What are the top unis that offer degree apprenticeships in Computer science?

Or any allied courses

Well their are many universities that are good for computer science, as it's such a popular course, obviously you have universities like Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, Imperial College, St. Andrews, etcetera. You've also got universities like Glasgow, Sheffield, Loughborough, Manchester, Lancaster. The list goes on haha. Guardian and QS rankings are good to look at (just search for them), but bear in mind that it honestly depends on yourself: Cambridge is all well and good but challenging yourself to get two A*s and an A can be really stressful, let alone interviews. When applying it's generally recommended to have Unis with a range of grade boundaries for safety. Additionally, Cambridge and Oxford require Further Maths which you may or may not have, whereas others just want Maths.

Something I think is also good to consider with the rankings is that, you see Cambridge, Oxford, etcetera so high on the rankings - but they have really high grade boundaries, so most of the people will be doing good anyway. If you consider somewhere like Southampton (for other courses), they have much, much lower grade boundaries, and yet they still rank really highly - which goes to show that they must have phenomenal teaching.

I recommend checking out Discover Uni , it's an official website that has statistics on all universities, e.g. employment, enjoyment. It's really useful, and quite thought provoking: e.g. only last year (I think) Warwick was one of the highest for Computer Science, but this year it's 27th, and also student satisfaction is 37%. Wouldn't recommend haha. Also, try to really consider universities - just because Stoxbridge looks amazing on a CV and has great prestige, doesn't mean it's for you. Always consider other factors - for example, Southampton is much lower, in the 30s (though it's still meant to be a great course with loads of modularity), but I've heard many say how friendly it is, which might be nice for you, and help in general.

I went off on a slight tangent there, my apologies :smile:

, but I just thought it's worth noting how there are so many factors to take into account, and everything depends on you. Hope that helps, good luck!

Reply 2

jeff1784

Apologies for the confusion - I'd been asking about universities that offer degree apprenticeship courses specifically, not general degrees

Reply 3

{Moss}

Original post by jeff1784

Apologies for the confusion - I'd been asking about universities that offer degree apprenticeship courses specifically, not general degrees

Oh gosh I'm so sorry haha, that's unfortunate. It's hard to say about degree apprentices, for reasons which I'll explain: firstly, not many universities actually offer them outright. Generally, it's companies that offer degree apprenticeships, and they partner with unis, which is why you might not find any information about apprenticeships on uni websites but will on company websites.

Secondly, and most importantly: the thing about degree apprenticeships is that they are generally not with as good universities as you could get if you went with UCAS. Don't get me wrong, they're still going to be good - but rather than top 20s it would be top 60s, for example. However, please don't let this deter you. What many people love about degree apprenticeships is that, despite the course possibly not being as good as with other unis (you don't really have a choice), it's the experience and salary they give you. The salaries good, but if you think - someone with a degree, maybe not from Oxbridge haha, but some sort of degree, but with 3 years of work experience, is going to be prized much more over a graduate from Oxbridge with zero work experience. Nigh on all companies prize experience over education. So, this is just a tip - with a degree apprenticeship, it's the salary and experience you get on the job, not from the course (although obviously that's important too haha).

I've done some research myself, and to be fair it depends on what kind of uni you'd consider good. E.g. if you've got straight As many of the degree apprentices are actually quite good, as computer science has really high grade boundaries. On the other hand, if you're getting A*s you might not feel like going to some other unis (though take into account what I said about experience and such being just as good :smile:

). It also depends on what kind of career you want: e.g. many companies other degree apprenticeships for Computer Science/Digital and Technology Solutions (another tech degree), but you do have to choose a pathway: e.g. data science, cyber security, software engineering are popular ones. Some jobs are better for these than others. Generally, I'd say apprenticeships that are considered the best are with BT, Vodafone, etcetera (there's a student room article on the best if you go to the apprenticeships forum :smile:

.) However, if you take into account universities, from my research the best would be with Barclays: they have a Computer Science apprenticeship with Manchester Uni, which is one of the best and seems to be the highest. Obviously though, there are so many factors that need to be taken into account - such as work life and stuff.

Hope this has helped! Sorry for another long post haha I'm trying to cover all the angles. Let me know if you have any other questions :biggrin: