Birmingham Computer Science Aptitude Test + Interview

I've just received an e-mail from the Uni of Birmingham saying,

" We have reviewed your UCAS application and are delighted to be able to recommend to the University that you be made an offer. (You may have already received details of an offer from Central Admissions. As part of our admissions process we would also like to invite you to attend an Applicant Visit Day, which will include an aptitude test and an informal interview."

Has anybody already been to one of these Visit Days? What type of questions are in the aptitude test and in the interview? Will the test affect my offer? I haven't yet relieved an offer through UCAS (I received the e-mail a few hours ago).

Is it a group interview or test? And is attendance compulsory?

Any help would be much appreciated Thanks!


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I received my offer through UCAS on Thursday but for AAA (applied with AAB)

I received my offer through UCAS on Thursday but for AAA (applied with AAB)

So it took them about a week to update your ucas after receiving the initial email?

So it took them about a week to update your ucas after receiving the initial email?

Same here, I think it's so that if we miss the AAA and get AAB, we're still in the minimum requirements. Have you been to the applicant day?

Nope, have you? I hope they reduce it to AAB :/

I am a previous Computer Science student and also someone who has helped out with Applicant Visit Days (AVDs).

The idea behind them have been the same throughout. It is to decide whether you get a merit scholarship - extra money to help with your education. This can be a large sum of money if you achieve both the A Level Scholarship (I believe now it is A*AA to obtain this) and Merit Scholarship.

In regards to the day itself, you receive an aptitude test and an interview. The aptitude test is just to see your current ability - it is just logical thinking. Computer Science is about problem solving. If you are initially not a good problem solver - don't worry, as you progress you develop these skills.

The interview varies based on the interviewee. You might get interviewed by the Head of Computer Science, or a professor, or a doctor. Just don't bull****, because they know their stuff lol.
From my experience, these interviews are never the same. Some interviewees like to ask you different stuff. One time someone was asked "What do you think of the violence in Computer Games?" A bit random but it brings up discussion and thought. Others might ask why you are interested in Computer Science etc
If you say something like "I know how to program in this language" or "I know how to.. " They might have learnt this or even specialise in it so be ready to expand or talk about it.

Overall, there is nothing to worry about. It will not affect whether you get in or not, it will decide whether you get the extra money.
Now a lot of you are saying "would they lower your grades if you do good in the AVD". I am going to be completely honest with you... Back when I applied for UoB, I never knew anyone who had this and the first year consisted of around 70-80 people.
UoB has been renowned for Computer Science for a while now but recently it has hit number 1 (http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/sys/news/content/2013/06/04/birmingham-number-one-in-the-uk-for-computer-science/) in terms of ranking for particular tables such as Guardian. Now there are about 100+ people in first year.. So in a way, I doubt they would lower requirements.
People have been receiving unconditional offers from different departments of UoB but I have never seen the Computer Science department give out an unconditional offer, so it does say a lot here.

Final advice, get ready to work your ass off for the next three years but it is extremely worth it. Computer Science in Birmingham is extremely prestigious. A lot of departments do not get companies coming to them to advertise - we would get this quite often, big companies like Microsoft, Google, Goldman Sachs (all the big investment banks like JP Morgan, UBS, Morgan Stanley..), Big 4 (PWC, Deloitte...) etc etc..

I am a previous Computer Science student and also someone who has helped out with Applicant Visit Days (AVDs).

The idea behind them have been the same throughout. It is to decide whether you get a merit scholarship - extra money to help with your education. This can be a large sum of money if you achieve both the A Level Scholarship (I believe now it is A*AA to obtain this) and Merit Scholarship.

In regards to the day itself, you receive an aptitude test and an interview. The aptitude test is just to see your current ability - it is just logical thinking. Computer Science is about problem solving. If you are initially not a good problem solver - don't worry, as you progress you develop these skills.

The interview varies based on the interviewee. You might get interviewed by the Head of Computer Science, or a professor, or a doctor. Just don't bull****, because they know their stuff lol.
From my experience, these interviews are never the same. Some interviewees like to ask you different stuff. One time someone was asked "What do you think of the violence in Computer Games?" A bit random but it brings up discussion and thought. Others might ask why you are interested in Computer Science etc
If you say something like "I know how to program in this language" or "I know how to.. " They might have learnt this or even specialise in it so be ready to expand or talk about it.

Overall, there is nothing to worry about. It will not affect whether you get in or not, it will decide whether you get the extra money.
Now a lot of you are saying "would they lower your grades if you do good in the AVD". I am going to be completely honest with you... Back when I applied for UoB, I never knew anyone who had this and the first year consisted of around 70-80 people.
UoB has been renowned for Computer Science for a while now but recently it has hit number 1 (http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/sys/news/content/2013/06/04/birmingham-number-one-in-the-uk-for-computer-science/) in terms of ranking for particular tables such as Guardian. Now there are about 100+ people in first year.. So in a way, I doubt they would lower requirements.
People have been receiving unconditional offers from different departments of UoB but I have never seen the Computer Science department give out an unconditional offer, so it does say a lot here.

Final advice, get ready to work your ass off for the next three years but it is extremely worth it. Computer Science in Birmingham is extremely prestigious. A lot of departments do not get companies coming to them to advertise - we would get this quite often, big companies like Microsoft, Google, Goldman Sachs (all the big investment banks like JP Morgan, UBS, Morgan Stanley..), Big 4 (PWC, Deloitte...) etc etc..

Hey, hopefully I'm not too late to answer this. Don't fret about the test and interview. I'm studying CS here at UoB, in my first year. The interview will be one-to-one, you'll discuss your answers to the aptitude test and be able to ask questions, if you still have any. They might ask you a few questions other than that, maybe about your personal statement but it's really quite informal and everyone here is very friendly.


I'm not going to give away any of the contents of the aptitude test, but as far as I know it's used to see if you qualify for certain types of scholarship/grant. It's not that long, just don't do what I did and forget what course you've applied for, as you need to write that on the front.


As for year abroad I'm not sure, I know people who are doing them and I have met lots of ERASMUS students but I'm not on a course with a year abroad myself.
If you have any more questions about CompSci here at Birmingham then feel free to ask.

Thanks for the reply, I've got my AVD on the 29th so it's not too late. Is the course heavily maths based?

I got the same email.. not sure what to do. I think I might travel to Birmingham and do this test btw could anyone tell me what type of question they might ask?

I've survived so far with very little mathematical knowledge (I made the mistake of not doing A-Level maths), which means I have to take a compulsory maths module. Which at the moment is a bit of a joke, but based on our feedback it should improve for next year, also one of the lecturers who is ill will return.

There is no difficult mathematical content in any of the first year modules, there's plenty of other difficult stuff though. It's a great course.

I've also made the same mistake of not taking A Level maths (simply because I know I'd probably struggle). Do you know anyone on the course who missed their offer conditions and still got in? I've got a feeling I'll miss the AAA offer and get AAB :/

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