Makers Academy Launches New Fellowship Programme to Attract Greater Diversity in Software Coding Professions

Makers Academy the UK’s leading software engineering provider, today (9 May) announced the launch of a new fellowship programme aimed at attracting more diversity in UK’s IT sector.

The fellowship nurtures prospective digital talent who would otherwise be unable to afford the 12-week training provided by Makers Academy. As part of the programme, Makers Fellows will learn to code, for free, and be placed into employment as junior software developers after training.

The Fellowship is open to all applicants from diverse backgrounds and breaks down barriers to give greater access to working in technology. Prospective students are not required to have university degrees to apply for the programme.

Applications are open now. There are 12 spaces available.  

“We want the smartest possible developers in our building – regardless of their gender, race, age or socio-economic backgrounds,” said Evgeny Shadchnev, CEO of Makers Academy.

“Our fellowship breaks down barriers by giving people an opportunity to play a part in the digital age by learning the skills they need to produce beautiful code. We want to democratise the process of higher learning and give talented candidates equal opportunity to get the skills they need to play a role in the digital economy.”

Makers Academy ran a successful fellowship programme last fall, with all applicants securing top positions at the end of the programme. 50 per cent of the cohort was female, more than four times the national average for the software engineering workforce.

The coding provider continues to raise funds to attract students from diverse backgrounds. To date, Makers Academy has trained over 1,500 people become junior software engineers working at leading global brands and startups such as Deloitte Digital, Telegraph, Tesco, Sky, Starling Bank and the Financial Times.