A Level Computing without maths?

[justthisonetime456]

Hello posting in secondary education as may be some teachers around. Also name changed as this is very outing.

Dd is predicted 8/9s in most subjects. She loves drama and computing. She also does theatre stuff outside school and will continue that.

In her heart she wants to be a theatre director. In her head she knows computer science is better job wise.

Her A Level options are due in.
She wants to do Eng Lit (which will have plays in).
Then either: Drama and Politics
Or: Computing and Maths

She’s good at maths but isn’t passionate about it. I know some of my older Dds friends got 7s in maths at GCSE and got Ds in the new maths A Level.

Another option would be Eng Lit, Politics and Computing but she wouldn’t get into many ‘upper’ universities for computing without maths and it may be odd for Eng Lit/theatre courses. Also I am concerned it is more difficult to get the top grades at computing without maths. I know that there seems to be a trend about what grades you actually get rather than the subject you take it in for universities.

Thoughts anyone???

Students should follow their hearts! Sure, she may not end up being a theatre director, but many many jobs are opened up with arts degrees. The current rhetoric the only STEM opens up good careers is an incredibly reductive view of what good constitutes!

An Eng Lit A Level may only have one play by the way. I don't really understand why drama is only a 'maybe'. How much drama is she involved in outside of school hours?

noble, not sure your post makes sense: did you mean without computing?

She doesn't need maths to do A Level computing / computer science. The maths is boolean algebra and binary, as long as she is OK with GCSE maths she will be fine.

ps : to do a Lit degree it doesn't matter what your A Levels two and three are, although most have humanities in the mix/ languages/drama.

To do a drama degree, drama is not always required, but I imagine the majority have it.

Maths and computing are by no means the hardest (statistically) subjects to get top A Level grades in, although that does have a lot to do with the ability of intake into the subjects.

Not my field, but from what I’ve heard, Computer science degrees can be very demanding mathematically. It’s worth checking which university she’s aiming for to see their requirements. Some are less so than others, depending on the type of curriculum. Others would prefer further maths too.

Just checked a couple of websites. To do Computer Science at Bristol she'd need A star AA, including the A star in mathematics.

On the other hand at Hull she'd need much lower grades and only GCSE maths.

It depends on her aspirations.

A-Level Computer Science is very difficult, with 4.9% of students failing the course (June 2018). This may not sound like a lot, but it is actually one of the highest failing rates of any A-Level. At the other end, just 3.4% achieved A* in 2019.

However, personally, I think that those who have completed the new 9-1 GCSE syllabus are actually very well prepared to do well in the A Level and I would prefer a student to have that qualification, rather than just maths. I think that if your daughter wants to do it and has the GCSE under her belt, she should be fine!

jcq.org.uk/examination-results

For Computer Science degrees, maths is the most frequently required subject, and further maths is expected if your school offers it (for the more competitive entry courses). The new spec Computer Science A level is desirable, but not usually essential.

Just checked a couple of websites. To do Computer Science at Bristol she'd need A star AA, including the A star in mathematics.

Many universities advertise that because not all Sixth Forms and colleges offer the A Level in Computer Science and Maths is ‘facilitating’. However, more and more are giving offers to those with just Computer Science, once applied. Best to often actually phone or email the admissions tutor of he places you want to go to.

Do maths - you can learn to code later. Maths is much more transferable. And it’s good fun at A Level, particularly if she’s heading for a 9 at GCSE

ChloeDecker - why would they not put 'A star in Mathematics or Computer Science' then?

They specifically say they want Maths. They don't specify what the other A Levels should be so (from when we were looking into CS for DS) Computer Science A Level itself isn't a requirement.

ChloeDecker - why would they not put 'A star in Mathematics or Computer Science' then?

Usually habit. Just like they are still advertising A*AA when the new style ‘one shot’ Linear exams don’t yield the same high grades as the previous modular ones did.

They specifically say they want Maths. They don't specify what the other A Levels should be so (from when we were looking into CS for DS) Computer Science A Level itself isn't a requirement.

Well, every year, I have students get offers from universities to study Computer Science and they don’t have Mathematics but do have A Level CS. This year, one of my students has an offer from Bristol. Go figure. Merely down to experience, I always advise students to not just go on what a university says on their website.

Do maths - you can learn to code later

Computer Science isn’t just coding

Maths A level is highly regarded in the IT industry and would be a very good one to have. So whilst there are plenty of people working in the industry without it, when she is applying for jobs it will help. As others have said, maths is also either a requirement or desirable for many Computer Science degrees, so she should seriously consider it.

Many of the students in dd's A level Computing group don't do a level maths. Dd doesn't. She has GCSE maths.

She doesn't intend studying computing at degree level but I know that not all universities require the a level maths. Though at degree level there is a heavy mathematical component.

Dd does a level drama and Spanish alongside computing.

Do maths - you can learn to code later

Since when was computing just coding??
I think you actually need to study the syllabus rather than just making a vague statement! Even the main coursework element doesn't have to be 'just coding.'

It's possible to do computer science without maths, but it's going to depend on the syllabus. You don't need maths to do coding (though it certainly won't be a hindrance,) but if you have a syllabus which goes deep into arcane areas of architecture or some theoretical areas, some cybersecurity algorithms and so on, then you probably will need maths - cybersecurity is very much in demand at the moment, and I don't think that will change in the next few years. Also some areas of data science need mathematical modelling, and that's also a big growth area at the moment.

I would expect a degree to go into more depth than most people would need to actually work in tech, unless they stay in academia or end up in an R&D department. So it depends on the syllabus of a particular course, and what the focus is, and what modules are compulsory or optional.

I did an MSc conversion in Comp Sci about a million years ago, which only needed GCSE maths. One assignment for graphics was to program a graph of a differential equation - we hadn't covered differentials at GCSE, so while I could do the programming, I didn't actually understand what I was meant to program, though the lecturer did explain when asked. That was the only time not having done more than GCSE was a problem for me, but as I say, it will depend on the syllabus, so she will need to do some research there.

noble, not sure your post makes sense: did you mean without computing?

God yes, sorry! She can do computer science at uni without comp sci A-level, what they really look at is maths A-level. I should probably not be posting at 1:18am

??

I seem to be the lone voice saying do drama and lit !

Maybe it's just who was attracted to the thread by the title.

Maybe a smidgen piggy

Ahhh thank you everyone for replying, especially noble who started the ball rolling (even though I don’t know what you said)!
Parents’ evening didn’t help. Her English Lit teacher said she was the next Phoebe Waller-Bridge and her Computing teacher said she’d got 97% on the mock, far, far ahead of anyone else. Maths said she’d be fine doing A Level. Drama love her performances.

However, sanity came in the form of her older sister (!!!!) who said you really get to crystallise what you like best when revising and doing your GCSE exams. Everyone gets the A Level choices form on results day again as obviously some don’t get a 6 needed for maths etc. She reckoned about 75% changed from their original choices set in year 11 November for timetabling purposes. Two pupils in the end couldn’t do their revised choices down to clashes so not too bad odds.

FWIW Dd went with her heart. Her head may rule later.....

Piggy (for now)!

....and thanks to ChloeDecker for useful stats too