Is studying in Uni of Leeds worth it ?

Hi I'm an international student I got an offer to study Computer Science undergraduate in uni of leeds, my two important criteria is that I should be able to get a placement as I graduate as if I dont get job I wont be able to repay my loan and there should be good study environment .Please Help

Hi I'm an international student I got an offer to study Computer Science undergraduate in uni of leeds, my two important criteria is that I should be able to get a placement as I graduate as if I dont get job I wont be able to repay my loan and there should be good study environment .Please Help

Hey, I'm also an international student with an offer for Bachelor's of Computer Science at Leeds xD. The prospects for an international student to get a job in UK will be excruciatingly difficult but it is possible.

Much of it really depends on personal committment and dedication. I'll suggest you to be a bit ahead of the crowd and start prepping yourself with fundamentals of Computer Science at this stage, like algorithms and discrete mathematics. Programming is also quite vital but not as much as the former, since Computer Science by nature is more Maths-y. But it's advisable to pick up a certain language and understand the core of it. Well I assume you're Indian by your name so if you CBSE/ISC you'd be knowing Python/Java/C++. Just focus on these three languages cause that's what the modules are at Leeds.

There's a bit of a problem with international students to get a job, it's that they have to pass the labour market test, which inherently means that the job you have certifies that no British national is capable for the job you have secured. So you'll be wait-listed in a lot of places where you apply to. So do apply to a lot of places as much as possible after you graduate. To increase your chances try to get internships at good Software Companies. (I'm personally looking at IBM or Ericsson) while in your home country. This would decorate your CV a bit before you come to UK. And of course try to get good internships/summer internships (the time when you'll be allowed to work full-time on a Tier-4 Visa) with companies that are tied with the University.

As far as I remember Leeds has ties with PwC and other reputable companies. Moreover, they have a dedicated careers hub/employability services to assist you and quite a lot of job fairs so utilize these to the maximum extent.

Normally, employers don't discriminate people on the basis of universities for job positions. But I heard they do prefer some universities over others due to good ties with the university/overall reputation. Obvious ones include Imperial, UCL, Warwick, Manchester, Bristol and Southampton (I think). More the industrial links the university has, better it is for you. Leeds also should have quite a good number of industrial links.

Leeds, though I've never been to any university in the UK, is one of the most student-friendly universities. I can comment on this because their Student Union is highly acclaimed xD. There's a good diversity of people at Leeds, so you shouldn't find much difficulty in making friends either.

Hope this helps!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that some universities offer an optional placement year. Most Russell Group universities don't offer placement years and extremely study-intensive. There is Exeter however with a placement year, and in the Non-RG, you have Bath. Placement years can be helpful but overall reputation is also kinda important. Find a balance between the two.

Thanks dude for such a great response it really cleared my my so I got an offer from Glasgow , Bath , Leeds , Durham which one should I go for . Thanks again

Okay, I personally have applied to Warwick, St. Andrews, Bath, Leeds and Southampton. I'll give you a bit of insight to my choice-making session. I was hella confused making erratic changes. But I can make out the situation you might be facing (since we're both from India).

What I found interesting is that National Rankings and International Rankings can be very juxtaposing. For example, St. Andrews is ranked 2nd in the UK by a lot of British media but the university doesn't fare well internationally. It's in the 300s in QS. On the other hand, Edinburgh and UCL despite being at the top in the world is underrated nationally in the rankings. Ultimately, there is one fact though. Whatever university you graduate from, whether it is internationally recognized or unrecognized. If you have to return to India, it'll be close to impossible to secure a job in India with that good degree and employers in India will prefer undergraduates from top Indian institutions like IITs, IIMs, NIT, BITs Pilani, etc.

So when it comes to rankings, don't bother much cause it's either do or die. Just choose the university which compliments your interests + does good on both international and national rankings to be on the safe side.

Glasgow, Leeds, Durham does extremely well as an overall university. I was thinking of applying to Glasgow and Durham at some point in my choice making but there was a problem with the two for me.

Glasgow is Scottish which means that you'll get your bachelor's degree in 4 years (in the normal pathway). It would be less than 4 years if it was the accelerated pathway but wasn't really interested. The University I heard is good. I dropped it due to the financial reasons. I didn't particularly look at Scottish universities cause I have to pay for four years instead of three years which I can for universities in England. The only reason St. Andrews was on my list was because it is ranked 2nd in the UK and had a low acceptance rate so I just kept it for fun. Never could've gone there if I had the chance to.

Financially speaking, going to a English University would be better cause you'll be paying 25-27 lakhs less for your degree.

I dropped Durham despite being a "good university" was because there was this notorious rumour I heard that the Computer Science department is apparently under-funded. Due to this there have been a lot of student satisfaction drops. Didn't want to take a risk there.

Pro for Leeds is that it's tuition fees is lesser compared to most universities, has a great auto-scholarship, amazing course structure and probably placement options. I'm keeping this as my insurance choice though since I didn't get a stellar impression from the Computer Science department (its entry requirements for me was shockingly low, 75% in ISC. Not what I expected from a RG university I though they'd ask for a 85%-90%).

Bath is good, nationally really well. Has placement year which is great. But then ranking-wise it's not really popular for international students. It's course structure isn't the best for me and the city is quite expensive. Especially to live in.

My firm choice is Southampton since it has all I require. The lowest tuition fees out of the 5, amazing industrial links (with IBM, Accenture, Ericsson, Snowflake, etc to name a few), a beautiful city which won't be too cold in winter cause it's a maritime city on the south coast of England. I can't emphasize how much I'm in love with its department (ECS is just phenomenal and the Zeppler labs is so high tech and the professors seem like they really love what they do). Southampton is also a very good university in terms of STEM in general. Electrical Engineering is ranked 2nd in the UK. Computer Science is also amazing and the research there is quite world-class. It's one of the best centers in the world to learn more about the Semantic Web. The chair of the Computer Science department is Tim Berners-Lee the creator of the World Wide Web, if that itself shouldn't win you over XD. Overall, I'm lucky to have an offer from Southampton.

Warwick is also a great university with good ties with banking firms and by rankings it does better than Southampton but it really doesn't concern me.

So when choosing your universities, research a lot on every single university. Get a lof of info on every CS department, the fees, job prospects, environment etc.

Rankings is not everything in this world. BEST EVIDENCE?
LSE is ranked above Southampton and Glasgow in QS for CS when it doesn't even have a CS program. Talk about bs. Lol.

Thanks man you really did your research unfortunately I didn't apply to southampton I guess I should go with bath as it has placement year , if there is any way i could get in touch with you your case is extremely similar to me , thanks