Visiting students - Computer Science
Our excellence in teaching and research, plus our strong industrial links, make us one of the UK's leading computer science departments. We provide teaching at all levels, including, undergraduate first degrees, postgraduate taught Masters courses, and postgraduate research degrees.
Undergraduate students
Academic requirements
Acceptance on Computer Science modules requires you to have studied to an acceptable level of prior knowledge. You must be studying for an undergraduate degree in computer science or a related subject and have a strong background in Mathematics. Module prerequisites and corequisites must also be covered by your previous study. You'll be asked to upload a personal statement of around 500 words, detailing your background in computer science.
Choosing your modules
You can view the department’s modules in the module catalogue. To help you get started, we have written a short guide on how to use the module catalogue.
Some modules require you to take prerequisite and/or co-requisite modules. We will contact you after your application to advise you on which modules are available to you, based on your previous studies. We ask that you make your module choices from the ones we have identified as suitable for you.
If you’d like to choose modules from different departments, please be aware that time tabling clashes might restrict your choices.
English language requirements
IELTS: 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component (the language requirements are part way down the page. The other requirements are not applicable).
For more information see our undergraduate English language requirements.
Postgraduate students
Please get in touch with the postgraduate taught contact to discuss your postgraduate taught study options, or the postgraduate research contact if you are interested in exploring research degree related opportunities.
Academic requirements
You should hold a good undergraduate degree (2:2, 2:1 or first) in computer science or a related subject.
Choosing your modules
You can choose modules from the course pages. Not all modules are available to Visiting Students, and to be accepted onto a module, you must have studied to an acceptable level of prior knowledge.
English language requirements
Postgraduate taught
IELTS: 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component. For more information, see our postgraduate taught English language requirements.
Postgraduate research
IELTS: 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component. For more information, see our postgraduate research English language requirements.
Teaching schedule
Visiting students can study in our department for the following periods only:
- Full academic year
- Semester 1 only
- Semester 2 only
Examination and assessment
All the modules you take will be assessed, and we use a variety of forms of assessment. These include: practical exercises, written reports, presentations, live demonstrations and closed examinations.
It is compulsory for you to be in residence in York for the duration of the full semester or academic year, depending on the period you are visiting for. This includes the revision and assessment weeks. There are some vacation periods in each semester, during which attendance on campus is not compulsory. Find out the key dates in a semester.
The Department of Computer Science does not offer alternative assessment options, and it's your responsibility to ensure you can be on campus in York for the revision and assessment weeks.
Contact us
Undergraduate contact
Postgraduate taught contact
Postgraduate research contact
Related links
The list below shows our modules for 2024/25. Our 2025/26 modules will be available soon in the module catalogue.
| Module Code | Module Description | Year / Stage | Semester | Credits | ECTS | Pre-requisites or experience required |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COM00015C | Software 1: Foundations of Programming for Computer Science | 1 | 1 | 20 | 10 | Year 1 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00013C | Theory 1: Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science | 1 | 1 | 20 | 10 | Year 1 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00016C | Software 2: Object-Oriented Data Structures and Algorithms | 1 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 1 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00011C | Systems and Devices 1: Introduction to Computer Architectures | 1 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 1 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00014C | Theory 2: Formal Languages and Automata | 1 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 1 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00029I | Systems and Devices 2: Operating Systems, Security and Networking | 2 | 1 | 20 | 10 | Year 1 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00027I | Theory 3: Computability, Complexity and Logic | 2 | 1 | 20 | 10 | Year 1 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00028I | Data: Introduction to Data Science | 2 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 1 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00026I | Intelligent Systems: Machine Learning & Optimisation | 2 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 1 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00018I | Systems and Devices 3: Advanced Computer Systems | 2 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 1 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00052H | Autonomous Robotic Systems Engineering | 3 | 1 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00038H | Computer Vision and Graphics | 3 | 1 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00048H | Cryptography Theory and Practice | 3 | 1 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00040H | High-Integrity Systems Engineering | 3 | 1 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00036H | High-Performance Parallel and Distributed Systems | 3 | 1 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00056H | Network Security | 3 | 1 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00058H | Qualitative Approaches to Investigating UX | 3 | 1 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00059H | Software 3: Functional Programming | 3 | 1 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00050H | AI Problem Solving with Search and Logic | 3 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00039H | Assurance and Proof | 3 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00051H | Computing by Graph Transformation | 3 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00003H | Embedded Systems Design and Implementation | 3 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00055H | Engineering 2: Advanced Software Engineering | 3 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00037H | Evolutionary and Adaptive Computing | 3 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00054H | Human Factors: Technology in Context | 3 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00049H | Intelligent Systems: Probabilistic and Deep Learning | 3 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00042H | Quantum Computation | 3 | 2 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). |
| COM00196M | Foundations of AI & Machine Learning | 4 | 1 | 20 | 10 | Year 2 of a UG degree in Computer Science or a related subject plus module pre-requisites and co-requisites (see module description). Please note that this is a Masters level module; you should verify with your home university whether you are permitted to take a Masters level module as an undergraduate student. |
Contact us
Undergraduate contact
Postgraduate taught contact
Postgraduate research contact