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?

@ComputerSciMum did you visit all of those choices? We never made it to Durham or York but I would have liked to have visited. I know they’ve both got a good reputation for CS and are nice student cities but I know DS likes a bigger city feel.

We visited all except York, but he decided to take a chance on that one because it's not too far from home. His computer science teacher at school went to York, so he has talked to him about the course and student experience etc.

He loved Durham and I think the collegiate system would suit him well. Southampton, has a really sensible course structure and lovely small campus, very big computer science department, which could offer a lot of opportunities, but it is a long way from home.

We visited Southampton, he liked the Uni and the Comp Sci dept but he did not love the City. We probably didn’t explore it enough tbh. Durham is such a long way from home for us (London). Good luck to your DS.

I’d add U of Birmingham into the mix - it’s riding high in the CS rankings at the moment. Campus is lovely and it’s an interesting place to live (ignore the bad press about the bin strikes). Might be biased as I am an alumna.

Definitely Northumbria

@SabrinaThwaite I would love DS to consider Birmingham but he is really against it, despite the high rankings. It’s their open day today and he has refused to go! I think he’s worried about crime but he is used to city living in London and wants a city uni! TMUA results have now put Cambridge and I expect Warwick out of reach for him.

My DS was same about Brum! I tried to talk him into today's open day, but no interest, even though it's one of the few high-ranked uni's for CS that give lower offers for having a good EPQ and such. He's going to the Sheffield open day next w/e though so hopefully he'll like that as he needs a decent insurance offer, all the others seem to be A-star A-star A, which is fine if he meets his predicteds, but there's no safety net. Only other option for that still on the table is Lancaster which he liked but it's a long way and not ideal.

Following

DS is doing a degree apprenticeship but we visited Southampton, Exeter and Surrey for CS a couple of years ago. Exeter is beautiful but we couldn't go to the presentations with DS and he said the lecturers were weird and just went on about their own niche research.

The first Southampton lecturer opened with 'don't expect me to ever know any of you because i have 300 students and so I won't'. He was awful although there was another lecture with another guy who was much more engaging.

The Surrey lecturers were completely different, they talked about their students like they actually liked them and were really interested and engaged with them. The older years students could also get work helping the younger students in class. I really liked the staff and the set up although the building reminded me of my old secondary school.

Visiting really helps you get a feel for each place.

Ugh that's the thing I hate most about cs - the way these courses have ballooned to 300+ per year at most places and there's a real sense of staff fatigue with that which is understandable. I guess the Southampton lecturer was honest at least, and I don't love the now common practice at a lot of places of having other undergrads supervising the labs. Even if they're in the year above, it sucks to have so little meaningful staff contact time for the amount it's costing.

Even at places like Warwick, it felt like they're bursting at the seams, upping the numbers year on year but not necessarily the facilities or the staffing. The lab at Surrey was so vast, it felt to me like he'd just be an ant in the hive. It was good in other ways, don't get me wrong, and I get that it's just one of those things with uni funding being in such a state, but it does make the gulf between the top unis and the rest even wider, which is dispiriting. I preferred places that at least seemed to break groups down for more contact time - Lancaster did have that in its favour. Whereas the likes of QMUL just felt overrun and not so worth it to me.

Interested to know your take on Sheffield @Loveandhappiness - noticed that you'd been to a previous open day and that it's still in the mix?

@pinkdelight he liked Sheffield. Thought the lecturers and facilities were v good and the City student friendly and manageable. With most offers made at AAA it’s also a relatively safe option 🤞 Have you got a shortlist? Would be interested to know what you are considering. Lancaster is a potential safety net too but like you it’s a long way from us and potentially too quiet a place for DS.

@lostintranslation148 this year one of the comp sci lectures at Southampton was on the history of computing, which I though would be boring but DS found it quite interesting!

Thanks @Loveandhappiness that sounds really promising about Sheffield. Fingers crossed he'll have the same reaction next w/e. So far he's applied to Cambridge (longshot but hoping for an interview at least), Manchester (offer), and KCL (v slow with offers I believe). Shortlist for the last two spots includes Sheffield, Lancaster, and possibly Warwick though he didn't love it on open day and it only makes sense if it offers lower than Mancs and KCL which is unlikely. I'm still not ruling out Birmingham if he's not into Sheffield. How's your DS's shortlist looking currently?

@pinkdelight DS also applied for Cambridge but his TMUA score of 4.5 has probably ruled him out of an interview/offer. So out of the 4 remaining choices, Bristol and Sheffield will be two of them. Then maybe Bath or Warwick, but his TMUA score might be too low for Warwick. We didn’t visit Manchester but this could replace Warwick. Then for a clear safety net (Surrey (a bit suburban for him), Sussex, or Lancaster (a bit far). So we are still a bit unsure and undecided!

From what I've read on various forums, Warwick are much more chill re. TMUA so 4.5 could well be fine. He could get a Cams interview too. Mine got 5.4 so it's still not high but seems like a tough year so we never know how it'll stack up, with internationals and home applicants etc. Let's keep hoping till we hear otherwise. I couldn't get mine interested in Bath or Bristol and same reaction as yours to Surrey, but he liked Mancs so he'd be happy there if it came down to it.

@pinkdelight 5.4 is a good score. Well done to your son. So many people have been disappointed with their scores this year and were expecting higher. You are right to keep hoping until we hear otherwise. I actually think Mancs could be a good option for DS instead of Bath, as it’s a bigger and buzzier city. I’ll update on here when choices have been made!

Hi, joining this thread as my eldest is also planning on comp science next year. Each of his a-levels is on the border of grades, so he could get a-star, a-star, a. Or he could get AAB. He's submitted his choices - 1st choice is Manchester, but he would have to get that a a a. Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield are vying for insurance choice. Manchester met is also on the list as his 'everythung has gone wrong' choice. Haven't visited Sheffield yet, that's next weekend. He is set on a city uni, which helped narrow down the selection.

Has anyone heard from Warwick or Durham yet?

DS has got all his other offers, but still waiting on these two.

Durham can be notoriously slow.

DS got a cs offer from Warwick on Tues.

@pinkdelight thats great. Did they drop a grade because of his TMUA score?
@chocoholic1234 what did you think of Sheffield?
@ComputerSciMum expect Durham might wait to offer until Cambridge/Oxford have decided on offers.

We still haven’t applied! Sitting down later today to decide!

Following because my slightly younger ds is also interested in CS! What is TMUA?

For 2025 entry Warwick did not offer a reduced offer from TMUA until after the second TMUA sitting. My daughter got a standard A star A star A offer in December which was reduced to A start A A in March with and email saying it had been for reduced for everyone scoring 5.5 or over in TMUA.

@LoveandhappinessWarwick dropped a grade (to A star A A) as he’s contextual, so I assume they only do one or the other given that contextual means TMUA isn’t essential. Big relief though as otherwise 4 out of 5 choices would be two A stars and an A, which isn’t v helpful for insurance. He’s also got lower Lancaster offer (AAB I think for math & cs) which will may come in handy but current plan is to have Warwick as insurance. He’s got a Cams interview this week and still waiting on KCL, suspect that’ll be a long wait. DS wasn’t into Sheffield. I liked it but he preferred Manchester and Lancs so couldn’t see point in having another in between those. The staff seemed good though and it’s a cool city.

@Onceuponatimethenthe TMUA is the admissions test that some top unis require for cs, econ and some maths courses. Best to look up individual course entry requirements as they vary and change - UCL has its own test now (TARA) and different unis have different cut-off grades too. It’s a lot to get your head around so good to suss it early. Takes a fair bit of revision too as it’s a particular kinda maths. Way beyond me!

Good luck with the Cambridge interview. My daughter had Cambridge as firm last year and Warwick as insurance. Her brother graduated from Warwick Computer Science a couple of years ago too. Which college is your son's interview at?

Thank you! His interview is at Robinson. Where was your daughter’s? It’s a longshot as ever, but all good experience whatever way it goes.