son wants a career in 'computing'

[southeastastra]

that's about as far as he's got so far!

question is what a levels do you think he would need to get into a university to do a computing (of some sort) degree? ds is a bit put out that his school aren't offering a computing a level.

going to look at sixth form tonight

Don't worry about computing A Level, he'd be far better doing subjects like Maths and Physics.

I think it is fairly broad but maths might be a good one to start with, maybe economics or business studies if available. Might also enable him to consider financial sector jobs afterwards.

I have a career (and degree) in computing - my A levels are French, Economics and Maths with Stats. My school did not offer a computing A level, but it was not a problem in getting a degree. Altho that was 15 years ago, so not sure what is required now.

My employer currently only takes on staff with a degree or tons of experience. Is ds considering university? Can you look at a few prospectuses (prospecti?!) to see what the entry requirements are? Agree with Lily and Liz tho, Maths is broad enough to cover a lot of options.

Maths and Physics are much, much better A levels than Computing.

Depends what he wants to do (Computing is a v v wide field), a combined computing and something degree would prob be most useful to aim for - maths and computing is very popular and well respected.

I have a number of software engineers who work for me, and less than 50% have a computing degree - there are so many different codes out there, and things move so fast that basically they only learn a particular method as and when they need it

I work for an IT company. Proven interest in computing and a "logical" brain are more important that computing qualification per se.

I know its early days but also worth realising that a lot of IT jobs are off-shore these days - what areas is he interested in (fixing them or programming!)?

What kind of career in computing - that is terribly broad....and different sectors of IT will have different requirements.
Are we talking:
Programming
Infrastructure support
Application Support
Database programming
Hardward support - routers/switches etc.

All quite different!!

i don't think he knows yet redsky.

his school offer business studies at a level, not economics though .

he is only doing double science at gcse too, so i suppose that would write off a physics a level?

maths has always been his strongest subject but i really don't think his school is advising him that well!

would he be better off focusing on a degree in maths?

My DH has an AS level in German.

He's now a Z O/S Systems Programmer.

I think it has more to do with interest and experience than courses.

From experience with friends doing Computing degrees while I was at Uni - maths seems useful, anything else is just personal preference I think. Business Studies probably not a bad idea. I'd encourage him to pick his favourite/strongest subjects as he is more likely to get high marks and good A level results will probably do him the most favours when it comes to picking a university.

Maybe try getting some prospectuses or the UCAS book and see if any of the universities are asking for specific A levels?

thanks for the advice, dp and i are hopelessly naive when it comes to this sort of thing as we both left school at 16!

Most 6th forms should have the UCAS book (unless they don't do one anymore - it's 13 years since I applied!! - it might be online now though) which lists all courses and all entrance requirements. Just look up the computing type courses and see what they're asking for..

Forgive the bias but here's the website for my old uni showing the Undergraduate courses and entry requirements (they are a computing/engineering heavy uni so I figured there might be a few courses!) Look under C for computing.

here

Most seem to be asking for 2 good A Levels with 1 in Maths.

thanks golden, so many courses! will show ds, just wish the school could be a little more helpful!

Exactly - so many people I know in IT (me included), do not have a computing degree, but may have gained other qualifications (vendor ones...), my friend, who is an oracle programmer, has a degree in Russian and French!! and he is not atypical! So I think it very much depends what he wants to do...

Again I would say don't worry about computing A level. Lots of practice at home that he can talk about at interview impresses them though.

double science award is standard and doesn't mean he can't do the individual sciences at a-level, especially if his 6th form is attached to his school.

best to stick to traditional a- level subjects imvho. not ones that end in -studies. also, good idea for him to get work experience or even a saturday job somewhere in IT. a web design company for example.

You're welcome SouthEast

Loughborough is very into it's computing/engineering degrees when it's not playing sports so I guessed they might have a few to choose from

Might give him an idea of what's out there or pique his interest enough to start narrowing his choice down...?

There are of course other uni's too. Most should have a courses and requirements type page on their website. Maybe check out a couple of local ones? Or Oxbridge if you're feeling flush

BTW - I got an engineering based degree from Loughborough and my last job before I had DS was in computing too

Both DH and I work in Computing and neither of us have an A-level in computing.

DH's degree is Geography, mine is Maths.

Followed by an MSc conversion course in Computing.

My niece has just started a computer science degree at UEA. She didn't stay on for 6th form but went to a 6th form college and did a DIDA(sp) course. her tutor encouraged her to aply for UAE who originally turned her down because her maths qualifications weren't good enough. Her tutor wrote a letter of appeal and UEA said as long as she got distinctions in her course and passed their maths tests they would take her.

Do maths and physics. The IT company I worked for, who hired hundreds of grads for their IT scheme considered A level computing to be a soft subject and it was discounted when making employment decisions!

I used to work in the computing sector (programmer).

I didn't do A Levels, but did a BTEC Higher in Conmputer Engineering and a degree in Computer Science.

However I now HATE computers and find myself stuck because I specialised too early, so have to retrain.

Abstract maths (with all the greek letters etc) would be very useful to him for the computer theory. Physics not so important I'd say.

But no question about maths and maybe some other subjects that he can fall back on should he chance his mind later down the road. Languages are always useful, but if he likes computers he's unlikely to like languages.

Good luck, its a hard choice isn't it.

My DH is a computer support officer but it basically means that he can write computer programs, re-build them, security etc. He works in one of the Oxford Colleges and although he doesn't have a degree if you now apply to do this you would need a degree. Science or Maths are always a good one to do and all those large heavy books on computer language is always good to know about.

I would suggest he does some work experience in a couple of computer places - start at the top and try to get him into Google as they are fantastic to work for. Other than that sun (not newspaper) is good and my friend works for them and you can go all over the world.

I have another friend who has designed the programmes that look after all the shares for the church and people like that in the banking industry.

Basically he can go into any sector but the larger company he can make friends with the better to start him off. Work Experience even without pay for the summer would do him good if he's really interested.

My Dh is a computer programmer, he did maths physics and economics Alevels and then degree in engineering. He then got job in bank graduate scheme (engineering degrees are well respected).
He also did part time masters in computing while he was working. Best to focus on maths/physics - although computing alevel not really necessary.

Recommend that he avoids Applied ICT at A level as that is just about learning a bit more Excel and Access imho! Do not be brow beaten into thinking the Applied ICT courses will lead into a computing course because they don't and I know students who switch after the first year because of the difference.

Stick with Maths as one of his options and that will keep his degree options open.