W3bbo wrote:
Lloyd_Humph wrote:
My tech teacher suggested I do an ICT GCSE a year early. Whoo me. Seeing some of the A level stuff (I asked him to show me the A Level exams) I could probably fly by them too. Woopie
Grats, btw. I (l) Geography, does that make me weird
An A-Level in ICT isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Cambridge doesn't consider it a "real" A-Level and doesn't count it towards the "AAA" grade requirements. Same with Business Studies. And if that's what Oxbridge thinks, I doubt the Russel Group universities will give it much credence either.
Now A-Level Computing... that's better, and recommended before taking Computer Science (along with Further Maths). Thing is, not many 6th Forms do Computing A-Levels, so YMMV.
Many people seem to have arrogant views about "worthwhile qualifications" here - and i don't really think you have any foundations for that.
Personally i used A-levels as a stepping stone to uni, and whilst when i started A-levels i knew i wanted to pursue a CS degree, I decided to take a non-traditional route with A-levels, in regards to CS entrance (History, Biology, ICT).
I figured I would study what I enjoy - as A-levels are simply a key to the next level, it the scheme of things as long as you can still get to the destination, it doesn't matter what route you take.
This seemed to work out for me - I got offers for all 6 places I applied for (all in the top 15 uni's for CS), and i'm now reading Computer Science at Durham University in October.
Whilst it's true it is a slight advantage taking A level Maths, in reality all good universities provide maths modules for students without A level maths as part of the degree and acknowledge that having a broader background at A2 is also of advantage.
To sum up, if any prospective CS students are reading this and feel pressured into traditional routes to read CS, arrogance highlighted on these forums isn't worth much unless you specifically want to go to Oxbridge, other uni's also value non-traditional routes.
