options offer:

    • A comprehensive 13-week curriculum
    • Technical mentors from day one
    • Industry-leading technical staff to tutor ratio
    • Access to our dedicated welfare and community team

    Both options have finance options available, read more here.

Getting your first software developer role after our coding bootcamp

  • How will you help get me a job after I finish the course?

    Northcoders provide all of the support you need to land your first tech job with the coding skills we provide.

    With Northcoders Careers Plus, we'll deliver a range of sessions to help you get ahead, including industry insights and industry preparation sessions, an in-depth CV workshop, tech interview advice and practice, personal brand development and tech test insights. We'll also advise how to develop your portfolio. Everything's focussed around helping you find a job you'll love.

    You'll also have 1-to-1 time with a careers mentor, and private access to any vacancies we have available through our extensive network.

    Our in-house Career Development Experts have your back.

  • How much can I expect to be paid?

    The vast majority of our graduates will earn a starting salary of £22,000 – £30,000.

  • What if I want to code in another programming language?

    Great! Our course is designed to give you transferable skills. Our three bootcamp courses give a focus on three different languages: JavaScript, Java and Python but they all follow the same way of teaching. We teach our students how to pick up new concepts and strongly encourage usage of new languages and technologies in project phase at the end of the BootCamp. More than half of our graduates go on to code in other languages like C#, C++ and Ruby in their first software development role.

Applying for our coding bootcamps

  • How do I apply?

    You can apply by simply filling out this short application form. We’ll then send you an email with the next steps.

  • What happens after I apply?

    You’ll receive an email inviting you to sign up to our applicant platform Learn 2 Code. On there, you’ll see a step-by-step guide on how to get onto the Bootcamp with direct links to all your learning materials. They’re designed to be fun and are suitable for people who have never coded before. We’ll be there throughout the process to support you and help you decide whether you want to join our Bootcamp. Once you’ve completed most of the learning materials, we’ll send you a link to book your Entry Challenge.

    The Entry Challenge includes a range of coding problems for you to try and solve as well as a quick chat with one of our tutors. It’s relaxed and nothing to worry about! What we’re looking for is your drive to learn and your aptitude for problem-solving.

Paying for our coding bootcamps

  • What are the fees?

    The total cost of our bootcamp starts at £6,450* for the Core bootcamps or £7,950* for CareerPlus.

    *includes £500 discount for advance payments

  • What payment options are there?

    We offer a £500 discount on advance payments as well as an interest free payment plan which you can find more information on here.

  • Is there eligibility criteria for your interest free payment options?

    To qualify for our payment options, you can be a UK / EU citizen or a UK / EU resident with the right to work in the UK/EU for at least one year post graduation – we require this because we work with an FCA-regulated third party who help us deliver this payment option. Access to this scheme is also subject to affordability checks.

  • How are payments taken on the interest free payment option?

    For Northcoders Core, the payment plan would be: £1,000 upfront + 23 monthly instalments of £247.91. The final month repayment amount is £248.07 for a total of £6,950.
    For Northcoders Career Plus, the payment plan would be: £1,000 upfront + 23 monthly instalments of £310.41. The final month repayment amount is £310.57 for a total of £8,450.

  • How much do I have to pay upfront if I use the Deferred payment option?

    You'll need to place a deposit of £1,000 towards the cost of your 13-Week Bootcamp Fee.

  • What is the Advance payment option?

    Pay in full at least two weeks before your course begins and get a lower 13-week Bootcamp cost of £7,950 (usually £8,450) for Career Plus or £6,450 (usually £6,950) for Core.

  • When should I apply for finance?

    You do not need to apply until you are offered a place.

Northcoders

  • What does Northcoders do?

    Northcoders is a strategic tech education and education tech partner for businesses across the UK. We are driven by our mission to grow and diversify the tech ecosystem.

    At our heart, we're a tech company – agile and solutions-focussed. Our people know tech education like no others.

    Our coding school arm offers industry-driven courses for absolute beginners, hobbyists and junior software developers to help individuals and businesses advance coding careers from across the UK.

    Meanwhile, our team of specialist software developers help businesses solve education problems with technical solutions.

  • What kind of businesses do you work with?

    Northcoders works with a huge range of businesses from across the UK, from tech start-ups to finance companies, from business consultancies to government organisations.

  • How does Northcoders help businesses?

    We help brilliant people build exceptional technology.

    Northcoders is a strategic partner to businesses across the country.

    We can help you to grow and nurture your tech teams. We provide a range of developer training programmes with funding available to most businesses through the apprenticeship levy.

Hire

  • Are there any hidden fees?

    Nope. Hiring a Northcoder won’t cost you a penny.

  • Can I see the projects your students build?

    Yes. We publish videos of our students presenting their final projects on YouTube here.

  • What have your students learned during the bootcamp? 

    Our bootcamps teach full-stack architecture using JavaScript, including SQL and React. You can find our curriculum here.

  • We use a stack which differs to the one you teach. Are your graduates suitable?

    Yes. The first principle of our coding bootcamp is that it should be tech-agnostic. So, while we teach software development through JavaScript, a whopping three in four of our students go on to code in a language other than JavaScript in their first job, such as Java, C#, Python and Go.Â