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Is it necessary to do computer science a level to do it in uni?

Im in year 12 and took math, psychology and biology because I wanted to go into healthcare. Now that year 12 is almost done, I realised I didn't wanna go into healthcare but instead go into something maths-related. Math is also my favourite and best subject.

One of the uni courses I'm considering is computer science but I didn't do it at A-level or GCSE so I'm worried I'll find it difficult to get into. Starting from now till year13, I'm planning on learning some programming languages such as python and C# because it seems fun and useful.

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 1

cyanide05

its not gonna be easy, for cs I think they prefer maths/ further maths/ physics those kind of sciences and if your school offers cs as an Alevel but u haven't taken it they might have second thoughts, but ofc it depends on what unis you're looking to apply to because each uni has different requirements!

Original post by asquerop

Reply 2

issy_shep

Have a look at various courses. Most request that you either do math or computer science at alevel.
Computer science is fun. It's the stuff that goes on below the pretty interface that we see on any device. And it is a fast moving industry with major potential for the future. If you want to go into it, you need to read into the different career paths you can take. Software developer, Web tester, pen tester, red teamer, cyber security, ethical hacking to name a few. Choose an area or 2 that sound most interesting to you & read into what the require. Looking at math based ones, hacking/ cyber security would be you're best bet.
In terms of "catching up", look mainly around operating systems & fetch-execute cycle (it's simpler than it sounds!!) & look at binary & hexadecimal conversions (very useful too). I'd start with learning Python as a language, then progress into further languages (SoloLearn is fantastic for learning coding languages).
Let me know if you want any more detail because I could go on and on about CS !! :smile:

Reply 3

DampyRampy

I do CS at A level, and when looking at Unis I was surprised that nearly all don't require CS A level (lots did require maths). In the Subject Talks they explained that they pretty much start from the beginning, assuming everyone doesn't know anything about Computer Science. Obviously people who did CS will have an advantage, but I don't think you'll be the only one, though doing your own learning I think is a good idea, especially coding, as I honestly don't know how someone could go from non-coding to degree-level coding in a few months (I guess it apparently does happen though)