Manchester headquartered Northcoders – the coding bootcamp for the North – is celebrating after the first set of students from its brand new Developer Pathway programme graduated.
This unique teaching innovation, which officially launched in March, promotes a fundamentally different, bespoke and compassionate way of learning. It is uniquely personal and ensures that student software developers graduate with the skills to find work that have been learned at a pace that’s right for them.
The graduation ceremony, which took place at Northcoders’ offices in Federation House, saw eight students present their projects in groups to their peers and invited guests from the North West business community. The projects were a culmination of all that they had learned and were a chance for them to explore new tech.
The graduates were: Anthony Medina (formerly an English teacher in South Korea), Brian McCray (formerly a Linux engineer), Chris Spence (formerly a retail store manager), Clare Pickering (formerly head of member involvement at a charity), Joe Berry (formerly a manager at Royal Mail), Luke Bobbin (formerly a singer and holiday rep), Samantha Gildart (formerly a stay-at-home mum), and Jack Brown (a university graduate).
Each graduate is now working with Northcoders’ in-house team of career development experts who are organising career days and visits from various hiring partners as well CV prep support, finding ways to maximise the impact of their varied portfolios and staging mock interviews. Northcoders’ priority is to find every person the right job via their extensive network of Northern tech employers
The Developer Pathway is different. Students can repeat parts of the course immediately to build their confidence. The course is divided into six two-week blocks. If a student is ready, they’ll move straight onto the next block. If they need more time to consolidate their skills, they have the opportunity to repeat the block at no extra cost. This means students graduate with confidence in their skills – whether it takes 12, 14 or 16 weeks.
Northcoders has gained a unique insight into the entry standards required by companies across a wide-range of sectors and at different stages of their maturity, from start-up to enterprise, and Developer Pathway is designed to guarantee that each student meets those standards on graduation.
James Brooke – co-founder of Northcoders – said: “We are really proud to see the first batch of cohorts graduate The Developer Pathway course. We worked hard to get the format right as we wanted it to be a truly innovative teaching model, which it is. We are now looking forward to helping these talented developers find the best jobs where they can fully utilise their skill sets.”
Graduate Samantha Gildart added: “Myself and are the other graduates are delighted to have graduated the course. It has been challenging but also hugely enjoyable. We are now focussed on finding the right roles so we can start our careers in the North’s thriving tech industry.”
