Top University, but course not accredited?! Need advice!

So as the Guardian University Rankings for 2019 were just released, St Andrews has been ranked number 1 (!) for Computer Science, BUT their course is not accredited by the British Computer Society. While you don't actually need the accreditation to work in the industry just like a medical student would, I will admit that I am skeptical about the lack of accreditation... Should I apply there or is it big enough of a deal to not apply? Thanks

No you aren't doing open heart surgery on a PC.

Accreditation isn't required.

You might be interested in this:
http://iansommerville.com/systems-software-and-technology/bcs-accreditation-of-computer-science-degree-courses/

Haha, luckily I'm not! So you'd suggest that I go for it as one of my choices?

If you like the course then yes.

Thanks so much for your replies! Hopefully applying to both St Andrews and Cambridge doesn't leave me without options, considering that I don't do F Maths so I essentially have no chances at the latter......

That's only the case if you are applying for the "with Maths" course.

Yes, but isn't it 'highly desirable' anyways?

Depends on the college tbh. Does your school offer FM?

Yes, but I didn't take it because I wasn't sure on the course back then and I didn't want to limit my choices. I have asked my sixth form's Head about doing the AS in Year 13 but it's not possible to do it at the school, so I'd need to either self study it or get a tutor and do it as a private candidate if I were to do it on top of my 3 full A Levels (Maths Physics and Biology)

Was thinking the exact same thing only yesterday. Glad someone answered it.

One of the Cambridge AT's resident on TSR will be hosting an "ask me" thread in due course - maybe check with them then...

Alternatively I'm tagging the ever helpful @Peterhouse Admissions

Yes, but isn't it 'highly desirable' anyways?

Glad! Where else are you considering applying?

Imperial, then stuck between Durham/Warwick/UCL/Manchester. Although, UCL's new requirements seem pretty high. I was thinking of Cambridge at some point but I think I'd have to do very well in the Further Maths AS so nah... (@Doonesbury idk your opinion on this but I'm sure if you don't get an A in the AS you do, it's as good as over)

I'd agree that if you do FM you would need to do well. But then again if you aren't getting an A you might find CompSci at Cambridge isn't for you anyway...

Not pretending to know the ins and outs of the admission here, but I got the impression when applying that the CSAT was mainly there to distinguish how good people were at maths, so I'd guess that even if you don't have FM but do well in the CSAT, they'd be happy to take you. However not doing FM may put you at a disadvantage in terms of how much maths practice you are doing (and depending on what modules you will have taken at that point may restrict which questions you have the knowledge to complete, so if you haven't done S1 [or whatever the current linear equivalent is] you may be at a disadvantage). So it would probably be a good idea to put some extra effort into maths practice, by looking at MAT or STEP 1 papers for example.

CSAT example papers look hard I will admit that..do you mind me asking if you got an offer? Do you think it's worth self-teaching AS Further Maths, considering that it's Cambridge so you could be doing all the Maths out there and still not get in? :/

One of the Cambridge AT's resident on TSR will be hosting an "ask me" thread in due course - maybe check with them then...

Alternatively I'm tagging the ever helpful @Peterhouse Admissions

Yes, but I didn't take it because I wasn't sure on the course back then and I didn't want to limit my choices. I have asked my sixth form's Head about doing the AS in Year 13 but it's not possible to do it at the school, so I'd need to either self study it or get a tutor and do it as a private candidate if I were to do it on top of my 3 full A Levels (Maths Physics and Biology)