Can I do Computer Science at uni despite not liking maths?

I'm deciding what I want to study at university and I've exhausted many fields. However, computer science and the careers associated with it has been a field that I've been interested in since I was 11, but I stopped considering it when I decided to pursue medicine (I dropped that idea too, lol). However, I've decided to come back to it but I'm just wondering whether I'll be cut out for it.

The reason is because I've always felt insecure about my abilities in maths and didn't feel good enough to continue with it at A-Level. My teachers and friends have always told me that it's just a lack of confidence because I did okay at GCSE (I got an 8 in GCSE Maths and a B in Further Maths) but I feel like I struggled too much to get it.

Anyway, I'm just scared whether I'll be suitable for Computer Science even if Maths isn't a subject I'm passionate about. Would I cope well with it in spite of that?

I'm deciding what I want to study at university and I've exhausted many fields. However, computer science and the careers associated with it has been a field that I've been interested in since I was 11, but I stopped considering it when I decided to pursue medicine (I dropped that idea too, lol). However, I've decided to come back to it but I'm just wondering whether I'll be cut out for it.

The reason is because I've always felt insecure about my abilities in maths and didn't feel good enough to continue with it at A-Level. My teachers and friends have always told me that it's just a lack of confidence because I did okay at GCSE (I got an 8 in GCSE Maths and a B in Further Maths) but I feel like I struggled too much to get it.

Anyway, I'm just scared whether I'll be suitable for Computer Science even if Maths isn't a subject I'm passionate about. Would I cope well with it in spite of that?

'Hardcore' computer science courses are really mathematical... but also not particularly useful.

Maybe you'd like a more vocational IT course like cybersecurity or networking

Most unis require maths a level but I think there is a thread here somewhere the unis that don't, but usually in that case they require computer science/computing instead

Lol I got a C in maths Gcse and doing CS at the moment. Some unis just don’t require hardcore
Maths. Chill out n apply you will only regret it a little lol. When you graduate it will be worth it.

Emphasis on this. CompSci is far more than Maths, and you can get by just fine without knowing anything more advanced than GCSE level Maths. Some disciplines are Maths heavy, with graphical work and crypto jumping to mind, but CompSci is far more broad than that.


You'll be thinking of this thread. It's pretty uncommon for unis to require CompSci or a similar subject at A Level, since they're not available to everyone.

This is what my sister and relatives were telling me but I was speaking to a tutor at my sixth form and she pretty much discouraged me from applying to any university for CS because I didn’t do A Level Maths or A Level Computing and she thinks I won’t cope. That’s what’s giving me a lot of anxiety at the moment and it’s making me struggle writing my personal statement.

I’m considering Nottingham, Leicester and Keele so far for CS because I know they don’t require A Level Maths. If not knowing anything further than GCSE Maths is fine, do you think I’d be able to cope at any of those unis? Or what other universities would you suggest?

If you’re really interested in computer science, I would definitely take A level maths. Partly because it gives you a lot more options with higher level universities, but also because you might change your mind about it.
You’ve definitely got the grades to do well in A level maths, and having further maths means AS pure should be a lot easier for you; it sounds like your teachers might be right that it’s genuinely just a lack of confidence.
A level maths is completely different, and personally I found I didn’t understand anything at GCSE, remembered a few methods from class and ended up with an 8. A level was different because I went into the exam genuinely understanding the topics because they go so much deeper.
If you don’t like it at A level you can do a degree that’s less maths heavy like software engineering or cyber security. However, you will still have to option of a high level university for computer science if that’s what you decide you want.