Which unis offer good Computer Science degrees?

[L1vewell]

Ds doing Maths, Computer Science and Psychology A levels. Done Cyber Elite summer school and other coding courses

The top courses( Oxbridge and Imperial)seem to want Further Maths which he could do but not sure he’d want to do 4 or drop psychology.

Which other courses have a good reputation for Computer Science?

The best course are (arguably!)

Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial and Warwick

I think you would struggle on any of those without Further Maths. It's not just a question of whether it would be required for entrance, but of keeping on top of the course. And in practice, unless coming from a school which does not offer FM, those who get offers will be studying it. Maths is still often considered more important that Comp Sci (though the reputation of the new spec A level,is very good, and most candidates offer it)

After that, them places like Leeds, York, Exeter, Bristol (and many other red bricks) do very good courses. If they say FM is preferred, then look at a different place/course because again, although it is possible tomdomthuse courses without FM it can be a struggle.

Try the Scottish ancients - St Andrews, Glasgow and Edinburgh. They will want good maths but won't require further maths. You can usually get 2nd year entry with good A levels.

Southampton too, I think.

If he's a likely candidate to be considering the 'top' places then chances are he wouldn't find 4 inc FM to much of a stretch. It's a shame they can't still start 4 and drop one after AS but (I'm assuming he's current yr 11, slightly unclear) maybe he could start 4 and see how it goes?

I’d definitely advise him to drop psychology and do further maths if he’s going to do computer science. Much more useful for that degree.

My daughter did her Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Sciences at York.

*Science

Nottingham or Birmingham which offer CS degree apprenticeships with PWC and Vodafone

I manage a team of computing science graduates (data science) and quite like broad A levels probably because M/FM/CS is so common. I think psychology and computing are a good combination.

Errol- quite a few schools in our area still start on 4 A levels to allow them to check they either like/can cope with higher level and to allow subjects to be dropped after 1st term or end of y12 depending on how well they cope. Some carry on with all 4 especially if they do FM.

He is really keen on doing psychology. Have heard you need to love FM to do it. He’s naturally good at maths (8/9 potentially)but likes Computer Science. 4 would be too much if he’s got to get 3 As.

His dad is a successful coder with a Masters in Computer Science and doesn’t even have maths Alevel😱 He has recruited many over the years without even a CS degree. He is thus clueless re which unis are good for CS. Ds interested in a course with a year abroad yay/nay? Do any do a year in industry would that be a yay/ nay? Dh says he’d be more interested in what code and work they’d done, what they’d built than where the degree was taken. But it’s a lot of money so I want him to spend wisely.

If he really wants to do psychology he should probably stick with that. My daughter wanted to specialise in very technical work so FM was useful to her. She did a year in Industry which she found very good and of course it meant she had relevant experience to put on her CV (and actually they offered her a job upon graduating, which she turned down for logistical reasons).

York only want AAB and only mention maths for B/eng C/S.

What was the more technical stuff she wanted to do? Is computer science, coding etc not technical?

Tbh I don’t understand any of it so I can’t help you on the specifics of what it means...🙄😳🤣 Coding in general is technical, but as I understand it there are varying levels of complexity (my DH also works in a very technical role) and I think she just wanted to be confident that she would have the ability to do the more complex things. I’ve only gleaned snippets from listening to the two of them discuss it, heh.

I’m pretty clueless too.

If his dad is in the industry and has a master’s and all that experience, plus has the skills and knowledge to be successful then I’m sure your son will be able to learn from him anything that he will need to know over and above what A Levels will teach him, so I think you’re alright without the FM. It’d be a different story if your son actively wanted to do it, but I agree that it is one of those where you have to really love maths.

No idea about psychology, but other than Cambridge and Oxford, Essex and Keele unis used to be known as running good computer science degrees.

He won’t be living with us though whilst at uni, he’ll be far far away( hopefully). That said I think he’d be fine once on a degree course. He’s pretty competent at CS and maths.

Just want to make sure he spends his loans on a well respected degree iykwim.

He’s bright but honestly looking at Oxbridge and Imperial I’m not sure he’s the best fit as 3/4 A* would involve an awful lot of work and no guarantees, could be a disaster and lead to no As. And yes I’m not sure he’s obsessed with maths enough to warrant 2 maths A levels.

My daughter started out doing 4 A Levels (Looking to apply to Cambridge) but dropped one in order to properly focus in her final year. I don’t think it’s wise to overstretch yourself, and my instinct is the same as yours - unless he really wants to do FM, maybe best not to set himself up for a lot of stress over too much academic work at once, and possibly doing worse overall.

I just realised I’ve totally gone against what I first said - but that was going by your first question which didn’t have as much detail, so I just assumed he was kind of picking off a list of A level courses.

I personally think it’s better to do as well as possible on fewer A levels (unless your course will only be worth it if you attend a certain select few universities), but that’s because I also balance academic success in A Levels against health and wellness.

Also 😆😆 at hopefully being far away! Good for you, and also good for his independence! 😉

I meant more that if he wants to he could call his dad to discuss assignments, problems, technical questions, etc - that’s a very good resource to have.

Has he considered something like Machine Learning if he likes the psychology?

He is really keen on doing psychology. Have heard you need to love FM to do it. He’s naturally good at maths (8/9 potentially)but likes Computer Science.

Then I really recommend Sussex University. They do a very good combination of Computer Science and Cognitive Science/Psychology/Linguistics that students can pick modules between the two.

Imperial is definitely outstanding. Durham has also got a good reputation. Right now, working in software, many of the top firms do look for university names such as oxbridge, London universities etc. They also look for a strong maths background so further maths would be an extremely good choice plus it would really give him a leg up going into university and also if he is looking for a top flying software developing job in the city.

Re the level of maths, there's doubtless some types of algorithm development which need advanced methods, but otoh some CS is bordering towards the hardware side, some to do with 'human /machine interfaces' (no point having fabulous functionality nobody can work out how to use!) - and then there's loads of application code writing where sometimes you need knowledge of what you're writing about - I write scientific software and the necessary qualification is chemistry not CS. There's probably areas where a mix of psychology and CS would be perfect.

@L1vewell - A levels Maths is essential for all the CS degrees at York, both BEng and MEng. FMaths helps, but isn't essential, and Physics is a good A level to have. We find that applicants with Psychology can often bring an interesting perspective to their studies, particularly project work that is HCI focussed.

Firewall city job like that would be something he’d be after. 😩 That said Dh says nobody has ever asked about his degrees even when going for city jobs. All they’ve been interested in is experience.

Yy re Machine Learning he’s been banging on about that and is looking at a summer school in it for next year.