not taking further math for computer science

27 replies

Ib1234567 · 01/07/2023 08:42

Hi

My nephew just finished GCSE , I was discussing his A level choices . He is not taking A level Further Math As he thinks that he may not do well in it. But when I looked at imperial univ oxford they recommend it for computer science degree.

I read in imperial website 80% of offer was AAA orA*AAA and may include step. Is that means some people get in without further math?

Do people know if there is any chance in oxford and imperial if he gets his 3A* and does well in MAT or STEP and doesn't do FM.

PS : he is eligible to contextual admission .

OP posts:

curiousllama · 02/07/2023 11:41

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 01/07/2023 15:03

Ds has an offer for computer science at Imperial. I'd also recommend further maths. The MAT exam is much easier than STEP; basically doing as much maths as possible is useful for the course! In terms of being contextual, I think Imperial may guarantee interviews, and some departments guarantee the minimum offer for contextuals, but I'm not sure about computing. The department gave offers to 10% of those that applied this year, just to give you an idea of the competition. Lots of all A star candidates not making the cut. Ds's offer is for 4 A levels and STEP. But, there seem to be some three A level offers too, usually for 3 A stars.

Just to clarify for OP, the MAT is NOT accepted by Imperial for Computer Science. That's only for its Maths courses, whereas for Oxford, the MAT is required for Computer Science, Maths and other combined courses to do with Maths/CS.

FictionalCharacter · 05/07/2023 17:54

Pinkdelight3 · 02/07/2023 08:55

Would love to know which uni that is @Poblano if you don't mind saying? DM me if you don't want to say on here. My DS is keen to do Computer Science but less keen on A-Level Maths, even though he's good at maths, so would be interested to know where doesn't see it as essential for a CS degree.

Show quote history

Nottingham. IIRC, Newcastle and Lancaster didn’t need maths either, and I think possibly Reading too. I know there were others. But if you look on the course web pages for each of the unis he’s interested in, it tells you the admission requirements. And if he goes on a discussion forum like The Student Room, there will be other students asking and answering the same question.

I will say that not having maths A level has made it more difficult - the maths elements are much more of a struggle for those who don’t have it. If your DS does decide to go for CS without maths A I’d advise he looks up the maths part of the first year programme, and does as much prep as he can in the summer before starting.

Flip

1 2