Paris coding school with no teachers or fees gave him an edge

School's unorthodox style proves to be right fit for S'porean who quit NUS studies earlier

- Elisha Tushara

Mr Brian Young quit the bachelor's degree programme in computer science at NUS after just six months because he felt disengaged.

Instead of attending lectures and tutorials, he joined a start-up to become a front-end engineer for 2½ years.

Then he found out online about a coding school in Paris that has no teachers, no books and no tuition fees.

"And I thought it was the right fit for me," said Mr Young, now 35.

So, in 2014, armed with the French he had learnt while studying for his O levels, Mr Young went to Paris and spent almost four years learning coding in Ecole 42.

He is the first Singaporean to attend Ecole 42.

Founded by telecommunications executive Xavier Niel in 2013, Ecole 42 currently has 54 campuses in 31 countries, and has trained over 44,000 students.

The programming school located in Boulevard Bessieres in Paris defies conventional higher education formats and does not require students to have any coding or information technology background.

But it is not easy to be admitted to the school.

Candidates have to first pass a two-hour memory and logic test that does not require any coding knowledge.

Then they are tested for their determination and desire as they spend four weeks in Paris doing basic coding and learning collaboratively with one another.