Study fundamental computer science theory and learn practical skills for solving real world problems with the added benefit of a year in industry.
Year of entry: 2021/22
G401
Y50
4 years full-time
Meet our undergraduate students and discover why the choice is York.
Discover YorkOur broad and principled approach to computer science will give you a thorough grounding in theory as well as practical skills, helping you to solve real-world problems.
You will study systems at different levels of abstraction, including digital hardware architectures, low level programming, operating systems, intelligent systems, compilers and high level languages. You’ll learn to design user-centred systems, recognise the power of data, and build intelligent systems that learn from data.
You will spend a year in industry, furthering your knowledge, networking and getting real-life experience.
Our courses are designed with our Industrial Advisory Board, so you’ll be well placed to adapt to the workplace. Choose between a BSc or BEng based on your destination after graduation.
This course is accredited by:
Find out more about what this professional accreditation means.
Our software labs offer 24/7 access for individual and group work.
95% of students on this course were in work or further study 15 months after graduation
Graduate Outcomes survey 2017/18
1st in the Russell Group for Learning Resources
of the Russell Group universities included in the 2020 National Student Survey
All students will study our core topics in computer science, which we have designed to be consistent with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) curriculum guidelines. These core topics provide the fundamental knowledge that all computer science graduates should possess, and the foundation to study more flexibly in the third year. The core topics are structured into eight streams:
There are opportunities for you to spend time abroad during your course:
You will focus on establishing a solid foundation regardless of your previous experience of programming and computing.
In addition to the above you will also need to complete our online Academic Integrity module.
This module covers some of the essential skills and knowledge which will help you to study independently and produce work of a high academic standard which is vital for success at York.
This module will:
Year Two of the course will build upon the solid foundations you will have laid down in Year One. You’ll take modules from streams 1 to 5 to deepen your learning and start on two further streams studying intelligent systems and undertake a group engineering project. You should develop your interests which you will then begin to focus on in Year Three.
You will spend this year out in industry if you successfully obtain a placement. You will be supported in achieving this by our dedicated Industrial Placement Manager, who is there to help you with your CV, give you interview tips, arrange interviews on campus, and visit you on placement to ensure everything is going well. We have excellent relationships with a strong portfolio of companies from large multinationals such as IBM and Airbus UK, to smaller companies such as YorkTest and Informed Solutions.
Your year in industry gives you a chance to use what you have learned during your degree. As well as being paid a good salary, students who take a year in industry generally achieve better grades, develop a broader range of skills and are more attractive to future employers. Some students even find a job with their placement company before they graduate.
In Year Three you will really get under the skin of the specialist areas which interest you.
You will also take a module covering the following stream:
Option modules
You’ll take 70 credits of optional modules drawn from the core streams and other advanced topic areas. Example optional module titles are:
Please note, modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff.
Every course at York has been designed to provide clear and ambitious learning outcomes. These learning outcomes give you an understanding of what you will be able to do at the end of the course. We develop each course by designing modules that grow your abilities towards the learning outcomes and help you to explain what you can offer to employers. Find out more about our approach to teaching and learning.
The fees and funding figures below are for 2021/22 entry. If you take a year abroad or year in industry you'll pay a reduced rate of fees for that year
| UK (home) | International and EU |
|---|---|
| £9,250 | £22,650 |
UK (home) or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status
For more information about tuition fees, any reduced fees for study abroad and work placement years, scholarships, tuition fee loans, maintenance loans and living costs see undergraduate fees and funding.
There are unlikely to be any mandatory additional costs associated with the course, although you may want to set aside £200 for optional photocopying and personal stationery over the duration of the course.
We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2021/22 throughout the year.
See for current information about funding opportunities for Computer Science students.
You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.
“Students from all backgrounds achieve consistently outstanding outcomes”
The TEF Panel, Office for Students, June 2018
Our Gold Teaching Excellence Framework award demonstrates our commitment to the delivery of consistently outstanding teaching and learning for our students.
You’ll study and learn with academics who are active researchers, experts in their field and have a passion for their subjects. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities, and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace. Find out more about our approach to teaching and learning.
A typical week will involve about 15-20 hours of scheduled teaching time. Our courses are based on a series of lectures with associated laboratory sessions, programming classes and tutorials.
Throughout the course, you will have a personal supervisor responsible for guiding your studies. In addition to any timetabled sessions, you will meet with your supervisor regularly, and you can also go to them at any time should you have any issues, academic or personal. There are problem classes to help you put learning from lectures into practice and regular project supervision meetings for your individual project.
You will also undertake learning outside of the scheduled timetable. This can be through working in the labs, which are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or through reading recommended materials or working through problems. Consequently, you'll need to be self-motivated, self-disciplined and willing to learn outside regular classes.
As you progress through the course you will develop your skills to become a more independent learner. You'll also spend time working on your individual research project later on in the course, in addition to timetabled activity.
In your first year, you can expect:
| Lectures | 8 hours per week |
|---|---|
| Problem classes | 0-1 hours per week |
| Practicals | 8 hours per week |
These figures are based on an average student in an average week. Your contact hours will vary throughout the year due to your module choices, non-compulsory classes, exam periods and changes to scheduled activities.
Outside your timetabled hours, you'll study independently. This may include preparation for classes, follow-up work, wider reading, practise completion of assessment tasks, or revision.
In the UK, full-time students are expected to spend 1,200 hours a year learning. That's about 40 hours of classes and independent study each week during term time. Everyone learns at a different rate, so the number of hours you spend on independent study will be different to other students on your course.
Built to the highest specifications, the Department is packed with cutting-edge facilities housed in a modern, self-contained building.
The Department houses four software and two hardware laboratories which you will be able to use depending on the topic of your third year project. These facilities are professional grade and used by our research teams so, depending on your interests, you'll get first hand exposure to these environments.
Our Interaction Labs provide excellent facilities for research and teaching in human-computer interaction. The Interaction Labs consist of an Accessibility and Usability Lab and a Games Research Lab, both of which are stocked with the latest technologies.
Our Real Time Systems Lab is the main research and development facility for the Real Time Systems research group. Inside the laboratory is a range of high-performance computers, custom hardware like FPGAs, robots, and various industrial machinery.
The Computer Vision group have a darkroom laboratory which enables us to conduct experiments in controlled illumination conditions and a second laboratory which includes a commercial 3D scanner.
Our Robotics Laboratory is a purpose-built laboratory used for various robotics research projects and teaching. Within it, there is a dedicated student working area, with workstations and electronics bench equipment, alongside the main 80m2 robotics arena. The arena features a 5.5m high ceiling allowing drone experiments to take place as well as ground-based robots. Special tracking systems are installed to allow positional data of the robots to be extracted. There is also a workshop area with CAD, soldering and 3D printing facilities.
Find out more about our facilities, including a video tour showing our labs, teaching and research spaces.
The Department of Computer Science is based on Campus East. The majority of your teaching will take place in the department, with additional teaching taking place at other locations on Campus East.
Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around campus - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can always use the fast and frequent bus service.
We use a variety of assessment techniques throughout your course. This allows you to practice different techniques, from report writing, presentations and live demos to timed programming assessments and closed exams. It also means that you are not disadvantaged by being assessed in any one way.
To aid your learning we provide feedback on your assessments in addition to the marks you receive. Our Departmental Examinations Team is also available should you have any assessment queries.
We also ask our students for feedback on the course at the end of each year. This helps to improve and modify what we do to help meet the needs of our students.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written exams | 56% | 64% | 0% | 33% |
| Coursework | 11% | 31% | 100% | 67% |
| Practical exams | 33% | 5% | 0% | 0% |
The figures above are based on data from 2016/17.
Take a virtual tour of one or our modern, dedicated facilities.
The move towards a digital economy creates demand for computer scientists and software engineers across a broad section of employers, so the skills you develop here will make you attractive to many organisations. Most of our graduates go into the field of IT/Computing, followed by Financial Services, some undertake further study (eg PhD) and others go straight into industry (for example working for IBM, BAE Systems etc).
Many of our graduates are employed by software and electronics industries, but the continuing expansion of the use of computers in commercial and financial operations means that you will be able to find employment in other industries - and here your sharpened numeracy and analytical skills will have prepared you well.
Read some profiles of our past students and find out how their degree from York helps them to do jobs in organisations as diverse as Mars Inc and Cancer Research UK. Other companies that York graduates have gone on to work for include BAE Systems, Morgan Stanley, G Research, Thales, the Civil Service, M&G Investments, Ubisoft, Rapita Systems, Sky, BT, Raspberry Pi, IBM, JP Morgan, Hut Group and Automaton Games.
Computer Science graduates can expect to earn nearly £40,000 after five years in employment (Longitudinal Education Outcomes Dataset).
At York, you will gain a broad understanding of all of the essential scientific principles, engineering techniques and practices in Computer Science. This allows you to be flexible and adapt quickly in any field that you wish to go into. More specifically, we can identify four main skill areas as follows:
| Typical offer | |
|---|---|
| A levels | AAA including Mathematics |
| Access to Higher Education Diploma | We accept the Access to Higher Education Diploma. The syllabus must contain a significant portion of Mathematics that is considered equivalent to A level standard. Applications will be considered on an individual basis - please contact the Department before you apply. |
| BTEC National Extended Diploma | DDD and grade A in A level Mathematics (or equivalent qualification). We consider applicants with a combination of other BTEC Level 3 qualifications, and this must include an A level in Mathematics at grade A or above (or equivalent qualification). Please contact us to discuss your combination of qualifications. |
| Cambridge Pre-U | D3, D3, D3 including Mathematics |
| European Baccalaureate | 85% overall, including 85% in Mathematics |
| International Baccalaureate | 36 points overall, including grade 6 in Higher Level Mathematics |
| Other qualifications | We welcome applications offering a mix of OU, A level and other appropriate qualifications. Applications will be considered on an individual basis: please contact the Department before you apply. |
| Other international qualifications | Equivalent qualifications from your country |
We require a qualification in a physical science; for example, a GCSE at grade 4 (C) or above in Physics or Double Science, or Science and Additional Science.
Meeting the following additional criteria may qualify you for an alternative offer.
| Criteria | Adjustment |
|---|---|
| Widening participation | If you successfully complete one of the following programmes, you may be eligible for an alternative offer up to three A level grades (or equivalent) below our typical offer: Next Step York, Realising Opportunities, YESS. More about widening participation. |
| Contextual offers | If you have experience of local authority care or live in an area with low progression to university, you may be eligible for an alternative offer up to two A level grades (or equivalent) below our typical offer. More about contextual offers. |
| EPQ | We recognise the value of this qualification although it will not be included as a condition of entry. It may be taken in to consideration when you receive your results. |
If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:
| Minimum requirement | |
|---|---|
| IELTS | 6.5, with a minimum of 6.0 in each component |
| PTE Academic | 61, with a minimum of 55 in each component |
| GCSE/IGCSE/O level English Language (as a first or second language) | Grade C |
| C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency | 176, with a minimum of 169 in each component |
| TOEFL | 87 overall, with a minimum of 21 in each component |
| Trinity ISE III | Merit in all components |
| Duolingo | 110 overall, with a minimum of 100 in each component |
For more information see our undergraduate English language requirements.
You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.
The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.
After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.
We offer a range of campus accommodation to suit you and your budget, from economy to premium.
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