How important is uni choice for Computer Science?

[PencilP0int]

My husband who has worked in the field for years says not at all .However according to Mumsnet if it’s not Imperial or Russel group forget it. I’m more worried about gaining that first job.

So how important is uni choice for a career in coding, developing etc.?

If you want to get on a grad-scheme dev path in one of the big investment banking firms, Apple/Google/Microsoft/Amazon/etc or similar then, yes, a degree from an RG-level uni would be beneficial. Outside of that level of employer then uni choice is way less important.

IT is an industry that, for the most part, values experience over academic qualifications. Obviously getting that experience is the tricky bit. It might be worth seeing if your son can volunteer to help out at coding camps, science/maker festivals, local charities aimed at teaching IT skills, or basically anything geeky that he could put on his CV to flesh it out a bit.

@PencilP0int The Complete University Guide has stats on grad prospects. Surrey is 100%. So I’d check that and plenty are over 90%. As you might expect, prospects near the bottom of the tables are less good, but that’s hardly surprising really. Often maths grads can get very good similar jobs and engineers.