The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

Software Systems Development

I currently do GCSE Computer Science and was hoping to continue SSD for A Level but my school isn't running it anymore. I was told that other years have all dropped out at A Level because of the mathematical difficulty. I got an A* in my maths module last year but I don't particularly like it and it's recommended for me to do Maths A Level bit I really wouldn't want to do that.*

My school only offers a Cambridge Technical Level 3 Applied ICT course which is my only option for computing. I know for sure that I want to continue working with computers in the first place but I'm not 100% sure that I want to program.*

I was told by one of my teachers to stay away from Applied subjects because of my acedmic background of straight As and A*s. I'm not sure what to do.*

Any advice?
Original post by shannonc01
I currently do GCSE Computer Science and was hoping to continue SSD for A Level but my school isn't running it anymore. I was told that other years have all dropped out at A Level because of the mathematical difficulty. I got an A* in my maths module last year but I don't particularly like it and it's recommended for me to do Maths A Level bit I really wouldn't want to do that.*

My school only offers a Cambridge Technical Level 3 Applied ICT course which is my only option for computing. I know for sure that I want to continue working with computers in the first place but I'm not 100% sure that I want to program.*

I was told by one of my teachers to stay away from Applied subjects because of my acedmic background of straight As and A*s. I'm not sure what to do.*

Any advice?


If you want to work in the computer industry, but you do not know what you want to do, then your best option would be to choose A-levels that give you the widest choice of course options and careers.

The recognised 'enabling' subjects are Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English Literature, Geography, History and Modern Foreign Languages.

Choosing three from this list will keep the widest choice of career options and university courses entry open to you while you continue researching potential career paths and universities during the next two years.

You do not need to study programming or computing at A-level to gain entry to a university degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Systems Design etc.

My recommendation (given your planned path) would be Maths, Physics and one of the other non-science based subjects.

This combination goes well with most careers and does not close off choices in either science, engineering, business, law or teaching for starters.
(edited 6 years ago)

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you