Career route
One of the clearest cases on this site: bootcamps, apprenticeships and self-taught portfolios all lead to the same jobs.
The National Careers Service publishes the entry routes for this job — apprenticeship, college, university and direct application — with the GCSE and A-level requirements for each. It is the authoritative source, and worth reading before committing to anything.
The closest subject is Software Engineering. On current fees and median graduate earnings, here is what it costs and how long it takes to pay for itself against not going at all.
Worth it after
Borrowed
You will repay
Starting salary
30-year projection, AI risk, adjust your own costs
Side-by-side comparison
The short answer is our reading of the entry routes, written conservatively — where a non-degree path exists at all, we say so. The National Careers Service profile is the authoritative source and should be your check before deciding. Software developer earnings shown here are for Software Engineering graduates, not for this job specifically.