Learn for less: Yorkshire skills tech academy supports students through cost of living crisis

That’s why it’s pledged to cut course fees for the next cohort at its award-winning Yorkshire tech skills academy to support students through the cost-of-living crisis.

A limited number of places are available for the fourth cohort to begin in March at the reduced rate of £5,995. This represents a discount of 45.5 per cent. A bursary place is also available as part of EyUp’s commitment to people from disadvantaged backgrounds or who are underrepresented in the tech sector.

To register your interest, visit www.eyup.com.

About EyUp courses

EyUp teaches students everything they need to know to work as a software developer within 16 weeks. It offers its graduates a guarantee: a tech job within six months or their money back.

Everyone who completed the course in its first and second cohorts found work in the tech sector within weeks of graduating. EyUp’s third cohort graduated at the end of December and includes Kian, a refugee who fled an oppressive regime in the Middle East and has now won a job as junior quality assurance engineer at data software company WANdisco plc.

Kian said: “EyUp is truly life-changing – it gives me a base to build on and will open so many doors of opportunity.”

As well as WANdisco, other employers to snap up EyUp graduates include new and established companies such as Zoo Digital plc, Sitehop, Evoluted and Tekfloor.

Employers love EyUp

Employers are singing the praises of EyUp’s graduates. Speaking at the latest graduation ceremony, Melissa Chambers, the co-founder and CEO of cyber security firm Sitehop, said: “We are beyond pleased to find EyUp right here in Sheffield, training the next wave of engineers.

“When we hired graduate Mike Lawrence, we gave him two tasks that we thought would take a recent graduate over a month to execute. He smashed it in a week!

“As we grow our global market, Sitehop will be looking for more graduates and EyUp clearly has a great programme to get candidates ready to be immediately effective employees.”

Recruiters love the flexibility of EyUp’s approach. Daniel Koseoglu, director of specialist technology recruitment business Affecto, told the audience: “EyUp is different from online boot camps and other providers because it is on-site and intensive. Yes, the recruits learn how to code but it’s actually a small proportion of the course.

“The real value is the introduction to different methodologies, working practices and how teams work together to produce commercial software.

“The syllabus is ever evolving and listening to what the market demands. The recruits are coming from diverse backgrounds and bringing with them social and interpersonal skills and real-world experience.”

Meet the students

Lottie Rugg-Easey graduated in the second cohort and secured a job as a junior software engineer at course sponsor WANdisco.

She said: “I got an English degree at Sheffield University and then fell into a career as a fundraiser for arts and children’s charities. During the pandemic, like many people I started reevaluating and felt like I wanted to do something more challenging so I decided to become a software engineer.

“The tech sector needs people who can communicate and come from different backgrounds. EyUp prepares you for just getting stuck into things where you don’t know the solution to every problem. It teaches you that’s okay and you can ask questions and find answers.”

Students have joined EyUp from building sites, bartending, Pizza Hut, teaching, the police, war-torn Ukraine and the Royal Navy. The academy was both proud and humbled to win the Diversity and Inclusion category at The Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Awards 2022.

Aptitude not experience

EyUp’s belief is that around half the population has natural problem-solving abilities that it would look for in software developers. Consequently, it evaluates applicants on aptitude rather than experience as part of the assessment process.

Its founder David Richards MBE said: “We launched EyUp to help change people’s lives and lower the barriers to entry into the tech sector, which is filled with well-paid and rewarding jobs.

“We know that people are struggling to pay their bills in the cost-of-living crisis and that’s why we’re cutting EyUp course fees to make it easier to take that step and open up a new world of opportunities.

“There has never been a better time to join our industry.”

EyUp has partnered with fair student finance provider EdAid to help recruits defer the cost of tuition fees with interest-free payment plans.

To register your interest, visit www.eyup.com