Computer Science (with Integrated Foundation Year) at Swansea University

Course Overview

The BSc Computer Science with Foundation Year degree is intended for students who do not have the appropriate qualifications to directly start the three-year BSc in Computer Science. The foundation year includes a wide range of relevant content that both prepare students for the BSc in Computer Science, as well as enabling them to experience other subjects in Science at Swansea.

The foundation year will enable you to learn the key scientific, mathematical and engineering concepts that are essential for a future career in Computer Science.

In your first semester, you will learn how to program. You will also study mathematics relevant to Computer Science, and key skills as well as topics from environmental science and physics. In your second semester, you will study more advanced concepts in Computer Science that will give you a broad overview of different aspects of the subject. You will also learn how to analyse and present data, as well as study topics from bioscience and geography.

Key features

We are top in the UK for career prospects [Guardian University Guide 2018]
5th in the UK overall [Guardian University Guide 2018]
Top 5 in the UK for student satisfaction with 94%. Top in Wales [National Student Survey 2017]
We are in the UK Top 10 for teaching quality [Times & Sunday Times University Guide 2017]
12th in the UK overall and Top in Wales [Times & Sunday Times University Guide 2017]
92% in graduate employment or further study six months after leaving University [HESA data 2014/15]
UK TOP 20 for Research Excellence [Research Excellence Framework 2014]
Our Project Fair allows students to present their work to local industry
Strong links with industry
£31m Computational Foundry for computer and mathematical sciences will provide the most up-to-date and high quality teaching facilities featuring world-leading experimental set-ups, devices and prototypes to accelerate innovation and ensure students will be ready for exciting and successful careers. (From September 2018)
Top University in Wales [Times & Sunday Times University Guide 2017]

Course description

The foundation year will enable you to learn the key scientific, mathematical and engineering concepts that are essential for a future career in Computer Science.

In your first semester, you will learn how to program. You will also study mathematics relevant to Computer Science, and key skills as well as topics from environmental science and physics. In your second semester, you will study more advanced concepts in Computer Science that will give you a broad overview of different aspects of the subject. You will also learn how to analyse and present data, as well as study topics from bioscience and geography.

Career prospects

The importance of gaining valuable core skills and life experience whilst at University has never been so critical. As computer scientists in training you will be taught a full range of core skills and practises by leading experts that will enable you to successfully pursue a career within computing.

Every year we survey our recent graduates to ascertain their employment status. The data is more commonly known as the Graduate Destinations survey and is reported to HESA (the Higher Education Statistics Authority).

HESA data collected in January 2013 about our 2012 graduates showed that 100% of Swansea's Computer Science graduates were in full-time employment or further study within six months of graduation. Computer Science at Swansea is 7th in the UK for "Graduate Prospects", the 2014 Times Good University Guide.

Some example job titles from the surveys are: