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?

My daughter's was at Jesus and she started there this October. My son had one at Christ's but was rejected post interview and ended up at Warwick where he had a great experience and now works for VISA.

Great to know about both positive outcomes!

@pinkdelight wishing your son well with his interview this week. Fab to have a good offer from Warwick and Lancaster too. Can I ask what your son liked about Lancaster?

We are really struggling to decide still, most likely because we haven’t visited places we may be applying to! Son has now decided he won’t apply to Warwick or Birmingham and won’t really explain why! It’s all very frustrating! So it’s Mancs or Bath for aspirational. Also need to decide on safety, thinking York, Lancaster or Surrey and currently veering towards York or Lancaster. I’ll be glad when this is done!

Thank you - keeping everything crossed here.

Lancaster-wise, he liked the cs buildings and facilities and it felt like they broke things down into smaller groups than some of the other unis where you could easily feel like one of 100s and barely speak to the staff. He said he felt he “could be happy here”, which counts for a lot. But it’s the only place he’s gone for maths & cs rather than straight cs as it’s not the most mathsy otherwise and he really likes that side. Like you, I couldn’t get him interested in Brum and he found Surrey too corporate feeling. It’s very specific and unpredictable what they respond to innit. Good luck with the final picks!

Have you looked at Northumbria? Great course and location.

5 offers received quite quickly here, now got to go to some offer holder days. Exeter, Reading and Royal Holloway will drop a grade for a B in EPQ and I think Exeter and Reading will drop another grade if he makes them his firm choice. Still likes Surrey a lot too and Kent is already a lower offer but probably least favourite.

Fantastic to have all five sorted already and to get that adjustment for the EPQ. Hopefully the offers holders days will clear up the running order for him.

@pinkdelight thanks.

@changedwoman123 thanks, we haven’t and I’m reluctant to throw any more into the mix as we haven’t visited any and won’t have time to. Just looked at rankings for Comp Sci though and it’s probably a bit low for my YP, although I realise that’s only half of the picture!

@SherlockJones thats brilliant and great to have all offers in the bag!

College have said that we must put our application in v soon to motivate our YP!

@Loveandhappiness you can always apply for three or four that you're sure of and fill in the final slots after another mull. Good to get some applications out there and might help with clarity on the last choices you can add before mid-Jan.

(I say you - I mean he - you know what I mean. We are one with our DC, ha ha)

DS really liked sheffield, and it's now tied with Liverpool for the insurance choice. Going to attend offer days before making the final decision. Firm, but aspirational choice is definitely Manchester. I thought Leeds would suit him better but clearly I was wrong.

@chocoholic1234 makes sense to go to offer days before final decisions.

@pinkdelight hope the interview went well.

We received an offer from Bristol today. Relieved to have one before Christmas! Still waiting on Sheffield. Deciding on the final two unis to apply to over Christmas period!

Great about Bristol, great to have that in the bag. Hope Sheffers comes through soon.

He enjoyed the interview, thanks. Means little as still a mega longshot but it was a good experience however the cookie crumbles.

Does anyone have any idea when the offer days are likely to be? I'm assuming March as they have to be after the ucas form deadline but before the firm / insurance decision has to be made. Diaries get filled up quickly here so it would be very useful to know!

The offer holder days? Some have been announced already, I’ve not got head around it yet but DS said he’s got emails from some places. I think there’s a few options, some in person, some online, so it should be possible to get to one at the unis they’re most keen on or need to weigh up.

Aware none of that had concrete date info, but that’s cos i think there’s a few scattered across the whole period. Feel like there’s already been an online one this term for one uni, and they put some on weekdays and some on weekends. So essentially saying not to worry, if there’s an important one to visit, there’ll very likely be a viable date.

Cardiff University is great. Great uni & town with the cheapest accommodation amongst them all. DS did computer science there and walked straight into a job.

Exeter offer holder days are on Saturdays in March, DS got an email invite and link to book. A few other unis have said they will email with info in January. I think they all seem to be in Feb and March from checking online where DS has applied.

@pinkdelight sounds really promising as I hear of some YP feeling pretty awful about how it went. Fingers crossed for your YP.

@chocoholic1234 we are also trying to plan ahead and are likely to be abroad for a week in April and really don’t want to miss any (if and when we get offers).

Would be particularly interested to hear when Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, Bath and Sheffield offer holder days are likely to be? I’ve tried to find out when last year’s were held but no luck.

@Tonty good to know. Thanks.

Hope you've all had a good Christmas and happy New year!!

DS2 got an offer from Durham just before Christmas, so we're now only waiting on Warwick. Fingers crossed something one way or another comes through soon!

Good luck to all your DC.

@ComputerSciMum fabulous! I think Oxford/Cambridge offers are due out soon so I expect you’ll hear from Warwick shortly!

Anyone had offers from Warwick yet? We're still waiting.

No. But we're also waiting for the January TMUA result.

DS got a Warwick offer in December. He did TMUA in Oct but was also contextual so not sure how much that was factored in.

Last year my DD got an offer early December, non contextual. Warwick then reduced the offer in March after the TMUA results were out from both sittings for anyone who scored 5.5 or over.