Computer science degree - do you require CS A level?

[tam255]

DS wants to study Computer science at Uni. He intends to take Maths,further Maths, physics for A levels. He can do 4 A levels and is not sure whether to take Computer science or not. He has taken CS for GCSE (OCR) and enjoys it . However, the computer science teachers for A level are not very good at his school. So he would have to do most of the work by himself as such. The school do the AQA for A levels.

with this in mind:

1. Firstly, for A level is it feasible to do/study most of the work by yourself, given that staff is not good ?
   
2. Does taking Computer Science at A level give a student an advantage when they apply for CS degree at uni? or uni like imperial ,Oxbridge etc
   
3. Or any suggestions as to what external courses he can do outside school, if he does not take CS in school.
   
   Thanks

[BadgersArses]

Also interested in this. Hope you don't mind me jumping into the thread. DS in Year 10 is deciding on either A Levels (for him likely Maths, Physics, Art and Computer Science) or Extended Level 3 diploma (equivalent to 3 A Levels). He's interested in either general IT, AI or Games Design for careers.

Local (state school) colleges don't seem to offer Computer Science A Level and have vocational lighter diploma courses instead (equivalent to one A Level).

He definitely wants to go to Uni for Computer Science - possibly in Europe. What's viewed best? Academic Computer Science A Level, vocational diploma OR general academic A Levels.

[NewYearOldMe2024]

Speaking based on my DC's experience (now doing CS at imperial) Maths and Further Maths (if available) are the most important. As long as the other A levels are academic it is just the results that matter. Both Oxbridge and Imperial have extra exams as part of the assessment process anyway.

[Nappyvalley15]

He should take the CS A level. If he can take a 4th A level he may as well. It is considered a good A level. There are plenty of resources if his teachers aren't great and teachers may change anyway.

[Walkaround]

Maths, further maths and physics are all good choices for a computer science degree. Computer science A-level is liked but unnecessary, so not a good idea if he is taught badly and consequently does badly in it, or spends so much time making up for the bad teaching in that subject that he pulls down the all-important (for universities like Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial) maths and further maths results. For Oxbridge and Imperial, a fourth A-level that is well taught and which he does as well in as the other three would be infinitely preferable to doing not so well in A-level computer science as a fourth A-level. I think at those universities, the vast majority have done maths, further maths and physics, over half have probably also done computer science, and loads do chemistry as a fourth A-level, but the fourth A-level could equally be a language or psychology, or English, or pretty much anything, really, if the candidate was interested in it and expected to do well. I suspect most do at least four A-levels, with only a very small percentage getting away with not having done further maths as one of them (a lot of the Oxbridge colleges expect further maths to be taken if it is an option at your school and won’t be interested in the application if you actively chose not to take it). In conclusion, only maths and further maths are non-negotiable if you are aiming for the most competitive courses, it is odd not to do physics with them, and the fourth A-level is much more free-choice!

[WhyAmINotCleaning]

@NewYearOldMe2024

Speaking based on my DC's experience (now doing CS at imperial) Maths and Further Maths (if available) are the most important. As long as the other A levels are academic it is just the results that matter. Both Oxbridge and Imperial have extra exams as part of the assessment process anyway.

Agree, maths more important.

[itsmyp4rty]

Maths is more important than CS, but they learn a lot in CS so I think it's really useful. I've also read that FM is considered a bit of an add on A-level - so it's seen as something to do as a 4th rather than as one of your main 3.
CS involves doing an NEA which you basically do on your own and is worth 20% (although DS doing OCR so this may vary) and has been fantastic for DS to write about on his personal statement and to talk about in interviews for degree apprenticeships.
If he doesn't do CS then he is going to need to do a lot of courses himself in his free time to show his interest and learn languages - but he might already be doing that.
DS has two big books that go with his OCR course and he could probably teach himself from them. His teachers aren't the most enthusiastic either, but he's doing really well because he has the interest in the subject. Personally I think if you want to do degree CS you'd be mad not to do A-level CS.

[Vodamema]

Ds is in his final year of CS degree at Durham. He did CS, maths, fm and physics A levels. For Durham he would say fm is essential, it is one less thing to learn whilst doing the degree as there are maths elements he covered in first year that he knew because of fm. He would also advise to take A level CS for the foundation it provides to build on at uni.

He is at uni with students who have never done CS and who have maths and fm and it puts them at a disadvantage learning a whole new subject from scratch, you want to hit the ground running. Yes lots of them will have done coding but coding is not CS as your son knows from GCSE.

What I will say is that Ds had a rubbish physics teacher for A level who couldn't even do the maths for the A level. The students had to keep correcting the maths as not everyone taking physics takes A level maths, they instead do core maths. If they hadn't corrected the teacher some students would not understand or get that maths part wrong. The point of this is to say that not all teachers are amazing or competent and let's be honest that is the same in life with work and colleagues.

It is a good time to become more reliant on himself for his education outside of the classroom. There are plenty of resources online to help him and he also has this summer of 10 weeks post exams to familiarise himself with the A level content. The CS teacher for both GCSE and A level were amazing for my two. Ds2 learned the NEA coding language in the summer of year 11 for fun, then did more over year 12 summer extending his knowledge specific to the NEA requirement meaning he went into year 13 fairly competent. He is not wanting to study that at uni, he is just prepared.

The one thing I will say is that the whole maths/fm is important is true and for top CS unis certainly maths is needed but it also shows a particular level of intelligence of the students which is why the uni knows they can teach these students CS.

[wyziwyg]

Would advise your ds to take a look at the courses requirements for some of the courses/uni he might be interested in. Will help with making right decision.