General entry requirements

A level:

• A*AA to include A in Mathematics. Offers normally exclude General Studies and Critical Thinking at A level.

IB:

• 38 to include 6, 6, 6 in three Higher Level subjects to include 6 in Higher Level Mathematics ('Analysis and Approaches' only)

BTEC:

• We welcome applications from students taking BTECs alongside A level Mathematics. Applications are considered on an individual basis and subjects with overlapping curricula will only be counted once.

Additional requirements:

You will also need to meet our English Language requirements.

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International Students

We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.

Find out more about international entry requirements.

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Contextual data and differential offers

Warwick may make differential offers to students in a number of circumstances. These include students participating in the Realising Opportunities programme, or who meet two of the contextual data criteria. Differential offers will be one or two grades below Warwick’s standard offer (to a minimum of BBB).

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Warwick International Foundation Programme (IFP)

All students who successfully complete the Warwick IFP and apply to Warwick through UCAS will receive a guaranteed conditional offer for a related undergraduate programme (selected courses only).

Find out more about standard offers and conditions for the IFP.

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Taking a gap year

Applications for deferred entry welcomed.

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Interviews

We do not typically interview applicants. Offers are made based on your UCAS form which includes predicted and actual grades, your personal statement and school reference.

Year One

Programming for Computer Scientists

On this module, whatever your starting point, you will begin your professional understanding of computer programming through problem-solving, and fundamental structured and object-oriented programming. You will learn the Java programming language, through practical work centred on the Warwick Robot Maze environment, which will take you from specification to implementation and testing. Through practical work in object-oriented concepts such as classes, encapsulation, arrays and inheritance, you will end the course knowing how to write programs in Java, and, through your ability to analyse errors and testing procedures, be able to produce well-designed and well-encapsulated and abstracted code.

Design of Information Structures

Following on from Programming for Computer Scientists, on the fundamentals of programming, this module will teach you all about data structures and how to program them. We will look at how we can represent data structures efficiently and how we can apply formal reasoning to them. You will also study algorithms that use data structures. Successful completion will see you able to understand the structures and concepts underpinning object-oriented programming, and able to write programs that operate on large data sets.

Computer Organisation and Architecture

You will gain a fundamental understanding of the functional components of a computer system, and how they are organised. You will focus on hardware and how it performs during the execution of software operations. You will also develop practical skills in the use and construction of computer components, and their interface with microprocessors. By the end of the module, you will be expected to understand the operation and organisation of electronic logic elements, the architecture of simple microprocessors, input/output mechanisms, memory systems and hierarchies, and digital circuits and their interface with microprocessors.

Professional Skills

In your first term, you will gain a basic understanding of operating systems, together with a working knowledge of the computing systems and their associated tools and applications that will be used within the Department of Computer Science. With these foundations in place, you will then develop your communication skills, both in writing and orally, with due attention paid to appropriate academic and technical language. You will complete the course studying ethics and behaviour, looking at the place of computers in society and the legal aspects of computing.

Electrical and Electronic Circuits

You will gain a secure foundation in the fundamental concepts of circuits, devices and systems that underpin all branches of engineering. This will include study of the mathematical operations of AC quantities, including phasors, vectors and complex numbers. You will study the electronic components that comprise complex electrical and electronic circuitry, and control systems theory. You will be encouraged to develop your problem-solving and modelling skills to prepare you for more advanced material in later years.

Engineering Mathematics

Through the practical problem-solving tasks provided in this module, you will gain the skills needed to apply the fundamental mathematical concepts that underpin all engineering disciplines, and prepare yourself for more advanced study. You will apply mathematical, probabilistic and statistical tools and techniques to real-life engineering problems, make appropriate, informed assumptions and examine models using analytical, statistical and numerical techniques.

Systems Modelling, Simulation and Computation

Systems modelling allows you to gather the information necessary to make decisions concerning the design and development of engineering solutions, or to investigate systems that are too costly, difficult or unethical to investigate physically. Vast numbers of bespoke software solutions are available, so you will focus on designing and programming models from first principles, learning how to apply mathematical techniques and avoid modelling errors. You will consider design principles that ensure robust development, covering verification and validation techniques. You will practice representing multi-domain systems graphically, derive models from data, and construct a simulation model to predict system responses.

Year Two

Operating Systems and Computer Networks

On this module, you will spend equal time studying the fundamental concepts of modern-day operating systems and computer networks respectively. With a practical bent, this will mean analysing the generic requirements, structure, operation and administration of a modern operating system. Whilst analysing, designing and writing programs in the light of network requirements and protocols; such as system interfaces, concurrency, deadlock detection and recovery, and security threats. Turning to networks, you will learn the relevant factors relating to LANs and WANs and wireless networks, client-server systems, routing algorithms, socket programming, and network management relating to performance, security and monitoring.

Advanced Computer Architecture

Focusing on growing your knowledge of hardware, with an emphasis on system design and performance, you will be studying the principles underpinning system organisations, issues in design, and the contrasting implementations of modern systems. Successful completion will see you equipped to discuss the organisation of computer-based systems, different processor architectures and system-level design processes. You’ll gain a grounding in the components and operations of memory hierarchies, and the operation of parallel computer systems, including multiprocessor and multicore systems. There are opportunities to increase your systems programming skills, and study advanced topics in memory, processor architecture and parallel computer organisation.

Software Engineering

Centred on teamwork, you will concentrate on applying software engineering principles to develop a significant software system with your peers from feasibility studies through modelling, design, implementation, evaluation, maintenance and evolution. You’ll focus on design quality, human–computer interaction, technical evaluation, teamwork and project management. With a deeper appreciation of the stages of the software life-cycle, you’ll gain skills to design object-oriented software using formal modelling and notation. You will be taught the principles of graphical user interface and user-centred design, and be able to evaluate projects in the light of factors ranging from technical accomplishment and project management, to communication and successful teamwork.

Engineering Mathematics and Technical Computing

Building on the fundamental material introduced on ES183 Engineering Mathematics and Systems Modelling, you will learn to apply advanced mathematical techniques to solve engineering-based problems, thereby equipping you with the analytical and computational tools needed to tackle advanced material. You will develop your skills in modelling and analysis, in particular through the use of MATLAB, alongside an introduction to computer programming.

Analogue Electronic Design

You will learn to analyse and design analogue electronics. By the end, you should be able to apply different circuit topologies to implement a variety of analogue functions, understand the practical issues associated with the selection of components, and use models of components to analyse the nominal or idealised behaviour of circuits. You will use software simulation tools to determine worst-case scenarios and learn how to optimise circuit performance against a variety of criteria.

Digital Systems Design

There have been great advances in semi-conductor technology during the last decade, leading to chips with increased area and gate density. You will receive a theoretical and practical grounding in modern approaches to the design of digital electronic circuits, with a focus on field programmable gate array implementation, including tool flow, architecture, testing and design for performance. Practical skills you will develop include use of the hardware description language Verilog and strategies for evaluating the functional correctness of a circuit.

Year Three

Individual Project

On this project-based module you will gain experience in designing, developing and implementing a significant project, under supervision. From submission of the outline and detailed specification, you will produce regular progress reports throughout, before presenting your final results. This is an excellent opportunity to develop important employability skills, including independent learning, self-discipline, organisation and time management.

High Performance Embedded Systems Design

By the end of the module you will know about the more advanced features of FPGA architectures in high performance embedded systems design. You will learn how to design a hardware accelerator for a complex algorithm by evaluating its parallelism and arithmetic requirements; how to integrate a hardware accelerator with a processor and design the necessary software and hardware communication infrastructure; and apply practical knowledge of hardware design at the register transfer level and use high level synthesis.

Project Management for Computer Scientists

On this module, you will gain the knowledge required to manage technical projects, using well-established project management techniques. You will have practical opportunities to apply methods such as defining measurable objectives, identifying and engaging stakeholders, scheduling, budgeting, resource allocation, risk assessment and mitigation, and post-project evaluation and monitoring. By the end of the module, you can expect to appreciate the benefits of effective project management, understand the risks and budgetary and resource constraints. Also, you will have the ability to evaluate a project against the measurable success criteria you have devised yourself.

Year Four

Group Project

This module offers you involvement in a team project, such as might be expected of you in a working environment, with experience in demanding management talent, problem-solving skills and individual initiative. You will devise a project in response to the needs of a ‘customer’, normally an industrial partner, and will be closely involved in the specification and running of the project. The project themes offer you scope for interdisciplinary and collaborative activities, and require a mature knowledge of computer science and its applications. On successful completion of your group project, you will have had valuable experience of teamwork, improved interpersonal and communication skills, awareness of the various issues arising from the work required to complete a significant project, and improved skills of written communication through the co-authoring of a substantial report.

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Examples of optional modules/options for current students:

• Mathematics for Computer Scientists I
• Functional Programming
• Visualisation
• Computer Security
• Digital Communications and Signal Processing
• Artificial Intelligence
• Cyber Security
• Starting a Business
• Mobile Robotics
• Computer Graphics
• Machine Learning
• Digital Forensics
• Image and Video Analysis
• Data Mining
• Biomechanics

Tuition fees

Find out more about fees and funding.

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Additional course costs

There may be costs associated with other items or services such as academic texts, course notes, and trips associated with your course. Students who choose to complete a work placement or study abroad will pay reduced tuition fees for their third year.

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Warwick Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarship 2021

We believe there should be no barrier to talent. That's why we are committed to offering a scholarship that makes it easier for gifted, ambitious international learners to pursue their academic interests at one of the UK's most prestigious universities. This new scheme will offer international fee-paying students 250 tuition fee discounts ranging from full fees to awards of £13,000 to £2,000 for the full duration of your Undergraduate degree course.

Find out more about the Warwick Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarship 2021

Your career

Graduates from the Department of Computer Science in the past have entered careers in

Automobiles and Aviation, including employers such as:

• British Airways
• Ford Motor Company
• Jaguar Land Rover

Computer Security, including employers such as:

• BAE
• GCHQ

Computer Systems, including employers such as:

• ARM
• Citrix
• IBM

Consulting, including employers such as:

• Accenture
• Deloitte
• EY
• KPMG

Consumer goods, including employers such as:

• M&S
• Tesco
• Unilever

Finance, including employers such as:

• Barclays
• Bloomberg
• Goldman Sachs
• JPMorgan
• Morgan Stanley

Research, including employers such as:

• CERN
• Mintel
• The University of Warwick

Software Development, including employers such as:

• Apple
• Amazon
• D.E.Shaw
• Microsoft
• Google
• Sega

They have pursued roles such as:

• Software engineer
• Systems analyst
• Investment analyst
• Web designer/developer
• Business analyst
• Actuary
• Economist and statistician
• Computer science researcher
• University academic
• Teacher
• Entrepreneur
• Start-up owner

Helping you find the right career

Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant to support you. They offer impartial advice and guidance, together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:

• Computing Your Career
• Technology in Professional Services
• Warwick careers fairs throughout the year
• Working in the Computer Games industry
• Computer Science Alumni Event

Find out more about careers support at Warwick.