Kent, Keele or Essex

randomacc12345

Which uni is the best out of these for computer science? thanks

Kent

Essex

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 3

StudentRep Medway

Official Rep

Hey there,

My name is Connie and I am a final year BSc Marketing student in the Business School at the University of Kent (Canterbury campus). It's great to see you are interested in studying Computer Science here at Kent, I do not have personal experience on the course, however two of my housemates actually studied this subject and got on extremely well and had great experiences. One has recently accepted an excellent Junior Developer job in Central London and the other has decided to stay on at Kent and complete his Masters in Cyber Security.

Course content - I would suggest checking out the exact modules offered at all of the universities you are interested in to see if they vary and if some are more preferable for your interests/ career prospects. Here at Kent you can complete what is called a 'themed degree' where you can specialise in one particular area of interest; for example we have 'Artificial Intelligence' and 'Networks' options. Also, if you are considering completing a placement year it will be important to see which universities offer this as it can be a great way to enhance your employability options. I would also say check the teaching and assessment methods for the course to see which are best suited to your method of learning/ being examined. Some universities may take a more theoretical approach while others may have more hands on experience based group learning so depending on your preference.

Course ranking - Just a few quick stats based on the course ranking for you to consider: Computer Science at Kent scored 91.9 out of 100 in The Complete University Guide 2021 with over 92% of Computer Science graduates who responded to the most recent national survey of graduate destinations in professional work or further study within six months (DLHE, 2017).

Social life - Obviously, I am naturally biased towards Kent, but I honestly think Kent is a great uni and there's plenty to do outside of the campus! Although Canterbury is a slightly smaller city than most, it is pretty packed with things to do There are 3 other universities in Canterbury, so it has a great student feel to it! There's loads of bars, pubs, shops and restaurants in Canterbury, as well as lots of beautiful gardens to explore and of course the Cathedral (which Kent students can visit for free!). You can get to the beach in about 15 minutes which has been one of my favourite things to do during the summer especially! There's also a high-speed train into London that takes about 50 minutes, which is perfect for a day trip or just travelling to other places in the country.

I hope that this helped give you a bit of an over-view of what life is like at Kent. If there's anything else you'd like to know, feel free to ask!

Good luck,
-Connie :smile:

Reply 4

username5319026

In this case I'll probably provide more info too.

According to the University Ranking 2020, Essex is far stronger than Kent in Computer Science:
- QS subject ranking: Essex 301-350 in the world, versus 351-400 Kent (https://www.topuniversities.com/universities/university-essex#wurs)
- THE subject ranking: Essex 176-200 in the world, versus 301-400 Kent (https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2020/subject-ranking/computer-science#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats)

University of Essex has recently invested nearly £20 million in a new STEM centre, which has a brand new PC lab, conference rooms, and an exploratory space with working stations (great if you have to work on game and app development). University of Essex is a campus University, so you got over 15,000 student living there. There is everything, accommodations, shops, pubs, clubs, restaurant, bank, cafe, student centre, GP and a massive sport centre.