Skills Bootcamp in Web Development

You’ll develop skills to embark on a career as a modern web developer which includes learning:

• How to build accessible, responsive websites in HTML5 and CSS3
• Programming fundamentals in JavaScript
• How to build interactivity and validation into complex websites
• How to use third-party APIs to build complete applications
• About modern frameworks and libraries
• How to build websites in React.

In addition to the core content, two weeks are dedicated to project work. You'll receive a range of practical tasks to complete, which provide you with a portfolio of work by the time you finish the course.

During week six or seven you'll recieve a mock interview from a member of staff at Bath Spa University in order to increase your confidence in an interview setting and practise your techniques.

The final week is dedicated to preparing you for the tech industry, including preparation for technical tests and interviews.

Please note that the course structure is subject to change based on the needs of each cohort.

Week 1: Static HTML

• Wireframing
• Building a page in HTML and semantic HTML
• Styling and positioning elements with CSS

Week 2: Responsive design and Git Media queries

• CSS Grid
• Flexbox
• uGit and Githb

Week 3: Programming fundamentals with Javascript

• The script tag, the console and console.log.
• Data types (string, number, boolean, array, object)
• Variables (var/let/const)
• Loops
• Conditionals
• Functions
• Pseudo-coding
• Utility functions in javascript (prototype functions)

Week 4: Dom manipulation, validation and event handlers

• Introduction to the Document Object Model (DOM)
• DOM manipulation
• Event handlers
• Validating forms

Week 5: CSS Tooling

• Animations
• Using CSS libraries
• Normalise
• Minification
• CSS Pre-processors

Week 6: Portfolio build

• Build a responsive portfolio site for your projects on github.
• During this module there will be time for 1:1s, pair-working, and meeting guest developers.

Week 7: How to use APIs

• Explaining HTTP and how the Internet works
• What is a "stack"?
• What is an API?
• How to call APIs using fetch
• Working with JSON

Week 8: Browser APIs, NPM, and Intro to Single Page Apps

• Browser APIs (e.g. geolocation, fullscreen)
• Async/await and promises
• NPM
• What are SPAs?
• What is JAMstack?
• Introduction to React (theory)

Week 9: React: Functional components and basic hooks

• create-react-app
• Functional components
• props, children
• Basic hooks: useState, useEffect
• Context API (stretch goal)

Week 10: React: Routing, useReducer, and legacy React

• Routing
• Advanced hooks: useReducer
• Overview of class components and component lifecycle (theory)

Week 11: Project week

• Build team projects using all the skills covered in the course so far.
• During this module there will be time for 1:1s and working in pairs

Week 12: Preparing for the tech industry

• Project and portfolio showcase
• Preparing for technical tests

You will also cover mixed content about the tech industry such as:

• tech culture and events
• how to transition from frontend or web development to other kinds of development
• what are programming paradigms, and when will you need to know one?

You'll be taught by highly experienced lecturers and also benefit from guest speakers, group exercises, and online learning to ensure that you can fit the course around your other commitments. All teaching is online. It's necessary to attend every session over the 12 weeks in order to get the most out of the qualification. 

It's important to note that you're expected to spend a number of hours outside of teaching on independent study to support your learning. Your lecturers will support you with reading activities to do during your independent study. Please remember that this is a 12 week course so you'll need to apply yourself in your independent study to fully understand all the topics covered.

The course will be hands-on and includes project work based on real scenarios that form part of the assessment process.

Throughout your Skills Bootcamp journey your progress will be reviewed. This concludes in the creation and delivery of a course project, where you’ll have the opportunity to showcase the skills you've learned.

You'll receive six months of employability support after completing a Skills Bootcamp. This includes your lecturers signposting you to networking events and job vacancies. You'll also receive a quarterly newsletter with the latest training opportunities, jobs fairs and tech events.

As our Skills Bootcamps are fully funded by the Department for Education, there is an expectation from the DfE that you'll keep in touch with us to let us know about any interviews or job offers you receive after completing the short course. We'll provide you with a short form that you must get your new employer to fill out in order for us to provide evidence to the DfE.