School of Code Bootcamp
About this good practice
School of Code was started by Chris Meah while studying for his PhD in Computer Science. He believes technology is a golden opportunity to make the world a more equal, fairer place for everyone, but noticed a distinct lack of diversity in those who were venturing on their journey to become coders. Chris set out to solve this problem by creating School of Code.
The school offers a free 16-week coding course based in Birmingham (a Bootcamp) open to applicants of all backgrounds – they don’t need to have any previous technical experience, or any qualifications. With rising automation, the job landscape is changing dramatically – School of Code aims to prepare people with tech skills and soft skills to become collaborative, creative coders.
The application process includes creating a pixel avatar while learning the basics of HTML, CSS and JavaScript; recording a short video answering a few questions and watching the first lecture of Harvard's free online introduction into computer science & making a program using Scratch. By the end of the course, the students will have learned the fundamentals of programming, learned how to work in a high-performance tech team, and they will be specialised in full-stack JavaScript development, using Node.js for back-end and React for front-end.
The school is partnered with recruitment experts to give the students the best chance of starting a tech career (e.g. helping them shape their CV & prepare for interviews, connecting them with employers).
Resources needed
The Bootcamps are offered free of charge for the students – the costs are covered by sponsors (like the West Midlands Combined Authority), including School of Code employer partners who gain priority/early access to the developing talent pool for their financial contribution.
Evidence of success
School of Code achieved an average of 85% employment from their previous cohorts into tech across all of their bootcamps so far, including during the COVID-19 pandemic (now offering fully remote and blended courses). They have trained over 200 people and are looking to transform the lives of another 192 across the country before April 2022. But, more important than stats, they've helped people completely change their lives for the better.
Potential for learning or transfer
School of Code emphasizes the use and importance of coding and related skills of the future, provides practical learning on how to code and its applications, develops the employability skills of marginalised groups, addresses issues of equality and diversity in the sector and offers career development.
From the perspective of the BETTER project, training people and cultivating skills related to technology (especially digital) is an important preliminary step to develop a healthy regional innovation chain - School of Code shows a way to create a ready supply of labour force to make this happen.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.