Entry requirements

2:1 Honours degree in any subject other than computing.

Please note that we are operating a staged admissions process for this programme as it is very competitive, and as such this is the minimum entry requirement. For more information on the gathered field process, please see our how to apply section.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The Computer Science Masters/MSc degree course is for students who have a first degree in a subject other than computing. Established in 1969, it is now the longest-running conversion programme to computing in the UK.

Our Computer Science Masters/MSc programme is different to IT programmes, in that it is a technical degree with a significant programming component. It is designed to give you a grounding in both the fundamentals of computer science and practical software development skills through a series of compulsory modules. Students from all backgrounds are welcome to apply. Competency should be demonstrated in mathematics and scientific subjects, for example at 'advanced' high school level, which should allow understanding of the new Computer Science subjects.

The core components of this degree course are a software workshop, taught modules and a summer project. The software workshop involves two terms of intensive training in Java programming, including lectures, supervised laboratory work and small-group tutorials.

The four summer months are spent working on your project. Projects vary from applied software engineering through to work that is linked to our research groups. The common factor is that almost all projects involve the development of a large software system. Usually, projects are selected from a list of topics proposed by the teaching staff (possibly on behalf of an external customer) or you can suggest your own project, providing it is appropriate.

Students join this programme from a wide range of first degrees, from the technical and scientific to the social sciences and humanities. Graduates of this degree are highly sought after by employers due to the special knowledge, expertise and skills acquired.

Students with a computing degree cannot be considered for this course and should apply instead for the MSc Advanced Computer Science programme.

Why study Computer Science Masters/MSc at Birmingham?

Birmingham is one of the leading universities in the country for postgraduate study in computer science, and we are proud to deliver outstanding programmes that offer a range of exciting career opportunities for students from around the world.
State-of-the-art, multi-million-pound facilities include dedicated laboratories for Computer Science students, and research laboratories for Security, Medical Imaging, Intelligent Robotics, and Computer Vision.
We are a partner in The Alan Turing Institute, the UK's national institute for data science and artificial intelligence.
Our Security and Privacy Group is recognised as an EPSRC/GCHQ Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research and we have a strong collaboration with the Centre for Computational Biology (CCB).

Award-winning development

At the School of Computer Science we are not just renowned for teaching and research excellence. We also produce novel solutions for real-world applications, including:

Working with Jaguar Land Rover to make their vehicles more secure.
Contributing to the development of the Trusted Platform Module which makes many of our computers capable of secure cryptographic operations.
Deploying autonomous, intelligent robots in security and health support facilities.
Developing a revolutionary, award-winning method for diagnosing skin cancer.