Which Uni Should i pick - UCAS Extra (Compsci help)

I did Chemistry Biology and Psychology A-levels and resitting Chem and Bio. After looking at UCAS extra and calling unis the top 6 choices i have atm are these and i would want some advice as i have no idea which one to choose:
4 with foundation years at : UofManchester, Loughborough, Durham or "physical science with foundation year" at UofBirmingham
2 without : UofLeic, Newcastle
Im already a gap year student, so doing a foundation would mean i start the main course when im 20 and also it is going to cost 9k+maintence.
Im not sure exactly what i would do after the degree (probably software eng), but id try to do as much work exp etc to make sure i pick correctly after.
Would love any imput from students or people with good knowledge on the topic.

The issue is that most top universities require A level Maths usually grade A for CS and that is why you need the foundation year. Outside of that there are a number of universities which dont require A level Maths. Whether you would be better off going to one of these or going for a foundation year only you can decide. Personally I wouldnt go for a foundation year. You do realise you can only apply to 1 university in Extra.

Computer Science without A Level Maths

Aberystwyth grade C or4 GCSE
Aston grade 4 GCSE
Cardiff grade 6 GCSE
East Anglia grade 5 GCSE. Accepts A level in Computing Science and other subjects
Keele grade 4 GCSE
Kent grade 4 GCSE
Lancaster grade 6 GCSE
Leeds grade 6 GCSE Accepts Computing
Liverpool grade 4 GCSE Accepts Computer science
Newcastle grade 6 GCSE
Nottingham grade 5 Accepts Computing
Queen Mary grade 5 Accepts Computer Science
Reading Maths, Physics or Computer Science grade 6
Royal Holloway grade 6 accepts CS, Maths or Physics
Sussex grade 6
Swansea grade 6 in Maths or Physics

I did Chemistry Biology and Psychology A-levels and resitting Chem and Bio. After looking at UCAS extra and calling unis the top 6 choices i have atm are these and i would want some advice as i have no idea which one to choose:
4 with foundation years at : UofManchester, Loughborough, Durham or "physical science with foundation year" at UofBirmingham
2 without : UofLeic, Newcastle
Im already a gap year student, so doing a foundation would mean i start the main course when im 20 and also it is going to cost 9k+maintence.
Im not sure exactly what i would do after the degree (probably software eng), but id try to do as much work exp etc to make sure i pick correctly after.
Would love any imput from students or people with good knowledge on the topic.

Just do the foundation year if it's at a uni you prefer. Your students loans will probably end up just getting written off anyway so the amount of loan is really a non-issue. Age is meaningless in this context as well - a 20 year old and an 18 year old are effectively indistinguishable at uni. It's not like school where everyone is segregated by age - not only will people have come in from a variety of backgrounds at different ages with many in the 18-21 range, but also quite a few older than that - but most modules will end up with a range of students in different "year groups" anyway (and also people doing e.g. year in industry schemes, year abroad schemes, etc) so there is absolutely no homogeneity when it comes to age at uni.

That said CS is a necessarily mathematical degree, so don't think the A-level Maths requirement of many unis is arbitrary - it's there for a reason, because they expect you to need that knowledge. Therefore, courses that don't require A-level Maths will require you cover the A-level Maths content during the degree anyway, and if there is a reason you didn't take maths, that reason probably also applies to studying CS at degree level. So something to consider.

In any event, the uni you go to isn't usually that influential when it comes to the computing sector compared to your ability to pass leetcode, do well in assessment centre activities, have developed an appropriate portfolio of coding work and posted it on github, and have relevant work experience. However I will grant you, it may be that some unis prepare you better for some or all of those things for others. I don't really think there is much between the unis offering foundation years at least. Not really familiar with Leicester or Newcastle's courses.

This is a really helpful response, i appreciate it
How would the loan get written off- bit confused about that.
I don't mind maths at all, i didnt pick it as a A-level as i preferred english so chose psychology instead. I know maths is very important and i'd actually prefer more maths in the teaching so it makes it much easier after.
When it comes to teaching and modules - my top 3 would be manchester, leic and birmingham. In terms of preparations and employment after the course, id say all are good.
Now the choice is really if i rather do foundation or not (as long as i get an offer)

40 years after you take out the SFE student loan (or by state pension age, whichever comes first) it's written of in its entirety. Combine that with the fact you only ever make repayments while earning over the threshold, the repayments are proportional to your income, and if you are a PAYE employee (i.e. most salaried employees and many non-salaried employees on contracts with hourly pay) you don't even need to do anything, it just comes out with your income tax, NI contributions etc. It's almost impossible to default on it (basically the only way would be if you misrepresent your earnings as a self-employed worker, or leave the country and don't tell them) and doesn't affect your credit score etc. Literally student loan "debt" is the absolute last thing that should be a decision factor.

You can read more about it here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/8-things-you-should-know-about-your-student-loan--2

I don't really understand your reasoning of picking psychology because you preferred English but in any event, provided you have no issues with continuing to do maths throughout the course, not an issue there.

There's really no downside to doing a foundation year...being familiar with the campus and local area can actually be a benefit. Worth checking where the foundation year is actually based/taught - sometimes they base them at local FE colleges which can change the experience a lot. Also worth checking what the progression criteria are and how many students progress successfully (both in general and to their desired degree programme - particularly notable if you aren't guaranteed a place on your desired programme if you meet progression requirements!). These are things worth checking, although I'd imagine Manchester and Birmingham at least will have a decent set up?

Since you note the Durham foundation year, I would guess you're a widening participation/contextual applicant? If so then something else to consider is that a lot of foundation years have significant bursaries for the foundation year itself - usually a combination of partial tuition fee waivers (so you don't even have the full tuition fee being paid by the loan, although as noted above this is a bit of a moot factor and not as good as the money in your pocket!) and 1 year enhanced bursaries for the foundation year (and then you get whatever you would normally be entitled to for the rest of the course.

I did Chemistry Biology and Psychology A-levels and resitting Chem and Bio. After looking at UCAS extra and calling unis the top 6 choices i have atm are these and i would want some advice as i have no idea which one to choose:
4 with foundation years at : UofManchester, Loughborough, Durham or "physical science with foundation year" at UofBirmingham
2 without : UofLeic, Newcastle
Im already a gap year student, so doing a foundation would mean i start the main course when im 20 and also it is going to cost 9k+maintence.
Im not sure exactly what i would do after the degree (probably software eng), but id try to do as much work exp etc to make sure i pick correctly after.
Would love any imput from students or people with good knowledge on the topic.

Is there any chance instead of doing a foundation yr, to do CS with placement yr at either Leicester or Newcastle? if you can, that will add much more value to your resume overall than any of the other choices.

"worth checking what the progression criteria are and how many students progress successfully" - How do i check how many progress successfully, also i believed if you were in the foundation programme after first year as long as you pass your guaranteed onto the course i.e. Bsc Computer science. Bit confused here 😅

Ask them directly! If they are cagey about it then you can make a FOIA request, although if they aren't willing to share that info it might be telling of itself.

So in terms of progression, the actual progression criteria will be set by each uni - and might even vary between courses leading on from the same foundation year at the same course. It might be one course just requires a minimal pass (40% or above) while another may require e.g. 55% or above average, or one might require a minimal pass overall of 40%, plus a minimum of 60% in one module or something. Understanding what the criteria are is important.

Following from that, then asking them how many students actually successfully progress can give you an indication of how well set up the programme is. If the progression requirement is just a minimal 40% pass, but only half of the students end up meeting that, then there may be some issue with the teaching or structure of the foundation year. Equally if most progress to a course that's good, but if it turns out the majority do not progress to their intended course and end up going onto another course because e.g. the preferred course has much higher required progression criteria that few meet, that is also something worth knowing.

Obviously there are other factors that can explain the above things too so it's not something to totally write off a course for - low progression rates might be explained by the programme being primarily aimed at contextual/widening participation applicants and some may have just been less well prepared to start, or decide against uni for various reasons. Likewise fewer progressing to their desired course may just reflect that they get a good exposure to all the courses available through the programme and end up realising a different degree they could continue to from the foundation year is much more interesting to them - particularly if it's one they had less awareness of/exposure to before doing the foundation