Computer Science - Which Uni with these grades?

[JediKnightingale]

My DC is about to start Yr13 and will be applying to read Comp Sci.

They are taking Maths, Chem and CS - he’ll get his official predicted grades next month but from his mocks he thinks A star, AA is achievable although the school may predict A star, (comp Sci), A star (maths) A (chem).

He doesn’t want to try for Oxbridge (he’s autistic and the interview process would be almost impossible for him). Imperial require further maths which his school couldn’t offer him due to a timetable clash.

He’s been rocked a bit by the A level results just released and has now convinced himself not to be too ambitious with his uni choices. I think he should put one or two ‘aspirational’ unis. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what places might suit a shy, quiet boy who lacks confidence?

Having just been through this I'd encourage him to have at least one aspirational choice. My son got into his this year, despite everyone saying he wouldn't.

We used the full league table data to make his choices (using all 3) and that was pretty helpful. If he picks one from the top 5, 3 from top 10/20 and one backup from further down the leage tables for CS found that has generally worked out well.

It's the kids that put all top 5 down or don't aim high at all that get in a pickle I think.

Also visit some of course, but that is more about campus/city, wheer they might to live, has it got a Nandos :) etc ime.

Don't know specific places for CS as not my son's subject but I have a friend with a similar sounding boy and he is going to University of Surrey for CS and they seem really pleased with that choice. Reading also seems popular and is a lovely campus?

Also - their confidence does increase this year I think! Esp if mocks go well.

I have a similar autistic ds, he's at Exeter, was actually his only choice as he needs to commute from home as isn't ready to live away yet. He is doing maths and CS, very happy, says the teaching is 'stellar' and (after a delay due to recruitment stuff) he's well supported. If circumstances were different he could have aimed higher with his grades but Exeter is turning out to be a really good fit for him. It does have a good reputation for supporting autistic students, offered an induction day for autistic students (plus parents) which was very good, plus other supportive induction events.

A friend's son has just firmed Southampton with two x A star and one A. Birmingham was his insurance, I think that was two x A and one A star. He had some impressive extra curriculars in relevant areas as well.

That was including an A star in FM though. I think FM might be the sticking point tbh, rather than the grades - might help to do a bit more digging to see which courses are genuinely happy to make offers to candidates who aren't taking FM. The 'aspirational' ones might all want it in practice, although they can't spell this out in plain language on their websites. (I don't know this for sure, but it's worth finding out before he wastes some spaces on his UCAS form.)

I would say a good back up for him would be Lancaster at AAB and a good aspirational would be Warwick. Both are campus unis and I guess that may suit him.

Thank you everyone. We’ve had a look at Southampton and booked for their open day - DS likes the look of this. Warwick got a firm No as apparently the student satisfaction for his course was very low. Exeter, Lancaster and Birmingham are our next ones to research.

UEA might be worth a look for a less aspirational option

York is often good for an insurance choice and has an excellent CS department (one of the biggest/ best funded departments). They have a great year in industry option and have a very good reputation for graduate employment.
Think it might be AAA/AAB.

Outside of London, the aspirational choices for CS would probably be:

Durham
Bristol
Bath
Warwick
Southampton

He’s been rocked a bit by the A level results just released and has now convinced himself not to be too ambitious with his uni choices.

Have a look at the A Level results thread on here. What it will show you is that some DC may have got lower grades than expected, but an awful lot of universities took students with lower than their offer grades. So it's swings and roundabouts. It's good practice anyway, to put a mix of ambitious and safe options on your UCAS form.

I think you right to be a bit cautious. My Ds was predicted 3 x A star which in hindsight was too ambitious.
His firm and insurance for CS wanted A*AA Birmingham and AAB Loughborough. He got ABB and was rejected for both. So even though for other courses lots of applicants were accepted if they missed their offers CS is hugely competitive so doesnt seem to be as flexible.

The Times 2023 league table lists Southampton, Durham, Birmingham and Sheffield all within their top 10 for computer science. Good courses with (anecdotally) good reputations for ASD support, they might be worth a look?

My ds has just been accepted for CS at Imperial. Be wary of being influenced by overall uni reputations and rankings rather than rankings by course. As another poster said, CS is one of the most competitive courses at the moment. So, it would be very wise to have a spread of options. Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and Edinburgh are all ranked within the top 20 worldwide for CS. So, it would be wise not to put more than one of these down and perhaps not any (I don't mean to be blunt, but most students we know getting on to these courses will have at least 3 A stars). You would need to look in to the lack of further maths at each institution. You've already noted the maths requirement for Imperial, which also requires the STEP exam to be passed at level 2. Southampton ranks about the same as Birmingham. But, Durham (although usually highly rated for other subjects), ranks far lower for compsci, and around the 300th mark globally. QS World rankings is quite a decent ranking tool, as opposed to some of the UK ones which rank by student satisfaction etc (obvious issues in that students on easier courses will often rate their experience as happier!).

Also is 2024 entry a bumper year so maybe more competitive.

2 aspirational, 2 realistic and 1 for safety would be my thought process. FM maybe an issue which will rule out some courses.

if this helps, DS will start yr2 on a CompSci course soon.
Forgive me I can't recall whether he applied for Software Engineering or CompSci to each of these. Many Unis have a flexible door between the courses after start, kids who excel at 1st yr SE can switch to CS & visa versa if student struggles at CS course. So DS applied for a mix of them.
DS was predicted ABB
He got unconditional offer from ARU, ABB offers from Leicester, Nottm & UEA.

His friends who got 3xA star, the highest rank offer was Bath, while turned down by Warwick Cambridge St. Andrews.

Nobody applied to London. Too ruddy expensive to live there.

I do a lot of UCAS work in my school, and we always recommend one aspirational, three solid and 1 safety (and by safety, I mean a good few grades below his predictions).

My DS is about to go to Imperial for CS.
He had Bath as a back up and I'd really encourage your DS to look at this. It's got a great course. I think the offer was AAAB as he did four.
He also looked at Birmingham and Lancaster.
It seemed to me that CS is massively competitive but the distinction you need to make is between very mathematical courses (that often want further maths) and those which are less so. There was a lot of maths in all the ones my DS looked at but that's what he enjoys.

My DD is at Durham for computer science and does not rate the teaching at all. One lecturer even told the class that they hated this module when they studied it and was not sure why they were teaching it. That feeling of not great teaching is shared by a lot on the course as they have a whatsapp group chat I believe where they talk about it. She went in with 4 A stars at A level including further maths which most at Durham have.

Not having further maths makes the application less competitive against a lot who do have it for the top ranking universities for computer science. You can list university rankings by course to see the top 20. It may also be prudent to work out how far away your son wants to go in case you need to visit him or the weekend visit travel home. DD has a friend in Durham who is from Devon and a weekend visit is impossible for them either by train or car.

When people talk about having A stars across the board and being turned down it is because the course is oversubscribed and they simply cannot accept everyone who applies with the entry grades or above onto their course. I would be looking at what support is offered for your son and his autism. Can the university provide what he needs? Would a smaller campus university be better than a City one do you think?

@CheerioLittleMan Thanks yes DS wants a small campus uni ideally.

Its so hard because he is a genius with computers but isn’t fond of maths (although he is more than competent at it) and the school have offered him FM in year 13 but he is not going to take it. This is going to limit his choices somewhat I think.

On paper, DS liked the look of St Andrews who don’t seem overly fussed about FM - but in reality choosing prospective students, then surely they will prioritise the ones who do?

Im worried that he thinks his natural talent for coding will be enough when the stark reality is, it won’t.

@JediKnightingale

@JediKnightingale Sorry, my phone glitched and lost the message. He may limit himself by not taking the further maths and he would want to be the best candidate he can be. I am not a mathematician but DD tells me that further maths is like additional maths. She doesn't like certain elements of it like proof but knew that it was a means to an end ie to get the highest grades and the number of A level students with 4 A levels is really low compared to those with 3, it can make you stand out a bit. Year 13 isn't even a year it is 8-9 months. I am sure I have read on here that Scottish exams don't have a further maths element so it is never listed. DD says some students at Durham don't even have any computer science experience just maths.

From conversations I have had with her obviously there is a coding element to the degree but there is also a lot of teaching fundamentals underlying the whole structure of systems such as networks and systems, theory of computation and data science. She is away with friends at the minute so I can't really ask her.

I would highly recommend Bath as a small campus Uni. DD just going into second year there. Her BF is the year above and doing CS and is on his placement year in another city working for a tech firm - being paid 40k a year as an intern. Fantastic reputation, lovely city and academically a sound choice. Her BF didn't even do CS as an A-level subject but really rates his course and is doing really well. It is a lovely place to study.

St Andrews is ultra competitive and they regularly reject applicants with 3 A stars.

Don't be swayed by the lowish stated offers: most applicants will have much more than this. If you're a contextual applicant, it's another story.....

Most Scottish applicants will do advanced higher maths, possibly with mechanics. This covers most of the further maths A level syllabus. However, Scottish unis cannot insist on this as some schools do not offer these qualifications.

BTW my son received an offer (AA) from Durham for comp sci without formally studying computer science, but he picked an unconditional offer from Edinburgh as he is Scottish and it is free of tuition fees for him. He did apply to St As with the Scottish equivalent of 5 A stars (one taken early), but he got fed up with the wait and withdrew end April. He was in a different offer consideration pool, being Scottish though.

@MorePressureMoreRelease Just saying hi to a fellow mumsnetter whose ds is going off to Imperial for CS. Good luck to him!

Ds doesn't have any formal CS education. He did take maths and further maths as two of his A levels and has taught himself a lot of programming.

St Andrews is a tiny university. They just can't take everyone and therefore can be very selective. Ds applied with predicted 4 A stars (which he got) and an A star in his EPQ but was rejected. But, he is Scottish and it does seem particularly hard for Scottish students to get in to Scottish universities!

Swansea would be a good safety choice

Good thread