Computer Science 2026

[SherlockJones]

DS is in y12 and we have been to a few open days recently as he is hoping to study computer science stating Sept 26. He is doing Maths, CS and Economics A-levels and we have looked at Reading, Surrey, Sussex, Kent and Royal Holloway so far.

We also plan to visit York and Cardiff when the open days start again in Sept/Oct. He would like a campus uni.

I think he is predicted an A in CS and Bs in Maths and Economics.

Does anyone have any experience of rhe unis henis looking at or any advice in general?

I have experience of York and my kid is also going there this Sept. Its a lovely university, 20 mins walk from the city, the campus is safe as is the city and its a good mix of people.

A very close friend went to Royal Holloway for her PhD. It's out quite far from central London so strangely suburban / remote a place. I think that is more likely to impact undergraduates than post.

And the DD of a friend just left Sussex. It's a big party uni, partly because it is in Brighton.

The rest I only know about peripherally. Hopefully someone else can chime in.

Ask about what percentage of the course is assessed by group work. ds2 seems to have an awful lot in his CS course. No doubt invaluable experience but has been challenging for him to say the least. He looked mainly at Midland universities so no experience of the ones you are looking at.

Have you looked at Lancaster for CS?

Interesting that you mention that as this has often been mentioned at Open Days at several unis and I wonder how it works in practice. The dynamics of the Team could have a big impact i suppose.

Not really, mainly due to the distance. It sounds like a good fit otherwise.

DS2 is looking at this for 2026 (also year 12).

We've been to the Durham open day, which he loved and Sheffield. In September/October we're visiting Warwick, Southampton, Kings College London and Royal Holloway.

He's looking for a course which is not games design orientated.

My ds has just finished 2nd year CS at Surrey. He is really happy there. The halls seem really good and seem cheaper than most. You select by price band and most seem to get what they want. He is enjoying the course and is doing well. Seems a good choice of options for 3rd year. CS labs look modern. Is happy with the teaching. Guildford seems quieter than some places but enough going on socially. The campus is very close to the town centre/train station.

My DS’s friend did CS at UEA. Lovely campus and Norwich is a great little city with (relatively) cheap and plentiful accommodation for the 2nd and 3rd years

Just wondering how @SherlockJones has got on with the visits? Have you ruled any out or in?! DS (now year 13) is also looking do do a degree in CS. So far we have seen Warwick, Sheffield, Exeter, and Bristol. We are London based and DS doesn’t want to stay at home. He quite likes a city uni. His favourite so far was Bristol, but they don’t do a year in industry option which is a bit of a concern (for me at least!). We are visiting Southampton this weekend. Have Birmingham, Surrey and Sussex on the list too. Would like to visit Lancaster and Bath but not sure we will manage it to fit them all in!

He didn't like York when he visited last week, which was a bit of a surprise. CS is on the east campus which he didn't like the feel of, he much preferred the main west campus. He also thought the course modules were not quite what he expected. York was his favourite before he went to the Open Day.

We have Surrey to visit in a few weeks but not sure we will have time to visit Exeter, which would be a shame.

Its all starting to feel quite real, this time next year...

We didn’t visit York. I’ve heard good things about the CS degree there but a friend visited last week and didn’t love the campus. I liked Exeter, DS liked it but it wasn’t his favourite. Nice city, nice (hilly) campus and the CS dept was in a modern building with good facilities. Yes, it’s getting real now! A few more visits and then time to select five unis and see how we get on with offers next year!

Hang on, people in Y12 are going to uni open days???? DS has only been at college 2 weeks!

I think the original post was in July, so they were at the end of Y12!
But definitely pencil open days for June / July next year, then September in Y13. It cones round so much quicker than you think!

Oh phew @Mapletreelane! Of course, thank you! Yes i have next summer/autumn in my sights for uni visits, just not awake enough to have clocked the date.

We went to some in the autumn and spring of Y12. It was useful as there’s lots of clashes and y13 is busier so trickier to fit them in, plus some admissions tests happen in autumn of y13 so we needed to have applied for them in time. Also his understanding of the kind of uni he wants has changed as we’ve visited, so it’s been helpful to have that time for it to evolve. As in, if we’d left it later and started with the original unis, he’d have not liked them and not had time to pivot and find those he liked. Your DC will ofc be in different circumstances and you’ll go when suits that, but there’s no downside to being prepared vs leaving it later. Looking at a couple in this term takes the pressure off haring around all over the country next autumn.

My DD is just starting a CS degree at Liverpool.
We visited York, Cardiff, Bristol, Surrey & Liverpool open days.
Cardiff she really didn’t like, the computer science building was nice but the other side of the railway line and felt disjointed from the rest of the campus.
Surrey she loved the course and the CS building but the campus felt too much like school (her words 😉)
York. The campus is lovely but the CS building was away from the nice part and the course felt very dated.
Bristol DD really liked, the university is in a nice area of the city and had a nice feel to it, unfortunately the course she wanted had too high entry requirements so she didn’t get an offer.
Liverpool she loved the course and the campus. It is a city campus with a mix of old/new buildings and is only a short walk to the city. Hence this was her first choice and thankfully she got the grades and was accepted.

I would suggest your DD also looks at the modules on offer as different universities offer different specialisms.
e.g. Yorks course had a larger focus on low level programming for use with HW.
Other courses specialised in Cyber Security
So it is important to understand which aspects of computer science she enjoys and would like to specialise in. Then consider the universities whose courses include these specialisms.
Hope this helps

Joining thread. DS is applying for ComSci in 2026. He's neurodiverse and will need a bit more settling in time then your average student. I'd actually like him to take a gap year & travel but it's not really an option due to severe food allergies so I'm looking at a Foundation Year for him so he doesn't have to hit the ground running. They come with a softer grade entry point which we could well end up relying upon as he tends to underperform in exams compared to what he attains in class.

We live in London and he wants to be nearish home so we are looking at Surrey, Sussex, Royal Holloway (all with Foundation Year) then Reading who don't offer a foundation year (because they don't require A level maths)
DS also loved Southampton but at A A A it's way too aspirational.
We really need a fifth option but I'm struggling. Maybe Oxford Brookes but I've chucked that in because it's near & for no other reason.
Personal Statement is coming along. I'm pretty involved as he's quite passive and developmentally a little behind his peers.
Next on the list is digging into course content which I have no clue about. I found your comments about York's content really useful@sleepdeprivedby2. Would be interested in any other insights on the unis I've mentioned
Foundation years vary a lot between the unis and some include Physics (RH) which he's not done since GCSE. His A levels are ComSci, Maths (it's a struggle) and Philosophy

Reading seems to be risjng in reputation -picking up some very positive comments on Mumsnet threads.

DD and I visited Essex and got a great vibe if anyones looking for a campus uni - she didnt go as fell in love with the modules on a course elsewhere- but the whole place felt buzzy and friendly. The accomodation was very varied so felt like anyone could find a vibe that suited them.

@SherlockJones
@Loveandhappiness
@ComputerSciMum

have your DC applied yet or got their final 5 shortlist?
I’ve got a 10 minute appointment at school tomorrow to discuss final stages & still only have 4 choices.
I feel weirdly unsupported (DS is not exactly driving the process) but not really sure what I expect from school. I’d love a teacher to okay his PS!

DS is waiting for the final draft of his PS to be reviewed, it seems to be taking ages and the early excitement of applying has died down. Fingers crossed his UCAS form will be submitted next week.
Good luck everyone!

DS2's application is due to go this week.

He's gone for Warwick, Durham, Southampton, York and Nottingham Trent (as his safe option). He's predicted A, A, A so fingers crossed.

Not yet! He has slightly disengaged from the whole process! He submitted his UCAS form early for Cambridge and we are waiting for his TMUA result on Friday to see if he will get an interview there. So he has 4 additional choices to make. I expect Bristol and Sheffield will make the shortlist. Possibly Warwick. He needs a safe option, I’m thinking maybe Surrey although we haven’t visited. I’d prefer he does a year in industry if poss and would like him to consider Bath and Birmingham.

Only do a course that’s offering real time embedded / safety critical / cybersecurity / languages like C. Otherwise the majority of jobs will be based in India!

Sorry, that should have been A star, A star, A predictions.

Don't know why that didn't show properly.

The asterisks make the text between them go bold. It’s a problem on several websites so best to write out star, annoying though it is.