“I had been worried that at the age of 50 I would find it difficult to get into another career, but this hasn’t been the case.”

Kira Green shares her coding journey through the School of Code — a free 16-week, software development Bootcamp that aims to break down barriers and get new and different people learning to code and into brand new tech careers. No prior coding experience or knowledge is required before the course!

“I was a teacher for 12 years before the School of Code. I had made the decision to leave teaching altogether and knew I wanted to work in a role where I would use my brain every day.

I desperately needed a career change and I wanted to stretch myself mentally. I had wanted to learn to code seriously for a long time and tried to use online resources but I found I didn’t have the time or energy as I had a full-time job.

I saw an advert for the School of Code on Facebook and basically took a gamble and applied. I had never heard of it, but it looked like there was nothing to lose.”

“The Bootcamp is very intensive but excellent. The atmosphere is brilliant, with collaborative learning, pair programming, and inclusive with a great diverse group of people. It has given me a new lease of life and the confidence that I could change my career after leaving teaching and a bereavement. I got to meet some amazing people and it meant I could look forward to a totally new career away from education.”

The School of Code takes people from absolute scratch all the way through to professional software developers in just 16 weeks.
Their cohorts are representative of the communities they come from, with a 50:50 gender split, an age range of 19–60 and demographics proportional to the local area. The course is 100% free to applicants, 4 months intensive, teaching a wide-ranging curriculum covering the fundamentals of Modern Web Development and javascript.

So far, School of Code has helped over 500 people including former teachers, musicians, stay-at-home parents, carers, artists, bakers, lawyers, retail staff, school leavers, personal trainers, beauticians, delivery drivers, security guards, fast food workers, refugees, unemployed, homeless and many more, all learn to code and change their career paths.

“The fact that the Bootcamp didn’t just focus on code but also on teamwork and all aspects of working in tech such as standups and agile development was very helpful and made the transition from School of Code to a job in tech very easy.”

After Kira graduated from the School of Code, she accepted her first job as a Software Engineer at Percayso, School of Code’s employer partner based in Nottingham.

“The School of Code has given me the confidence that even at the age of 50, I am not too old to change careers and finally do something I love.”

You can take a look at Kira’s full Bootcamp journey video below.

Kira took part in the 2nd School of Code Bootcamp in Birmingham. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the School of Code has since launched their award-winning Bootcamps online and across the country. The classes are live, every weekday, from 9 am — 5 pm over zoom.

Learn like Kira..

Applications are closing on November 14th for the next School of Code online Bootcamp starting in Spring 2023.
If you fancy a career change and want to learn the skills to become a job-ready software developer then apply here to kick-start your tech career!