Are UK Coding Bootcamps Worth it?

If you're thinking of changing career into tech you are probably wondering whether a coding bootcamp is actually worth it. After all, they are a significant investment of both time and money.

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Before you continue reading we want to be up front with you. Flatpack does run coding bootcamps, however, all of this information is designed to help you make the right choice for you, not just to sell you a course.

There are pros and cons of attending a coding bootcamp in the UK we will discuss them here.

A coding bootcamp is essentially a fast-track way of getting a career in tech. There are plenty of other avenues, such as getting a computer science degree, or self-learning which both carry their own pros and cons.

Let's take a look at the self-learning approach. The major advantage of the self-learning approach is cost. Almost anything that you could want to learn is available either for free or for a low cost online. A major issue with this however is that without the right support, you need to be careful that you aren't learning outdated methods and practices, and that you're learning tech that is in high demand. Additionally, without the right support, it's difficult to gain the vocabulary and understand the jargon used in engineering teams.

We recommend taking the self-learning approach if cost is the major barrier to your learning, and you are able to motivate yourself to learn and solve problems off your own back.

A computer science degree can be an excellent way into the tech industry. The two biggest advantages to this approach are that you walk away with a degree and that universities often offer extracurricular activities and events. We think that these things are absolutely invaluable if you are very early career. If you're a little further on in your journey and are looking to change careers a university course might not be the best option. They are usually extremely expensive (~£30,000+) and often only a tiny portion of the course is focussed on subjects that will be useful for employers.

We recommend a Computer Science degree for early career students or high school leavers, as the life skills that you gain from a university degree cannot be gained from a bootcamp, also it gives you a chance to move out of home.

Coding bootcamps aim to solve the cons discussed here by ensuring that you're always learning what will make you a good candidate to employers, lowering the cost, and reducing the time required to learn. In our experience there are two major cons to taking a bootcamp, the first is that they are an extremely intense method of learning. You need to make sure that you're fully committed to the course in order to be successful. Secondly, due to the intense nature of the learning, you do need to "use it, or lose it". Once your bootcamp finishes, you need to keep coding as you will start to lose the knowledge that you gained if you don't.

Most bootcamps, FlatPack Coders included, provide you with career and job search support to ensure that you are in a job before you risk losing the knowledge that you gained. At Flatpack we also provide support for you to continue coding your own projects even after you graduate.

Whether or not attending a coding bootcamp is a good idea depends on you and your goals. If your goal is to make a large life change and get a job in tech, then we think a coding bootcamp is absolutely the way to go.

If you're still unsure or just want some advice on where to take your career please don't hesitate to get in touch with us. We set up FlatPack coders with the sole focus of getting people into jobs that they love. Introduce yourself to us on an intro call here: