Admissions to Computer Science at
Queen Mary, University of London:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)


Note: the information here is kept for archive purposes, but has not been updated since its author stopped being the admissions tutor and took on another administrative role in the Department of Computer Science at Queen Mary. What is said here applied in 2004 when this page was last updated, it may not apply now. Please see here for up-to-date information on applying for undergraduate places in the department.

What should I do before applying?

  • What is the difference between Computer Science and Software Engineering/Information Systems/etc ?
  • I am interested in game design / artificial intelligence / multimedia / etc, should I do a degree in it?
  • What jobs do your degrees lead to?
  • Do you run part time / distance learning degrees?
  • Do you offer HND qualifications?
  • Do you run short training courses?
  • What are the fees?

    How do I apply?

  • When do I apply?
  • Will you run out of places and reject me if I don't apply early?
  • What qualifications do I need?
  • Do you consider resit applicants?
  • Can you interview/test me to see if I am suitable?
  • Can I transfer from another university?
  • What sort of computer experience do I need?
  • What degree programme should I apply for?
  • Do you have industrial placements as part of your degree?
  • What should I put on my personal statement?
  • Who should write my reference and what should be in it?

    What happens after I apply?

  • How long will it be before I hear anything?
  • What if I am asked to attend an interview?
  • What if I am not asked to attend an interview?
  • Can I query your decision?
  • What do I do once I have received my offer?
  • What do I do if I don't get any offers?
  • What happens when I get my exam results?
  • Do you have places available in clearing?
  • What do I need to do before joining the degree programme?

    See also:

  • Entrance qualifications for Computer Science at Queen Mary
  • Admissions links for Computer Science at Queen Mary
  • Transfer to Computer Science at Queen Mary

    This page is written by the department undergraduate admissions tutor for Computer Science at Queen Mary (University of London), Matthew Huntbach. The job of the department admissions tutor is to check applicants have the necessary qualifications to join the department's degree programmes, and to decide which applicants will be made offers of places. Enquiries on non-academic matters, such as fees and accommodation, should be made to the college's admissions office.

    The aim of this page is to answer some of the questions commonly asked by people applying, or thinking of applying to our Computer Science degree programmes, and also to clear up some common causes of confusion.

    Although some of the advice here is general, much of it is specific to the Computer Science department. You should not assume that other departments at Queen Mary handle admissions in the same way as us, nor should you assume that admissions to a degree programme in another department at Queen Mary entitles you to transfer to Computer Science. Undergraduate degree programmes run by the Computer Science department are listed here. Please note that though some other departments at Queen Mary run computer-related degree programmes, we are not responsible for them, and you will need to contact those departments if you have any queries on their programmes.

    Recruitment to postgraduate degrees in Computer Science at Queen Mary is also handled entirely separately.

    Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions about the admissions process to Computer Science degrees at Queen Mary which aren't answered here. You can contact the admissions tutor by email, telephone (020 7882 5216), or in writing.


    What should I do before applying?

    It is important that you thoroughly research your options before deciding whether to apply. First of all, you need to be sure you want to do a degree in the first place. Don't feel forced into doing it because you feel society or your parents expect you to. Don't expect a degree to give you the sort of training in specific systems that a commercial certification course would. Don't forget that mature applicants are welcome, so there is nothing wrong with getting a little experience with the world first rather than applying straight from school.

    Secondly, make sure you understand what Computer Science is as an academic subject, and that you really want to do what a Computer Science degree involves. This is particularly important because many people expect a Computer Science degree to be similar to what they have done in school under the title "Information Technology", or similar to what they have been reading about in the many glossy magazines devoted to hobby use of computers, and are surprised to find it is very different. In particular, please note that however fascinated you may be with using computers, that isn't really what Computer Science is about. It's about designing these fascinating applications and writing the computer programs that make them work. If your motivation to do a degree in Computer Science is that you enjoy using word processors, drawing packages, spreadsheets and other such applications and want to learn about them in more detail, you will need to reconsider your plans since that is not what we are about.

    Thirdly, look at how Computer Science is taught at Queen Mary and elsewhere, and make sure that our approach to Computer Science is the one you want to follow. University departments are free to choose their own approach to subjects, and set their own assessments, thus a degree is very different to school qualifications such as A-level where schools across the country follow a nationally set syllabus. Each university department which teaches Computer Science will have its own specialities, and its own approach ranging from the very theoretical to the very practical, or from a systems emphasis to an applications emphasis. We believe our degree programmes offer a good balance between all possible approaches, but check for yourself first! Many people do not realise that university staff spend as much time on research as they do on teaching, and the research interests of a university department will often influence how it teaches its subject, particularly in the more advanced course units.

    To help you make a more informed choice, there is a page of useful links here.

    What is the difference between Computer Science and Software Engineering/Information Systems/etc ?

    "Computer Science" has become established as the standard name for our subject, although many would agree it is not an ideal name. Some would say the "Computer" in it is misleading, because it is more about the instructions a computer obeys (i.e. the "software") than the actual machinery of the computer (the "hardware"). Some would say the "Science" in it is misleading, because it is more about constructing software than making observations of the natural world, so "Engineering" would be better. For this reason, you will sometimes see degree programmes similar to our Computer Science called "Software Engineering". In the Computer Science world, however, "Software Engineering" is usually used to mean a specialist aspect of Computer Science which looks in particular at the practical problems of managing large-scale production of software systems. A course unit in Software Engineering in this sense is a core part of our degree. Sometimes you will see the subject called "Computing" rather than "Computer Science", but this does not indicate a significant difference in material covered. A good introduction to Computer Science as an academic subject can be found here. Although written for another university, what it says about the subject gives an indication of what it involves at Queen Mary and other academic universities.

    "Computer Engineering" is sometimes used as a name for degree programmes which have much more of a hardware emphasis than Computer Science degrees. This sort of degree is generally given by Electronic Engineering departments rather than Computer Science departments. Specialist study of topics like networks will also be covered in more detail in Electronic Engineering departments. A Computer Science degree like ours has some coverage of hardware and network issues, but it is not the main emphasis of our degree programmes. If you are looking for something which is more oriented towards hardware and communications systems, you might find it in Queen Mary's Electronic Engineering department.

    You will also often see degree programmes with titles like "Information Systems" or "Information Technology". These tend to be more about the use of software in a business environment, with less emphasis on creating software and the technical aspects of computation. Again, a Computer Science degree like ours will have some coverage of topics covered in more detail in Information Systems degrees, but it is not our main emphasis. Queen Mary does not have a separate department specialising in Information Systems. You need to be aware that while in the education world "Information Technology" tends to have this separate meaning, employers and the business world generally uses the term "Information Technology" to cover everything involving computers, including the production of software and hardware issues.

    In general, you should be aware that there is not a hard division between these various related subjects. It is often the case that the only difference between two different sounding degree programmes is a minor choice between some individual course units, with most course units shared. It is also often the case that two degrees with the same title in different universities differ markedly in their content. It is best to do a bit of research into the individual course units that make up a degree, which you can usually find in web pages and sometimes prospectuses, rather than make assumptions based just on its title.

    I am interested in game design / artificial intelligence / multimedia / etc, should I do a degree in it?

    You will sometimes see degree programmes advertised in specialist areas of Computer Science, shading off into other subjects. For example, artificial intelligence shades off into areas such as linguistics and psychology, multimedia shades off into art and design, and so on. If your real interest is more in the other subject than Computer Science, that may be the best option for you. If you have a special interest in some area of Computer Science, you will often find a good general degree in Computer Science is the best option, providing a good foundation for whatever you may wish to specialise in at a later date, and flexibility to change and adapt as your knowledge of the subject increases. Our degree programme contains course units which introduce some of these specialist areas of Computer Science.

    However, in order to demonstrate some of the specialisms we cover in Computer Science at Queen Mary, we have introduced two specialist degree programmes which will take their first entrants in 2004. We also have a long-running specialisut degree programme in Computer Science and Linguistics taught jointly with the Modern Languages departments. See below for details.

    What jobs do your degrees lead to?

    Most of our graduates obtain jobs in the software industry, initially as programmers or analysts. Some also obtain general management or financial positions. Details of companies employing some recent graduates and the positions obtained in those companies can be found here.

    Do you run part time / distance learning degrees?

    Although Queen Mary has an Open and Distance Learning unit which offers degrees in Computer Science, currently these are run only in conjunction with certain partner organisations, and only those associated with them may apply.

    Otherwise, our degree programmes assume you will put full time commitment into your studies. You will be expected to be available whenever requested during working hours on week days in term time. Although you will find if you become a student with us that your actual timetabled hours - lectures, labs and tutorials - add up to less than the 35-40 hours a week someone in full-time employment would be expected to work, in order to succeed on the degree you should expect to make up the balance in your private study. We accept that these days it is not uncommon for students to have part-time jobs, but they should always be fitted in around your study requirements. We do not expect our students to fit in their degree around outside work commitments.

    Do you offer HND qualifications?

    No. All our teaching is to degree or postgraduate level.

    Do you run short training courses?

    No. This sort of training is done by Computing Services at Queen Mary. They are the non-academic department which provides computer support to other departments at Queen Mary, including specific training requirements. Although their courses are intended primarily for students and staff at Queen Mary, they are open to others.

    We can occasionally offer places on some of our course units to undergraduates from other departments who wish to include them as a part of their degree. However, our course units are intended to be an integrated part of a Computer Science degree, and are unsuitable to those who just want introductory training in computer usage.

    Otherwise, there are many commercial organisations which offer training in various computer systems. This is not at all like a degree in Computer Science. A degree in Computer Science is about the general principles of computing and software design. Although it will involve practical use of systems where these are useful to illustrate the principles, it is not intended to offer in-depth study of any particular system. However, understanding the general principles means you can easily adapt to whatever systems exist in the future, and will have a much firmer foundation than is given by superficial training in whatever is currently on the market.

    What are the fees?

    The Computer Science department plays no part in the administration of fees - that is the responsibility of Queen Mary's central organisation, and you can find details here. The decision over whether a student is classified as "home" or "overseas" is not made by the department admissions tutor, and cannot be influenced by the department admissions tutor. Unfortunately, the Computer Science department does not have any scholarships to offer to overseas students. We do have one bursary which is open to home students and is given to the winner of our Web Competition.


    How do I apply?

    What forms do I need?

    The standard way to apply to all full-time undergraduate degree programmes at recognised UK universities is through the UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Services) system. UCAS provides an application form with which you can apply to up to six degree programmes simultaneously. There are no other entry forms for our full-time undergraduate degree programmes, and no other way of applying except through UCAS. If you are a UK applicant currently in education, your school or college will normally provide you with a UCAS form. Many schools and colleges use the Electronic Application System, it is possible to apply directly online (though only through registered sites), but there are still paper forms available.

    When do I apply?

    The UK academic year runs from September to September, so we are only able to admit students for a starting date of September in any year. The dates for applications are set by UCAS, but as detailed below we can offer some flexibility.

    Will you run out of places and reject me if I don't apply early?

    No. As mentioned above, we guarantee to treat all applicants who have applied before the normal UCAS deadline equally. In fact, since most applicants apply while taking their A-levels, most places aren't given out until the A-level results come out in August. Before then, we can only make offers, and to work out how many places we have left we have to estimate: As you can see, there is a lot of estimation here. It's just another factor in our estimation that we have to take into account the fact that some people will submit their UCAS forms early, and some people will submit them later. When making offers to the early applicants we will always remember that we expect to receive quite a few later applications, so we will not "run out of places" by making too many offers to early applicants. In fact, like most university departments, we tend to make offers at a level which means we are unlikely to fill all our places, and then use the places left in August to give to applicants who didn't quite make our conditional offer.

    Having said this, of course we would not want to encourage applicants to leave it until the last minute before submitting their UCAS forms. So if you have done your research, made up your mind where you want to apply to, and written a good personal statement, don't delay in filling up your UCAS form and submitting it to your referee to write the reference and send it off.

    What qualifications do I need?

    Computer Science at Queen Mary is an academic degree, so we can only give places to those who can demonstrate through formal qualifications that they have academic ability. The UCAS form gives space to list the qualifications you already have and those you are currently taking. It is important that you fill in these sections accurately and correctly, they will be the main thing we use to decide whether to offer you a place. Please note that if you are untruthful about previous qualifications obtained, that counts legally as fraud and will result in automatic rejection or withdrawal of any offer made if discovered at a later date.

    The page Entrance qualifications for Computer Science at Queen Mary gives more details on the sort of qualifications we require. However, it is unlikely we will be able to offer you a place unless you have some qualifications showing mathematical ability.

    If you are unsure whether your qualifications are suitable, please feel free to contact us to discuss them before making an application through UCAS. We cannot definitely offer a place before we have received a UCAS application, since our decision will also be based on the personal statement and reference on the UCAS form, but we can advise whether it would be worthwhile applying.

    Do you consider resit applicants?

    Please see the statement on resits in our page on entrance qualifications. We want students who have the motivation and aptitude to pass first time round. So while we will consider resit applicants, we may ask for higher grades. Applicants who have been made offers previously should not expect that they will receive the same offer if they re-apply after having been rejected for failing to meet the grades. However, we will always be sympathetic to applicants who are re-taking after poor grades received for genuine personal problems which were not of their own causing. In that case, please let us know the reason, and of course we treat any such personal information with the greatest confidentiality.

    Can you interview/test me to see if I am suitable?

    We are not equipped to administer "tests" to potential applicants who lack suitable qualifications but feel they could succeed on our degrees. The best test for suitability is to take and pass formal pre-university qualifications. Commercial certificates in the use of various computer applications, or general "experience with computers" do not indicate the sort of ability required for an academic computer science degree.

    Due to the large number of applications we receive, we are unable to offer an interview or personal discussion with any potential applicant who requests it, though we are happy to discuss suitability by email, telephone or writing. We will only offer formal interviews to applicants who have applied to us through the UCAS system and it is at our discretion whether to interview any particular applicant.

    Can I transfer from another university?

    There is no special form of "transfer". If you are studying at another university and wish to join our degree programme, you must make a normal application through UCAS. There is space on the UCAS form where you can indicate if you wish to be considered for direct entry to our second year. The Computer Science department does not offer direct entry to its third year.

    Please note that each university department sets its own curriculum, so you should not assume that taking the first year of a computer-related degree at one university means you would be capable of joining the second year of ours. Since our second year course units are heavily dependent on the material in our first year course units, we can only offer direct entry to the second year to those who have passed a first year in a degree elsewhere which contains material of similar content and standard to ours. We do not offer "top-ups" to HND qualifications.

    We may be able to take a successful first year in another university as a qualification for entrance to our first year if you are a student who previously lacked our pre-university requirements. However, we would expect you to consult with the university you are leaving before applying, and we will always require a reference (preferably as the reference on the UCAS form) from the university you are leaving.

    More information on transferring to Computer Science at Queen Mary from other degree programmes can be found here.

    What sort of computer experience do I need?

    The short answer is "none". Our degree programmes teach the subject from scratch, and assume no previous knowledge, just general ability of the sort provided by an all-round education. In fact there is a big difference between hobby computing, or the sort of computer-related work done in pre-university education, and what is covered in an academic Computer Science degree. Work at degree level is much more focussed on abstract programming skills and other aspects of computation rather than use of any particular system. Note in particular that much training and education that goes under the name "Information Technology" is about using current computer applications, whereas Computer Science is about designing and constructing new computer applications using software engineering principles.

    So if you have pre-university experience or qualifications in Computing or Information Technology, you may have a short-term advantage of some familiarity with some of the terminology, but others will soon catch up. Pre-university experience of computer programming can give you a good idea of whether you will enjoy the subject, but you are likely to find the rigorous in-depth approach of a Computer Science degree very quickly goes beyond what you already know. Pre-university experience of computer applications that does not involve programming, such as office applications, search engines, many web-page designing packages (please note that using HTML is not programming) and so on, is of very little benefit to academic computer science.

    What degree programme should I apply for?

    We prefer to offer a small range of degree titles within which you can specialise by choosing from our range of options once you have joined our degree programmes. Currently, we have the following: We advise all applicants to consider carefully the nature and content of our degree programmes before applying. These are valuable qualifications which can lead you into good careers, but they do require hard work and commitment. The widespread availability of computers in society today means many people have some experience with them and feel they would like to do "something with computers". We believe Computer Science is a fascinating subject, but it is different from what many people expect.

    Do you have industrial placements as part of your degree?

    None of our degree programmes is a "sandwich course", that is one where a placement in industry is an integral and organised part of the degree. Students are free, however, to take a year's break before their final year to work in industry. If you are interested in doing this, you will have to make your own arrangements, but permission will be granted so long as the work will use and develop the skills taught in the degree. Industrial collaboration with your third year project is also a possibility.

    What should I put on my personal statement?

    The personal statement is the section of the UCAS form you fill in to tell us about yourself. The same statement is seen by admissions tutors for all the degree programmes you apply for on the UCAS form, so it will need to be general for all of them. However, the advice here would probably be broadly agreed by other admissions tutors.

    Firstly, do not be over-anxious about the personal statement. Your qualifications are likely to be the main factor on which an admissions decision will be made, a personal statement is only likely to be a crucial deciding factor between two applicants whose qualifications are very similar.

    Secondly, be yourself. Personal statements which make an insincere attempt to be clever or impress often backfire because what you think will impress us often won't! Don't claim abilities or experiences you don't really have, that might cause you problems when we interview you. But do tell us about all the qualities you have, and anything that's important to you. The personal statement should enable us to get an understanding of you as a person.

    We will expect your personal statement to tell us why you want to do Computer Science. Tell us a little about previous experience with computers, but it is not necessary to go into lengthy detail. Remember that what we really want to see is evidence of a good logical mind, and problem-solving skills rather than any specific computer experience.

    If there is anything unusual in your application, tell us about it. For example, if you are re-taking your A-levels, it is better that you are honest about the reasons than leave us wondering and assuming the worst. If there are any special factors you think may affect your performance, it would help you if we knew them.

    Who should write my reference and what should be in it?

    In most cases, your UCAS form will be handled by your school or college, and they will have someone who writes your reference who is very familiar with writing UCAS references. If this is not the case (for example, if you are applying after leaving school), we would still like, if possible, for your reference to be written by someone who is familiar with your academic skills. Otherwise, a reference from an employer or someone who knows you professionally would do. Do not use a friend or relation, since they are unlikely to give an unbiased references we can trust. The reference is important, so we would rather have a late application than one without a reference.

    The first job of the reference is to confirm that the rest of the form, the qualifications and personal statement, are accurate and honest. The reference should tell us about your skills, strengths and weaknesses. A reference which is balanced will come across as a more honest appraisal than one which exaggerates the good points and ignores the bad points. The referee should confirm that you are suitable for the degree programmes you have applied to, and say why.

    School and college references will generally include predicted grades for qualifications you are taking. Again, an honest appraisal is preferable and will be taken more seriously than an exaggeration. Although we appreciate predicted grades are not always accurate, and most teachers will want to be optimistic about their pupils, they do play a large part in our assessment. If the predicted grades are well below our minimum requirements, we are unlikely to make an offer.

    The referee should point out an unusual circumstances we may need to take into account. For example, personal circumstances which may lead to the applicant performing less well in the qualifications s/he is taking than s/he would normally be capable of. Or if there has been a real boost in the applicant's performance, so that previously disappointing results should not be taken as an indicator of future ability.


    What happens after I apply?

    A copy of your UCAS form is sent to us. Note, the copy we receive is reduced to half size, so if you are filling in a paper form don't make your writing (computer generated or handwriting) too small. The sections on the form on ethnicity and parental employment are blanked out (they are used only within UCAS for collecting statistics on who applies to university). Also (this is new for 2003 entry) the section giving the other degree programmes you applied to is blanked out.

    There are four things we can do after we receive your UCAS form:

    How long will it be before I hear anything?

    We try to process UCAS forms as quickly as possible. However, please note your UCAS form has to go from you to your referee, from your referee to UCAS, from UCAS to Queen Mary's central office, and from the central office to the Department of Computer Science. It then has to be processed by the department admissions tutor, who passes it back to the department office to be recorded on department records, from there to the central office, and the decision is passed from there to UCAS. Inevitably there may be delays in any of these stages, particularly at the peak time for UCAS form submission, which coincides with Christmas holidays. As is general, the admissions tutor is also an academic who has teaching and research duties. Although we try to give high priority to processing UCAS forms in order for you to be given a quick decision, sometimes there are other things (student coursework which has to be marked, a research paper that has to be completed in time to meet a conference deadline, etc) which means UCAS forms have to be put aside to be processed later. Due to all these factors, a delay of a few weeks is entirely normal, and nothing to be worried about. However, if you are concerned that you have not heard after some time do feel free to contact us to check on the current status of your application.

    What if I am asked to attend an interview?

    If you are asked to attend an interview, it is important that you confirm you can attend on the date given or let us know if the date is inconvenient so we can arrange another. Only if it is really not possible for you to take time off should you request that we make a decision without interview. Applicants who are invited to interview, but do not contact us and then do not turn up at the invited time will often be rejected even if they have good qualifications. Not turning up for interview without notice suggests either that you are not really interested in our degree programme, or you lack the sort of personal discipline or sense of professional courtesy we require in our students. Obviously, if on the day of the interview you meet with some unexpected serious problem that stops you from attending, we will not penalise you for that, but you must inform us as soon as possible.

    On the interview day, we will give you a talk about our department, a tour around the college campus, and a one-to-one interview with a member of academic staff. We may also give you an aptitude test. None of this is anything to get worried about, we rarely reject applicants who have reached the interview stage. The one-to-one interview will be more of an informal chat in which we can find out more about your interests and why you have applied, than a test designed to catch you out. It's also a chance for your to ask questions, and it is treated as a sign of interest if you have some good questions to ask. You will be asked what grades you think you will obtain in your A-levels or other qualifications. This may affect the conditional offer you are given, for example if you admit to being weak in one subject but strong in another, we may be willing to make an offer which asks for a low grade in your weak subject balanced by a high grade in your strong one. We may wish to check whether you really understand what academic computer science involves and that you have a commitment to it. We may also want to find out of there are any particular reasons why you want to come to Queen Mary.

    Casual dress is fine for our interviews. Most students prefer to come on their own, but it's acceptable to come with your parents, particularly if you are coming from outside London and they want to see what the campus is like. Since the interview day may involve some waiting around, it's probably a good idea to bring something to read while you're waiting.

    No admissions decisions are made while you are being interviewed. The report from the interviewer is passed to the department's admissions tutor to make a decision on whether to make an offer, and which conditions to ask for in conditional offers. You will be informed in writing about the decision made as soon as possible after the interview.

    What if I am not asked to attend an interview?

    You are still free to visit Queen Mary, and look around. We will send you further information on our degree programmes to enable you to make an informed choice.

    Can I query your decision?

    If you are uncertain about the terms of our conditional offer, please contact us for clarification. If you decide to change the qualifications you are taking after we have given you a conditional offer, please inform us immediately. In fact, it would be better to discuss this with us first before changing, since we may have to withdraw our offer if you drop the qualifications we are most interested in.

    We only reject an applicant because we believe on the evidence we have that he or she is unlikely to be able to cope with the demands of our degree. Under these circumstances, it is better for all concerned that the applicant goes to a more suitable degree programme. Otherwise, unless we have made a genuine mistake, we will not change our offer once made. Please note:

    If you would like feedback on why your application was unsuccessful, please contact the admissions tutor in Computer Science either by email or in writing. If you think a real mistake has been made and you are unsatisfied with the Computer Science department's response, you should contact the Assistant Registrar (Admissions) in the Registry at Queen Mary.

    What do I do once I have received my offer?

    Under the UCAS system, you choose one of your offers to be your Firm choice, and you may choose another to be your Insurance choice. You should wait until you have heard from all the degree programmes you have applied to before making this choice. It's important to note that this process involves a two-way commitment. Your Firm choice university commits to giving you a place if you meet the conditional offer they set (or automatically if they made you an unconditional offer). You commit to accepting that place. If you don't make the grades asked for, your firm choice university may reject you, then you are committed to going to your insurance choice university if they give you a place. Your Insurance choice university is committed to giving you a place if you don't get into your Firm choice university but get the grades they asked for, you are committed to taking that place if you don't get into your Firm choice.

    You need to be aware of the nature of this commitment because you cannot easily change your mind and break out of it. The UCAS rules state that you can only do so under exceptional personal circumstances. You should always think of your Insurance choice as your "Second choice". The term "Insurance" may suggest it's a fall-back option you can hold onto while you check out other options if you didn't get into your first choice, but it doesn't work like that. Note that if you don't get the grades you were asked for but are still given the place, your commitment to your Firm or Insurance choice remains, you can only break it and go to another university if there are exceptional personal circumstances which have arisen since you made your Firm and Insurance commitment.

    What do I do if I don't get any offers?

    If you get rejected by all of your original choices on your UCAS form, UCAS has a system, called "Extra" which enables you to make further choices. You will be sent details of this system if you fall into this category. Obviously, if you are in this category you will need to adjust your thinking regarding your university choices. Were you too ambitious and applied for degree programmes which usually fill up with student with grades you are unlikely to achieve? Or do you lack the necessary qualifications for the subjects you originally applied for? Computer Science at Queen Mary may accept applicants through the "Extra" route, but only those whose original UCAS applications were all for degree programmes with higher entrance requirements than ours.

    What happens when I get my exam results?

    If you have made us your Firm choice, and you obtain the grades we asked for, then you are guaranteed a place. If you made us your Insurance choice, and you obtain the grades we asked for, then we guarantee to hold open a place for you if you do not get into your Firm choice university. UCAS send the results of any A-levels you are taking in your year of applying directly to us at the same time as you receive them, so you need take no action yourself to inform us.

    If you did not get the grades we asked for, do not assume you will not get the place, particularly if your grades are only just below our conditional offer. Our usual practice is to set conditional offers at a high level, which will leave us some places to fill, and then to fill the majority of places left with applicants who made us their Firm or Insurance choice but did not quite get the grades asked for. We will make this decision on the basis of information we already have, so please ignore the commonly-given advice "phone the admission tutor if you didn't get your grades": we would prefer not to enter into personal discussion at this stage. In particular, if there are personal circumstances you feel may have affected your exam results, you will have a much stronger case if you informed us before you got the exam results.

    We always try to make decisions once we have the A-level results as soon as possible, as we realise this is a time of anxiety, so our aim is that for most applicants a letter will be in the post telling them whether they have been accepted or rejected on the day they get their A-level results. If your grades are below those we asked for, you may wish to phone other universities to check whether they have places available in the UCAS clearing system. Please note, however, that you can only take up any places you are offered in clearing if you have been rejected by both your Firm and Insurance choices. In this case, UCAS will send you a form known as a "Clearing Entry Form" which you use to take up clearing offers. So bear in mind that if you have made us your Firm or Insurance choice and, before you knew we accepted you, you made some enquiries and were offered places in clearing, you will not be able to change your mind and go to one of those other places. That is against UCAS rules, because it is unfair on those we rejected to give you your place.

    If there is any delay in us making a decision once the A-level results have become available, it is likely to be because there has been a delay in your results reaching us. In this case, check with your school or college to see if there is any reason for your results being delayed.

    Do you have places available in clearing?

    If you did not originally make Computer Science at Queen Mary your Firm or Insurance choice, but you were rejected by your Firm and Insurance choices, we welcome you phoning us to discuss the possibility of a place available in clearing. The number of places we have available in clearing and the grades we require will depend on factors we won't know until the A-level results are out. We will not, however, accept applicants through clearing whose grades are below those we accepted through the normal application route.

    The number to phone to enquire about places in clearing will be published by UCAS and also in national newspapers. Just as we will not release students who have made us their Firm or Insurance choice and we have accepted, so we will not be able to offer places to students who have been accepted at their Firm or Insurance choices elsewhere. If you are still waiting to hear, we can informally tell you whether we would be prepared to give you a place if you didn't get into your Firm or Insurance choice but we cannot encourage you to break your commitment. Once you know you have been rejected by your Firm and Insurance choice, if we decide to make you an offer in clearing we will guarantee to hold the place open for you until you receive your Clearing Entry Form from UCAS. This will take a few days, but you shouldn't be too anxious as everyone else looking for a place in clearing will also be waiting for their Clearing Entry Form. We would prefer students who are applying to us in clearing to be happy about choosing our degree after comparing it to other degrees with places available in clearing, than to feel rushed into making a decision.

    What do I need to do before joining the degree programme?

    Relax. You have got a place on a highly-regarded degree programme which offers you excellent prospects for the future. But you will need to work hard to get the best out of your university study. So a well-earned break after taking your A-levels or other pre-university exams and before starting university is not a bad idea! However, if you want some introductory reading, Paul Curzon, a lecturer in Computer Science at Queen Mary, has put together some articles suitable for newcomers to Computer Science here.

    We will send you the necessary joining information. Although Information Sheets on course units may contain "recommended reading", in general it is best to wait until you start the course and receive confirmation of any necessary course text books before you buy any.


    Matthew Huntbach
    Last modified: 19 October 2004