Computer Science at Oxford

From Computer Science at Oxford

The courses

What topics are covered in your degree courses?

See the overviews of the Computer Science and the Mathematics and Computer Science degrees, and click on the links in the chart to discover more about the topics in each year.

What programming languages do you teach?

In your first year, you will learn Haskell, a 'purely functional' language that makes it simpler to reason mathematically about programs; Oberon, a very simple imperative language; and Java, an object-oriented language. In later years of the course, you will continue to use these languages, but you also might learn other languages including Prolog, C, C++, Objective CAML, Scala ... as part of studying a particular area of Computer Science. You will also have opportunities to study the princples behind programming languages and compilers. In your project, you have an almost free choice of language to program in or to implement.

However, as I have explained in the open days talks on this site, a particular programming language provides no more than a vehicle for expressing deeper Computer Science ideas. By the time you leave Oxford, you will be able to pick up a new language in half a day and (with a good manual) begin to use it productively straight away.

Why do you award a BA degree rather than a BSc?

That's just the way it is in Oxford: all three-year first degree courses lead to a BA, even in science, and there are no BSc degrees awarded in Oxford. Employers of our graduates all know this, so it never causes any practical difficulty.

Qualifications

Do I need to have done Computer Studies or Information Technology at A level?

No. Though these subjects are relevant, the way Computer Science is studied at University level is quite different from the way it is studied at school.

Also relevant are the A level Maths modules in Discrete Maths or Decision Maths; but again, the way we study these topics at University level goes far beyond what you will have done at school, so it's no particular advantage to have done these modules. On the other hand, if the sort of questions raised by these topics excite your interest, then perhaps Computer Science is the subject for you.

Do I need Further Maths?

As I explain in the open day talks, Computing is a mathematical subject, especially in the way we approach it at Oxford. So you will need to know some mathematics, and more importantly, to have developed your ability in mathematical thinking. We think doing both Maths and Further Maths to A2 is the best way of doing this, but we recognise that some schools are unable to offer this combination, and we recognise too that some candidates come late to the realisation that Mathematics at a more advanced level is a rich and fascinating way of viewing the world, too late to change subject choices they have already made.

So whilst double Maths is a good combination of A levels for us, we are more than willing to consider applications from people with a single Maths A level, with or without Further Maths to AS level. However, if candidates are studying Further Maths to AS or A2 level, then we will expect them to do well in them.

We can't accept applications from people who are not taking at least Mathematics to A2 level, but for those who are not taking Further Mathematics to A2, the Mathematical Institute organises a week-long summer school just before the start of the Autumn term, together with extra lectures during the term. The Mathematical Institute is also developing a collection of web-based materials to help with the transition from school to university mathematics. These resources are useful for Computer Science students too.

What is your standard conditional offer? Is it an advantage to take four A-levels?

We typically make an offer of AAA on three A levels, and find that 95% of the candidates who accept a conditional offer from us subsequently make these grades.

There is no particular advantage in admissions terms to taking a fourth A level, and it is much better to be sure of A grades in three subjects than to spread yourself too thinly over four. If you are taking a four A-levels, we only rarely specify a fourth grade. A more typical offer, if you were taking (say) Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry would be A's in Maths, Further Maths and one of the other two.

Do you use STEP papers when making offers?

No.

I am not doing A levels but IB / EB / French Bac / German Abitur ... Can I still get a conditional offer?

Yes, of course. There is a page on the University admissions site that gives a good guide to the grades we would look for, conparable in each case to AAA in English A-levels. In addition, the University maintains a central list of post-16 qualifications in all countries of the world, together with our recent experience of making offers to candidates from each country. So with a little consultation, any tutor will be able to work out what would be a fair set of conditions for you.

The application process

Which colleges offer Computer Science? Which should I choose?

See our list of colleges and Computer Science tutors, and our advice on choosing a college.

What are tutors looking for?

In three words: ability, potential and commitment.

We are not looking for candidates with any specific knowledge about computers.

We do look for an interest in computing and a curiosity about the way computers and computer programs work that will support you through your three or four years of study. Most people nowadays have opportunities to work with computers at home or school, and we expect you to have taken these opportunities and be able to talk enthusiastically about your experiences.

How do you select the successful applicants?

We use everything we know about you. That includes:

• your performance across a range of subjects at GCSE,
• your AS level or module results if you have any,
• your personal statement on the UCAS form,
• the confidential reference (with estimated grades at A2) on the UCAS form,
• your performance in the Maths test,
• your performance in the interviews at your college of first choice and at a second college.

We are trying to reach a self-consistent picture of your ability, so we are always willing to ignore one or more factors in which you have performed badly, provided we can convince ourselves that other factors give a fairer impression of what you can do. That means, for example, that a bad Maths test or a disastrous interview won't rule your application out of court.

The formal admissions criteria for Computer Science and for Mathematics and Computer Science (with other subjects in the Mathematical Sciences Group) are specified on the Mathematical Institute's website.

Is the Maths test important?

The Maths test is useful to us in selecting the candidates with the best ability, but (especially for Computer Science) it is not the last word. Broadly speaking, a very good result on the test helps us to be sure that you have the mathematical ability you need to make a success of the Oxford course in Computer Science; a middle-ranking result doesn't have much significance one way or the other; and a very poor result tends to confirm other evidence we will have that your Maths is weaker than other candidates. So in all cases, we use the Maths test to confirm the conclusions we have reached from other sources.

Although the Maths test covers only the common core of all Maths A level syllabuses, we recognise that different candidates will have covered different parts of their syllabus by the time they take the test, and that candidates studying only one Maths A level will be at a significant disadvantage compared to those who are taking Further Maths.

Tutors have access to the scripts and the marks for individual questions, and may (for example) place particular emphasis on scoring well in the more straightforward, multiple-choice part of the test.

What kind of questions do you ask at the interview?

Our interviews are always a kind of mini-tutorial, where the tutor and (potential) student discuss a problem and try together to find a way of solving it. There's a list of sample interview problems on this site, together with a sample interview that shows the kind of dialogue we hope to have with you.

In common with most science subjects, we don't use general interviews about the books you have read or items in the news: experience tells us that that kind of interview does not help us to select the candidates who will do best at Oxford.

How can I prepare for the interview?

Pick any topic in Maths, Computing or Science; arrange to meet with a friend or an older person -- a parent or teacher -- for half an hour, and explain the topic to them. Be ready to answer their questions at the end, or to explain something again if it wasn't clear the first time. This will get you used to explaining technical ideas using the spoken word. In some ways, it's best if your partner doesn't know very much about the subject you are talking about, because that will force you to be clear in your explanations. It's also good to do this with someone you don't know very well, because that will get you used to explaining things to strangers.

If you have the chance to do a worked example on the board during a Maths lesson, then do that too. It's disorienting at first to stand at the board and present your solution in front of an audience, and you might loose the thread, but it will get you used to staying calm in an unfamiliar situation.

Why do I have interviews in two different colleges?

Different colleges offer different numbers of places for each subject, and they get different numbers of applications thtrough random fluctuations. We aim to ensure that each applicant has an equal chance of a place at Oxford, no matter which college they have chosen or been allocated following an 'open' application. To this end, each candidate is allocated a list of three colleges who will consider their application; this is done in such a way as to even out the number of applicants for each place.

Typically, you will have two interviews in your host college on Monday or Tuesday of the admissions week, and you will be invited to go to another college for an interview on the Tuesday (though these timings can vary depending on individual interviewing schedules). Grades and comments from the interviews, together test scores and an assessment of your UCAS form, are entered into a central list. Tutors who have settled on particular candidates mark this fact on the list, and other tutors use the list to identify candidates who have done well in the interviews but are not yet settled. You will certainly be seen by a second college, but tutors from your third or even a fourth college may ask to see you on Tuesday or Wednesday morning.

Being invited to these extra interviews is a good sign: it shows that you have done well enough in the process so far to be seriously considered for a place. On the other hand, having interviews at just two colleges is not a bad sign: if the tutor at your host college has indicated that you will certainly be offered a place there, then tutors at other colleges will not want to see you.

Is there anything my headteacher should mention in his or her reference?

Where results achieved at examination in the past are at variance with a candidate's potential or with estimated grades (especially where AS grades do not agree with estimates for A2), it is very helpful if referees can comment on this; otherwise, we will have difficulty in deciding how much weight to give to the estimates.

I'm at an FE college: can I apply?

Yes! We don't mind what kind of school or college you are attending when you apply. Oxford tutors tend to talk about 'schools' when they should say 'schools or colleges' – that's just because the majority of our applications do (as it happens) come from people attending schools rather than colleges, so it's easy for us to slip into that way of talking. Also, the word 'college' means something different to us, because we so often talk about the colleges that make up the university here. Please don't be offended, or think that we're trying to exclude you.

All that matters to us in assessing an application is whether the candidate would do well if they came to Oxford. That means we're looking for highly motivated, able people with a lot of potential. Ability has to be developed by having studied in a way that is a suitable preparation for university-level academic work, but it encompasses the ability to work in an organised and independent way just as much as narrow ability in specific subjects.

Can I transfer to Oxford from another university?

Our undergraduates courses last three or four years, and we normally only admit new students into the first year. Direct entry into the second year is possible only in exceptional circumstances, for example, when the candidate has already completed a degree from another university.