National Coding Week: 19 to 23 September 2022

National Coding Week aims to help adults and children learn and share their digital skills.

Young people often learn the basics of coding in school. However if you've already left school, you might not know where to start.

programming code on a screen

Basics of coding

Coding tells a computer what to do and how to do it.

There are many different coding languages that help us communicate with computers, such as HTML, CSS, Python, C and C++.

Benefits of learning to code

There are many benefits of learning to code. It's a useful and important skill for the future.

If you know how to code, it might help you:

develop your problem solving skills
communicate better with developers
automate tasks to save time
work in different industries
improve your career opportunities as the industry grows

Careers in coding

There are many different careers you can choose from if you know how to code, such as:

You can browse more digital careers or read about real people who work in coding.

Industries and products

You'll find coding jobs in the technology industry. You could also use coding in sectors you might not expect, such as finance, healthcare, education and creative and media.

You could work on different products such as apps, websites, databases and video games.

Skills you need for coding

You'll need some general skills that most employers look for and some skills specific to coding.

You might need to be:

flexible and open to change
determined and able to solve complex problems
thorough and pay attention to detail
analytical and use your initiative
good at maths
skilled with computers, including different software and applications

man typing code on a screen

Courses in coding

If you're new to coding and want to develop your digital skills, you could take an online course.

You can look for free coding courses for beginners or free courses to learn a specific coding language.

If you're an adult, you could also find a free Skills Bootcamp in digital skills which includes coding.

Get involved with National Coding Week

Everyone can take part in National Coding Week.

Since National Coding Week started in 2014, thousands of people have taken part to learn new digital skills.

Take part in National Coding Week

Speak to an adviser

You can call 0800 100 900 or use webchat to speak to an adviser.

We're open:

8am to 8pm Monday to Friday
10am to 5pm Saturdays and bank holidays

We're closed on Sundays, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

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