Best universities for Computer Science

Refernce to Times in 2006 (for Computer Science)

Computer Science


University Name (Entry Standards Overall Score)
1 Cambridge 547 100.0
2 Oxford 552 97.5
3 Imperial College 487 95.9
4 York 494 93.9
5 Bristol 414 92.3
6 Univ Coll London 398 92.0
7 Southampton 443 91.5
8 Bath 421 91.4
9 Warwick 470 90.6
10 Surrey 317 89.7
11= St Andrews 392 89.5
11= Edinburgh 407 89.5
13 Durham 451 88.2
14 Swansea 330 87.7
15 Manchester 372 87.5
16 Lancaster 329 87.0
17 Sheffield 372 86.9
18 Sussex 345 86.5
19 Cardiff 311 86.4
20 Nottingham 378 86.2

I want a re-start of this thread

Can we have discussion on which British universities are best for Computer Science and why? Are some universities stronger in a particular field?

My personal feeling is for Imperial College as the best Computer Science department

Would anyone care to comment?

OK, here's my take on the best IT departments in the UK

Edinburgh University
Great city; leading edge departments and research; modern well-structured courses. Very good modular degree options, with a great deal of expertise within the university, very fertile academic community. But courses are only any good if you want to become a lecturer or do real low level stuff.

Warwick University
Excellent student facilities and community. Quality teaching. A good mix of practical and theory. Loads of flexibility from day one; brand new facilities at faculty; into Linux.

Offer a variety of CS related disciplines from straight CS to those with an Engineering or Business. Course is challenging but well-balanced, with a fair proportion of theoretical material in addition to software and hardware engineering courses, plenty of hands-on coding.

Undergraduate course a bit theoretical. If you only have an average interest in every form of mathematics you'll probably hate it.

Course was over subscribed which meant that coursework submitted in the first term wasn't marked till a week before then end of the year.

York University
Strong research department with leading edge Computer Science development; strong links to industry for safety-critical and real-time systems; nice campus; lovely town. Great course with a solid scientific grounding + excellent options in the latter stages. Courses are diverse, interesting and very reputable.

Cambridge University
Very theoretical but the major advantage is: a lot of IT work being done at Cambridge, associated with new Microsoft research lab.

Manchester University
Biggest CS department in UK; well-known as having amongst the best courses. Manchester University can claim to be the place where computers were invened. Currently very into databases/data warehouses, visual stuff to do with AI and neural nets and the designer of the original ARM processor is one of the professors. Lots of industrial links, too. Research however is better than the teaching

Leeds University
Broad in content and therefore interesting. Superb courses and a choice of anything from hard sums (Theoretical Computation courses) through to exciting stuff (a whole tranche of graphical techniques courses, through to AI, whatever). Department heavily into AI.

Large number of Computer Science/IT related courses, with flexible modular system. Staff are very good (both in terms of teaching and research) and the admin department is unusually well organised.

Glasgow University
Covers everything from programming, databases, networks, optical communications, artificial intelligence; very good facilities

Oxford University
It's theoretical enough that your knowledge won't date, but has enough practical stuff to be fun. Not great facilities.

Thanks professor, great information

How about Imperial? Do you not rate its Computer Science department?

Sorry Sivram, I missed out Imperial College but as you probably know its Computer Scence Department is great, perhaps the best in Britain - but I have no personal experence of the department so did not write about it.

Not only is its ranking very high but the prestige of an Imperial College degree will help you throughout the world and consequently job prospects of its graduates are about as good as they get

Hi Professor
thanks for the your complete answer, I realised that you have a good idea of which uni does more research on what subject.
I am planing to do an MSc and eventually a PhD on Distributed Systems, Which uni in UK do you recommend for this?
How can I find which uni does more research in which field?

Hi negarande

the only real way to find this out is to go on to each Computing department's website - each one will list its areas of research - it takes a long time but is worth it if you are planning PhD study.

For distribued systems, many universites are good, check out the universities of Edinburgh, Southampton and Leeds

Prof. I need to know how to put together a study plan for a Msc and PHD degrees. I need to submit one on Tuesday for a scholarship interview. Please help by telling me what it should contain or possibly sending me a sample if you can. My address is dudumoh@yahoo.com
Thanks

Hello Proffessor, it was very good information, what about University of Northumbria and University of Bedfordshire, is it good for MSc Computer science courses?? Please reply me back...

Quote:

Hi Professor,

Could you pleas shed more light on the last sentence in the above quote of yours? By "real low level stuff" do u mean implementing things at a low level in the system? Please explain. Also please explain why you say "But courses are only any good if you want to become a lecturer".

I have offer from the following universities for an MSc in AI / Robotics for September 2008 entry,

1. University of Edinburgh - MSc Artificial Intelligence - Intelligent Robotics

2. University of Manchester - MSc Advanced Computer Science - AI

3. University of Essex - MSc Advanced Mobile Robotics

4. University of Bristol - MSc in Advanced Computing
(Machine Learning and Data Mining)

5. De Montford University - MSc Intelligent Systems and Robotics

My interest lies in Artificial Intelligence [In particular it is Robotics, Machine Learning, Neural Networks and Computer Vision]. I also aspire to do a PhD in the future. I hope to work and contribute as a researcher. So considering all of these, what do you think should be my first and second choice from the above list of universities that I have an offer from?

Thanks in advance.

Avinash

hi all,
I am new to this. I wnat to know about the Greenwhich university. I think it is good for the computer science.
It is accreditted by the BSC, and finally gives u the CEng staus as well. This is my idea. Please advise me if I am wrong.


Many thanks!

Nalin Asanka

Hi Professor,

I am Nalin from Sri Lanka, just completed my BSc in Management of Information System at National University of Ireland,University College of Dublin. I am Sun Certified Java Profeammer as too.
I want to become a lecturer one day.
I am planning to do MSc and PhD as well.
For that I just thought of applying Greenwhich university or Bedfordshire university for my MSc.
I would be very much of appritiated if u could advise me.


Nalin Asanka

Hi Professor,
Your information was useful. Could you please guide me on the following universities in terms of exposure and job prospects.

1)Sussex 2)Manchester 3)York

Which one of the three is clearly a better future option.

what is good about york,academically. what sets it apart from the rest???

hi
ive got through to york,bristol,warwick,manchester,southhampton
for MEng comp science
till now i was thinking warwick would be my choice#1 but after looking at the ratings and rankings i am having second thoughts
u guys have been talking abt the gud points of every univ cud some1 pl talk abt the cons as well

Hi hilas1000, you mentioned "gud" and "cons" in your last sentance, then what do they mean?

Hi smartsantu,

What do you know about the university of Bedfordshire?
According to the professor's comment

Many thnaks
Nalin

A shout to Professor

Your help is needed!

Dear Paul

What do u think about University of Bedsfordshire?
I have selected it for my Masters (MSc Information Management and Security). After that I am planning to go to Warwick to do my PhD.

Please comment on this!

Nalin Asanka

i would like to restart the thread...
Could anyone tell me about Southampton University for M.Sc in software Engineering

Hi scorpio and sorry guys for being away.

Well as you probably know Southampton University has one of the best Computing departments in Britain and its MSc in Software Engineering is probably the best SE taught masters degree in the country, have you applied to it?

welcome back Prof

Hi Paul!

Hey My name is karthik and I'm planning to do my masters in computer science and IT in UK !!
I was looking at University of Birmingham.
What do you think about it ?? Is there a list of top 20 universities (recent ratings) for computer science and IT in UK..

How good is Birmingham city university when it comes to MSC in computer science and IT ??

Hi karthsoma

They are 2 different universities. Birmingham University is very famous in this field. Birmingham City University is not

Thank you so much professor !!
Do you think its worth doing my masters in IT and computers in UB from the viewpoint of getting a job in UK ???

hi professor ,
would you suggest UB for computers IT?? which other university would you suggest from a job point of view ???

Yes UB is really good, check here for the best universities

http://www.how2uk.com/university.rati ... ings-uk-universities.html

I have been applied for an MSc in computer science at some universities and i have been accepted by three, Warwick (advanced computing), Lancaster (advanced computing) and MAnchester (advanced computing, Information Systems , Software Engineerin and Advanced Computer Science and IT Management). Which do you think is the best? I really need you help because i am going nuts trying to decide which one to accept. I have also applied to York university but i have not received an anwer yet... Thanks a lot for you help...

Hi travlos

Well done, you have some great offers. I would suggest your choice is between Manchester, Warwick or York. Personally, if you are accepted by York I would go to them. If not I would choose Warwick on pure academic reasons but it is a close choice and if you prefer to live in a city then do not have any hesitation about choosing Manchester. York is a great CS department in a great university and it is a lovely place to study, it is also the highest ranked by The Times and so that is why I would prefer York.

dear professor
what is the major difference between doing masters in CS (information technology)in universities in us & uk.which country is best to opt for bright feature.
recently i come to know that masters is of two types again ME and MS ,what are the differences between ME & MS.

THANK YOU SIR for sparing your precious time for us

Hi yaswanth

sorry but could your post your question as new one as it is a different question from which are the best universities for CS, thanks!

hi everyone
i m from india and i have done my graduation in Information technology...
acads( 10th - 73, 12th - 61, grad - 70), could anyone plz tell me that can i apply to unversities for MSc in UK.
if i can then plz tell me which universities...

hello ,i am looking to do masters in UK i have completed my BE in india ,so i am planning to do masters program in UK on human computer interaction so please give me guide lines on this and aslo how will be the job aspects after i fin this masters program is this is not good program please suggest me good program in the field of computer science

Hi guys

if you have a new question about your own application please post it as a separate (new) question.

Thanks

hello ,sir i am looking forward to do my masters study in Edinburg university in Msc computer science so can u please tell me where most of the indian students are doing masters study in UK in which university ? and also please tell me is Middlesex university good to do the same

pavan

Hi Professor,

I was just wondering what your opinion was on good Computer Science unis for 2010?

I've heard that York / Edinburgh / Manchester are good but I've only been to a few of the cities in the top 20 of the league tables.

Thanks,

Matt

hi Matt

yes those 3 are all really good.

As for good universities for 2010, well its the same for 2009. I think this is a problem arising from ranking tables, students focus too much on yearly results but if a university is good or a department is good it will be because it has built up its expertise over many years. So don't worry about yearly fluctuations.

Thanks for your reply Professor.

Would you say the list you posted a couple of years ago is still a good reflection of the reputable CS unis? (i.e. are there any more now)

I've heard that York is better for Embedded systems, and that Edinburgh is not so great for CS (they only offer a bachelors for pure CS by the looks of it & for some reason their main masters degree is called Informatics), but is great from a social point of view. On the other hand, Warwick seems to come out tops most years for CS but from what people have told me it's not one of the best places to live.

I've got ~ 4 years proper programming experience and I'm trying to find a University which has a reputation on par with (or at least slightly below) Imperial (Unfortunately I didn't quite get the grades Imperial expect).

Hi Professor,

I am planning to apply for Masters in Comp Science for Jan or Sept 2010 intake. My profile 12th 92% , UG 68%! Can u suggest me some good universities, wherein teaching and facilities within univ campus is good and also reg job prospects on finishing the course. I have some universities in my mind
Univ of Leicester
Univ of Bristol
Univ of Birmingham
also suggest some really good ones since i wanna go ahead only if i get admit with some good univ..
Thks in advance!

I want to enroll in a taught MSc program in Machine Learning. Can anyone please suggest which UK universities should be the best choices for me?

Thanks in advance.

Syeed

Hi Professor,

I have offers from both Dundee and Manchester for MSc in Computer Science. Both the universities have the subjects of my choice.

The fees for Dundee are 10500 pounds whereas for Manchester they are 14500 pounds.

Can you tell me whether Dundee is a good university? Are the job prospects good there? Which university should I opt between the two?

Thank you!

Hey guyss U all sound like u have experienced wht CS is like.. I am still in college doing my A2's. I wanted to ask all thoses who have done CS and gonna do there MSc masters etc.. wht CS is like? I'm gonna do a bsc in it so, what did u lots think of it?
Was it fun? I have heard from my m8's who go uni who said they found it a bit hard...

How did u guys find it/finding it??

Thanks all.

Hi... i would like to know which universities are best for business computing...

Hi professor!
u r doing a wounder job... awesome work.... thanks for that....

I graduated in BE CSE with aggregate of 74%... plan to do MSc in....

which course is the good one to get job after graduation?
my choise is

1. MSc Advanced Computer Science
2. MSc Computing and Management

and also tell if any other course

which university is good for that?

is it possible to get scholarship?

what band i should take in IELTS?


thanks in advance.... Quote:

any 1 wanna ansa my Q? lol

Good day Professor!

I'm from Kazakhstan )
I'm studying Information security. full translate will be look like "Protection of information security". I want study MSc in the UK.
So I have looked through several universities. but was very confused, there were few information about my spec. But I chose some universities:
1. Cambridge
2. Oxford
3. Imperial college
4. Edinburgh
5. Manchester
6. UCL
7. Southampton

Could you tell me which universities have courses or department like my spec.?
or I should choose another spec.?

thanks

hi professor,
I need your help actually I have got offer from University of edinburgh for MSC Computer Science but I have also appplied in UCL, Imperial and oxford and I am waiting for their reply my profile is 10th 72.5% 12th-82.5% and B.Tech-82.5% and I have some merit certificate too. Now I wanted too know should I expect offer from University of Edinburgh Or i wait forther I have mentioned if profile like mine has brighter chance. Also I am from Electronic and Instrumentation background
Please help
thanks In Advance

Hey all,

I am planning to apply to 6 universities in the UK for MSc Computer Science. Can any1 pls temme which universities would be better? I see many of you already have applied.. I referred to the rankings list and chose the following 6 universities. Pls tell me if i can proceed further or if u think i should be including any other university, kindly help me..

Imperial coll, london
University of Edinburgh
UCL
Univ of Warwick
Univ of York
Univ of Southampton

I got 89% in my 10th n 92.5% in my 12th.. and m currently doing Btech CSE n my CGPA is 8.68.. Pls reply

Hey all,

I just came across the new rankings list for 2010... here are the links.. Hope they are helpful.

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/single.htm?ipg=8727

http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/universityguide

http://www.rae.ac.uk/Results/selectUOA.aspx

Hello guys.
Most universities ask for a 2:1 or above as an entry requirement for doing a Msc in Advanced Computing. Do you have any idea if universities such as Imperial, Bristol, Birmingham and York have accepted students with a 2:1 in Computer Science before?
Thanks and looking forward for your response.

Hello Professor,

I appreciate your guidance and help and the fact that you constantly answer queries I hope I am not asking the same question although I have seen the forum and does not seem like.

Coming to the Point:

I have applied to Surrey, Kingston and City university for my MS- IS course, I am keen on doing that course but am getting mixed response from friends in that industry since I have a commerce background and no programming skill set.

Although I have worked as a PM on AS/400 for 2 years and have been an IT PM for 3 years now I am keen on doing my masters in IT/IS bit have been suggested for MIS as well.

Can you suggest if I need to have a strong programming background for success in IS.

I have 7 years work experience.

Thanks for your help.

Hi professor,

I really appreciate your efforts here.

Here I really need your valuable advice -

I want to pursue Ms in Software Engg from UK.
As London being the hub for opportunities, I wanted to select a college in London .

I want to know your view on Msc Advanced Software Engineering from Kings's college London.

Apart of that that I wanted to know how important is to choose a city university on the basis of the its location irrespective of its ranking?

For example: All the rankings I came across internet Edinburgh University is good in Computer science studies but its located in Scotland. But King's college ranking falls no where near Edinburgh University but its Located in London.

So do u think its a wise decision to choose colleges and universities on the basis of it location to get more job opportunities ?


Thanks for ur Help.

Hi professor,
I really appreciate your efforts here.
I really need your valuable advice regarding The University of the West of England, in Computer Science.
Thanks in advanced.
Regards,

Hi Professor,

I have got admits in University of Manchester and University of Glasgow for Msc in Computing Science.

I am now really really confused as to decide which university will be better.

University of Glasgow is a bit more economical and i have many friends in Glasgow too.
But when i researched a bit about University of Manchester, i found it has the largest computing department in UK and is good in research.

Now I actually am not sure whether these features provides more value to the degree.

Could somebody who knows about this please tell me more about this.

Are these both universities somewhat at the same level in their teaching and degree value. Manchester seems good but on the other hand in Glasgow, i have many friends and it seems somewhat good too.

Please advice me...Thank you... :)

Hi Professor,

I have secured First Class Wid distinction in Graduation BE in Electronics ..Also i have done the PG Dip in Wireless And Mobile Computing..
And expecting IELTS score more than 7 Scale..
Currently I am Working in SONY India Software Center...
I have almost 2 yrs of Experience in Mobile Filed..

So can u guide me..
Which UK univs are best in Mobile Computing MS course..
About Placement..?
About Scholarship ?

Thank YOu in Advance..

karan,

Edinburgh is a great university for Computer Science and also the Edinburgh city is great to live in. Go for it.

Kiran,

All the universities you have mentioneda are good. But i would choose Imperial Coll. Southampton is meant for experienced professionals. You can go for either Imperial, Edinburgh or Warwick. But take a look at the modules that you gonna study and then decide.

Kapil,

Based on you expereince, you can go for MSc in Business Systems Analysis and Design at City University.


iamjuyal,

Select Universities based on their reputation.

Deepak,

Manchester is past. Go for Glasgow.

Thanks for the reply... I now have decided to take up either UCL or SOUTHAMPTON for MSc Software Engineering... Please tell me which one is better for this course??