The Student Room Group

CS A level

So many people have said don’t take CS A Level as it’s useless and very time consuming and I’ve been getting a lot of people saying that the job market for CS is incredibly hard. Results day is soon and if I get them as planned I am planning to do A Level Maths, Chemistry, Geography and CS. If I get a 7 in maths I’m wondering if I should do further maths or another subject instead of CS as I’ve heard it’s not mandatory for uni
Original post by 3xcalibur
So many people have said don’t take CS A Level as it’s useless and very time consuming and I’ve been getting a lot of people saying that the job market for CS is incredibly hard. Results day is soon and if I get them as planned I am planning to do A Level Maths, Chemistry, Geography and CS. If I get a 7 in maths I’m wondering if I should do further maths or another subject instead of CS as I’ve heard it’s not mandatory for uni

So many people have said don’t take CS A Level as it’s useless and very time consuming
Whilst CS is not strictly a required subject, a number of unis accept it as an extra "science" for some STEM degrees and it's accepted for some CS degrees instead of Maths.
As I haven't done CS at A Level, I can't tell you whether it's time consuming.

I’ve been getting a lot of people saying that the job market for CS is incredibly hard.
Yep, that's true irrespective of whether you have a degree or not. Plenty of employers are making ridiculous demands (essentially asking you to be jack of all trades at low salaries), and even then they expect you to be very experienced.
The competition is stiff and you can sometimes expected to go above and beyond for the role.

Sometimes getting professional IT certificates help, but most employers are looking to see if you have the skills and proficiency to do the job.

I am planning to do A Level Maths, Chemistry, Geography and CS.
Kind of pushing it with 4 very time intensive A Levels.

If I get a 7 in maths I’m wondering if I should do further maths or another subject instead of CS as I’ve heard it’s not mandatory for uni
Personally, I would drop Geography for Further Maths, if you intend to go to a top uni.
I am not entirely sure what you intend to do with Geography A Level though, so if you do have a good reason and it's required for the specific degree that you intend to do (many don't), then I suppose it's valid to keep it in your arsenal.
Reply 2
Original post by MindMax2000
So many people have said don’t take CS A Level as it’s useless and very time consuming
Whilst CS is not strictly a required subject, a number of unis accept it as an extra "science" for some STEM degrees and it's accepted for some CS degrees instead of Maths.
As I haven't done CS at A Level, I can't tell you whether it's time consuming.
I’ve been getting a lot of people saying that the job market for CS is incredibly hard.
Yep, that's true irrespective of whether you have a degree or not. Plenty of employers are making ridiculous demands (essentially asking you to be jack of all trades at low salaries), and even then they expect you to be very experienced.
The competition is stiff and you can sometimes expected to go above and beyond for the role.
Sometimes getting professional IT certificates help, but most employers are looking to see if you have the skills and proficiency to do the job.
I am planning to do A Level Maths, Chemistry, Geography and CS.
Kind of pushing it with 4 very time intensive A Levels.
If I get a 7 in maths I’m wondering if I should do further maths or another subject instead of CS as I’ve heard it’s not mandatory for uni
Personally, I would drop Geography for Further Maths, if you intend to go to a top uni.
I am not entirely sure what you intend to do with Geography A Level though, so if you do have a good reason and it's required for the specific degree that you intend to do (many don't), then I suppose it's valid to keep it in your arsenal.

My sixth from requires me to pick 4 A levels and gives me the option to drop 1 in year 13. CS and further maths don’t have AS levels so I wouldn’t be able to drop them halfway through. If I get the 7 in maths further maths would be an option but I’m not sure what for. Geography I picked so there would be a lower workload and I could drop it in year 13 but I’m not sure whether A level CS would be worth it, if it was then I would probably do maths, chem and cs and drop geography in yr13. But I’m not sure what to pick instead as alternatives for CS.
Original post by 3xcalibur
My sixth from requires me to pick 4 A levels and gives me the option to drop 1 in year 13. CS and further maths don’t have AS levels so I wouldn’t be able to drop them halfway through. If I get the 7 in maths further maths would be an option but I’m not sure what for. Geography I picked so there would be a lower workload and I could drop it in year 13 but I’m not sure whether A level CS would be worth it, if it was then I would probably do maths, chem and cs and drop geography in yr13. But I’m not sure what to pick instead as alternatives for CS.

Fair enough.

Just for the heads up, the workload in geography is not light. If you haven't done GCSE Geography (or geography at any point prior for that matter), you would quickly find out how much paperwork, essays, and field trips you need to go on.
Reply 4
Original post by MindMax2000
Fair enough.
Just for the heads up, the workload in geography is not light. If you haven't done GCSE Geography (or geography at any point prior for that matter), you would quickly find out how much paperwork, essays, and field trips you need to go on.

Yeah, I did gcse geography (hoping for a 9) and I’ve seen the essays. I’m still not sure what to pick for my 4th option but I was fairly good at essay writing for the high markers on geography so I’ll consider it
Original post by 3xcalibur
So many people have said don’t take CS A Level as it’s useless and very time consuming and I’ve been getting a lot of people saying that the job market for CS is incredibly hard. Results day is soon and if I get them as planned I am planning to do A Level Maths, Chemistry, Geography and CS. If I get a 7 in maths I’m wondering if I should do further maths or another subject instead of CS as I’ve heard it’s not mandatory for uni

Ofc take CS if you enjoy it and good at it! Idk abt the workload of cs, I did it at GCSEs and it was hell but that was bc I don’t have an interest in cs.
If you like it you should take it, only take further maths a level if your really like maths bc you’ll be doing maths a level + further maths so half of your a levels will be maths, but obviously if that appeals to you then go for it!
Original post by 3xcalibur
So many people have said don’t take CS A Level as it’s useless and very time consuming and I’ve been getting a lot of people saying that the job market for CS is incredibly hard. Results day is soon and if I get them as planned I am planning to do A Level Maths, Chemistry, Geography and CS. If I get a 7 in maths I’m wondering if I should do further maths or another subject instead of CS as I’ve heard it’s not mandatory for uni

Honestly i take geo maths and cs, and epq, so i have tonnes of coursework to do. Even if i did not have epq, i'd still have too much coursework, and i do three subjects. consider dropping a subject? Also if you aren't dropping, yk 4 a levels is a lot, plus double coursework if you do still take cs.

Btw, the reason why i dropped chem as a 4th was because:

1.

even tho i loved it as a gcse, i hated it as an a level

2.

too hard for me

3.

teachers made me lose the love

4.

i want to do cs at uni, so cs AL means it preps me for coding and actually prepares me for uni and all fundamentals, rather than not doing it for AL

If u do FM, it is hard and you will need to constantly revise it

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