can I get into a tech related major without A level computer science?

I got into coding in the end of yr 12 and after months i fell for it and would love to do it in university
but the main problem is I have no academic prior knowledge of CS and ICT and i didn't take them as gcse or A levels
can i still get into top universities in the UK without that

Reply 1

ageshallnot

21

Original post by Alevels25749

I got into coding in the end of yr 12 and after months i fell for it and would love to do it in university
but the main problem is I have no academic prior knowledge of CS and ICT and i didn't take them as gcse or A levels
can i still get into top universities in the UK without that

Have you got Maths A-level?

Reply 2

Alevels25749

OP

12

Original post by ageshallnot

Have you got Maths A-level?

ya
for A levels im taking (math, chemistry and physics)

Reply 3

ageshallnot

21

Original post by Alevels25749

ya
for A levels im taking (math, chemistry and physics)

Then you won't have a problem. Maths is the key subject for CS at degree level. Have a look at the entry requirements for a range of universities.

Reply 4

M_m_m03

10

Original post by Alevels25749

I got into coding in the end of yr 12 and after months i fell for it and would love to do it in university
but the main problem is I have no academic prior knowledge of CS and ICT and i didn't take them as gcse or A levels
can i still get into top universities in the UK without that

Hi, yeh you don't need a level or GCSE computer science to do a computer science degree... I got into Imperial for Joint Maths and Computer Science without doing Computer Science for A-level.. There's also loads of others on the Computer Science courses here who haven't coded before... However if you want to get into the very top unis such as Oxbridge/Imperial/UCL for Computer Science they do usually highly recommend you take Further Maths. For most other unis your A-level choices are fine.

Reply 5

M_m_m03

10

Original post by Alevels25749

I got into coding in the end of yr 12 and after months i fell for it and would love to do it in university
but the main problem is I have no academic prior knowledge of CS and ICT and i didn't take them as gcse or A levels
can i still get into top universities in the UK without that

Also I should add for Oxbridge and Imperial your A-level choices are probably the least important thing in the admissions process. The more important parts are doing well in the admission tests that they have and the interview. Good luck with any of your applications.. any other questions let me know :smile:

Reply 6

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by M_m_m03

Also I should add for Oxbridge and Imperial your A-level choices are probably the least important thing in the admissions process. The more important parts are doing well in the admission tests that they have and the interview. Good luck with any of your applications.. any other questions let me know :smile:

Well, they are important as far as meeting the prerequisites for the courses; without A-level Maths OP would not be considered. That said, for CS/computing at those unis without A-level FM OP is definitely a bit of an outlier already and thus potentially at a disadvantage, unless their school does not offer it.

Original post by Alevels25749

I got into coding in the end of yr 12 and after months i fell for it and would love to do it in university
but the main problem is I have no academic prior knowledge of CS and ICT and i didn't take them as gcse or A levels
can i still get into top universities in the UK without that

As above having studied CS before degree level is not required for admission to most CS degrees in the UK, and most in fact do not assume any prior experience of CS or programming and teach everything from scratch. The most common requirement is A-level Maths, and A-level Further Maths is strongly preferred by Oxbridge, Imperial, Edinburgh, Warwick and similar "top" courses. Those courses would probably normally expect you to be taking A-level FM if your school offers it; if your school does not offer it make sure your referee explains this in your reference. If they don't offer it you may also want to see if the AMSP could support you in taking it or the AS level - see their website here: https://amsp.org.uk/

Note however, a degree in CS is not a degree in programming. For many courses (especially those "top" courses) programming is actually a very small element of the course and mainly used to illustrate examples and results from the mathematical and theoretical foundations of the subject. If programming is your main interest, some CS courses may not really be a good fit for you - you should check carefully to see what the course format is and how much emphasis they put on programming. Degrees in IT, [applied] computing (other than Imperial), or sometimes software development/engineering may put more emphasis on that side of things than courses in computer science, which are as the name suggests about the science (theory) of computing, not applications per se.

can I get into a tech related major without A level computer science?

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