University of Reading Computer Science with placement year

[fluffythecat1]

Anyone had any experience of this degree?

The potential student may wish to join the online forum The Student Room. They can post all kinds of questions to UGs across the UK, geared to specific universities, fields of study, etc.

The quality of the forum is generally very good, with a range of frank opinions.

My son is doing that.

How is he getting on? It’s shaping up to be the best option for my son, they seem to have good links to industry and their entry requirements fit his profile. I’m doing my PhD there, so I know the campus is nice however I’m in a very different discipline.

Thankyou, yes I’ve had a good lurk around there. It seems pretty well regarded, I think a year in industry is a biggie as regards employment after graduation. The choice is his, however since we will be paying much of his maintenance we do want it to a be worthwhile choice.

I agree, OP, that an industrial placement can be a great thing. Do you have a sense of how easy it is for Reading CS students to get good placements? People on TSR may be able to help with this question.

Thank you @poetryandwinethere isn’t a great deal on that on the Studentroom. My dad used to live in Reading and work in IT and I know that there are a lot of tech firms in the region. It seems that they have good links to industry when reading the University website. I know that placement options can vary between institutions, with some largely expecting students to entirely source their own.

I think most largely expect students to source their own placements, OP. The degree programme’s contacts - available to students - and reputation can make a big difference in how easy that is

@Cl0ckface my dc is about to start this in Sept. Would be great to get your feedback.

My DS is interested in this course too. Would be great to hear some feedback.

He is doing well and enjoying it.Currently sorting out his work placement for next year.Had internal referrals from the careers lady and had appointments with her. Is proving to be a lot of work, call backs/ final rounds from all of them and he applied for a lot just in case. A breadth of type of settings.Most he got off his own back.He’s having to sort out presentations, do tests and interviews whilst doing all his uni work, lectures and his part time job. Once next year is sorted he’ll have less of a load so looking forward to that I think.

Reading Uni seems to be a supportive and inclusive uni with a lot of students who have life experience. It’s very well placed for industry links too, you have a large area to play with. I’ve been quite impressed thus far. I have another STEM son at a very high rated red brick uni which I’m less impressed with.

These placements are effectively jobs. I’d actually ask Reading if all the students on the course actually get a placement. What %? How many do they apply for? How many on the course and how realistic is it that all get a placement and where? What about travel and what about students from other universities like Bath competing for the placements?

Universities certainly guide students but they don’t have a bank of placements for everyone. All they really do is give dc a gap year to go and work!

Obviously!

But they do have links, support and advice. The interest and success re applications so far has been encouraging. That said you need a robust CV. Applying from Bath means little if you have little on your CV with little life experience.My husband works in the sector. He says they really aren’t interested in which uni you come from, it’s experience that counts. So building the CV and being proactive is key and I’d focus on that rather than relying on which uni you’re applying from.

You can drop back to the 3 year course if unsuccessful but a year in industry will obviously help with employability once you leave uni so is arguably preferable.

We looked at Surrey and thought that seemed really good for comp sci, the lecturers were much more interested in teaching then in the Russel group unis we visited. Not too far from Reading and you can do a year in industry placement plus there were jobs helping the younger comp sci students (when we visited a couple years ago at least) and they're asking for same grades as Reading I think.

DS ended up doing a degree apprenticeship but I'd definitely recommend checking out Surrey too.

Yes ds looked at Surrey I think too and thought it looked good when researching but preferred being somewhere bigger and the campus.

I hate the uni snobbery on here, I don’t think it’s helpful and it’s easy to get sucked in. My son has had many disadvantages in life. His hard work, interest in the field and tenacity is what will get him a job not a uni name.

I agree with you that a student who makes the most of their opportunities can succeed from any degree programme. The student’s undergraduate accomplishment (including but definitely not limited to their academic performance) is the key to their future.

Furthermore there are many, many lesser known universities with pockets of academic excellence.

This is not to deny that one can recover from a bad UG experience.

We do sometimes see posters overly invested in university status. The Russell Group is experiencing plenty of trouble right now.

@Cl0ckface You will find dc cannot get experience! You can probably offer dc a leg up, how do other dc get it? The people who think hard work pays off are not really correct. Plenty with firsts cannot get jobs, internships or placements. The jobs market is pretty dire for many. No doubt dh in the sector is a huge advantage but others are really struggling. It might not matter what uni attended but where there’s hundreds of applicants, they have to differentiate somehow snd msny dc cannot get relevant experience on the cv without parental intervention. That doesn’t mean they haven’t worked hard or are somehow less deserving.

Dh is no help what so ever. How could he be? He is near retirement and his skills are old. DS can wipe the floor with him as regards modern coding and software development.There is nothing on my son’s cv that my husband has helped with in any way shape or form. He has had zero input with any of his placement applications. Anything DS has achieved is from sheer hard work under difficult circumstances and yes admittedly ability from a quite disadvantaged position. He has done a lot and created a lot to put on his CV. Having a first doesn’t give a monopoly on that. Anybody can do it.All I’m saying is applying from the MN favoured unis is clearly not the be all and end all as said son is having a very good response to his applications.

So what’s he landed then? Having a dh in the same industry is of course an advantage! My Dh is retired but if dc had wanted his career he sure would have known what to tell them to do! Your DS has a huge advantage!

It still doesn’t alter the fact that there aren’t enough places to go round - what is encouraging in terms of placement success? 20%? 50% 70%. And how do you know the success rate for the entire cohort anyway? It’s becoming more and more difficult for grads to land grad jobs, and CS isn’t immune as it’s over producing grads.

He hasn’t landed anything yet! But it looks encouraging, he’s off to a really good start and is very proactive. Your husband is clearly superior to mine who is zero advantage; he has old skills and zero contacts. It’s not like law or medicine. DS knows more than him as regards current skills. He can code in his sleep, is incredibly hard working, independent and always has been. Regardless of what life has thrown at him. I don’t really care about the whole cohort. It’s down to individual students to get off their bums and sort things for themselves not rely on universities to do it for them.

@Cl0ckfaceThe whole point of the thread IS the cohort! Individual takes of brilliance don’t mean much to anyone choosing the course based on placements! In reality you’ve no idea if anyone has a placement! My feeling is universities should be very clear on what % get placements or it’s very misleading to call it a degree with a placement!

Op asked about the course as a whole. She asked me directly how my son was getting on. I replied that he was doing well and yes did get some referrals from uni alongside help from the carers

At the end of the day a lot will go on CVs. Any careers dep will tell you that and it’s down to students themselves to approach unis for help and to boost CVs.

Not carers - careers dept

Why? Students who are proactive enough to apply and sort placements for themselves (even if unsuccessful in actually securing one) are going to be a step ahead of the rest of the CS graduate job market just from the application experience. You can always revert back to the regular course.

Exactly!!! The process is such a good learning process. He has done tests, interviews and presentations. Amazing experience to have. He can then get feedback back from companies and uni to improve his CV and continue adding to it if he needs to which will stand him in amazing stead on graduation.

And yes you just go back on to the 3 year course if not successful. You haven’t lost anything.