Options for university?

Hi all,

I am 22 years old and I am thinking about going to university. However, I am unsure if my qualifications are good enough and have been wondering what I would need to do in order to give myself more of a chance of getting in.

I got my 5 GCSE's, I didn't finish my A-levels but I have completed a level 3 IT apprenticeship since leaving, earning 5 IT certs. I also have 4 years work experience in IT. I was hoping to go onto a computer science course and I have done some basic research on this, however it's all rather confusing whether or not I qualify or not.

If anyone would be able to at least point me in the right direction I would be really grateful. Cheers!

Universities normally expect to see you have undertaken some recent academic work (usually within the last three years). If you haven't been in an academic course in that time frame (roughly) they will probably expect you to undertake some programme of study - for example, OU credits or an Access to HE course. Not all Access to HE courses are accepted by all universities though, so if you are considering an Access course I would recommend you contact any university you are considering applying to with full details of the Access course (content, provider, etc) to ensure it is acceptable for them. You could also take A-levels, however this is often less convenient than the other options for mature students - an Access course is only a 1 year programme, and OU credits can be completed part time around work.

For CS specifically, many degrees require A-level Maths or equivalent. I would recommend you check the entry criteria of any universities you may wish to apply to in order to see if A-level Maths is normally required. If so, I'd recommend you contact them to ask about whether OU modules might meet that requirement, or if a given Access to HE course does. Some courses may simply require A-level Maths without any other way around it. You may then need to make plans for this if you want to apply to those courses. It may be possible to meet the requirements as such by taking A-level Maths by itself, along with some OU credits or an Access to HE course.

Overall, the best thing you can do as a mature student is to ask the unis themselves! University admissions teams are usually very helpful, and will be the best expert on their own requirements. They understand mature students often come from non-standard educational backgrounds and as such are usually able to offer advice with that understanding.

Most leading (top 30 or so) universities are likely to require Maths A level for Computer science courses due to its mathematical content. Below that many will accept you with grade B or 6 at gcse Maths. You could take an access course as advised but it will probably need to be science based. Contacting thse universities you are thinking at studying of would be your best option so they can advise you of their requirement