This four-year programme has a student satisfaction rating of 84%.

Computing has already transformed business and impacted significantly on, typically, computer-aided manufacturing, just-in-time manufacturing, data mining and data warehousing in the retail sector, e-procurement, internet banking and online shopping. These are today’s technologies, but what will happen in the near future? What impact will computer science topics like machine learning, social modelling and evolutionary computation have on business?

There is a real demand for managers who have a thorough grasp of computer science as well as a clear understanding of management principles. This programme is designed to give you both.

This degree is taught jointly by the School of Computer Science and the Birmingham Business School. It will equip you with both core technical skills and the important business analysis skills required for a career in management, sales or marketing, especially in the IT sector. In each year, you will spend one third of your time in the Business School and two-thirds in the School of Computer Science.

First year

In your first year you take introductory courses in economics, business organisation, financial analysis and international economy. In Computer Science, you also learn computer programming in Java – a language widely used in business and industry, and study the principles of designing efficient software.

Second year

In the second year you continue your management studies with modules in Human Resources, Marketing, Global Marketing and Financial Decision Making. In Computer Science you learn about enabling technologies such as graphics and databases, while also implementing them, to improve your programming skills. You also learn the principles of computer networking and architectures.

Third year – Year in Industry

We encourage our students to gain as much real world experience as they can during their studies. The University has strong links with a number of employers offering internships or formal placements that can range from two months over the summer vacation to a full sandwich year as part of your degree course. The college internship officer and industrial liaison tutor supports students to find work placements. We also have a vacancy database with over 2000 graduate job vacancies and internship opportunities targeted towards University of Birmingham students each year. Please visit our website for more information about the Year in Industry.

Fourth year

In the final year you produce a large piece of software in your degree project, and select options from a variety on offer in the School of Computer Science. You can typically choose from two to four modules from a total of around 20, including Computer Networks and Distributed Systems, Commercial Programming, Databases, and Virtual Reality. On the business side, you study strategic management, supply chain management and corporate finance. 

Related links

School of Computer Science website: www.cs.bham.ac.uk

How will I be taught?
As a Birmingham student, you are joining the academic elite and have the privilege of learning from world-leading experts in the field of computer science. Throughout your studies, you'll be encouraged to become an independent and self-motivated learner, thriving on challenge and opportunities to think for yourself.

Personal tutor
At the start of your degree, you'll be assigned a Personal Tutor who will remain with you throughout your studies to help you in three important areas: supporting your academic progress, developing transferable skills and dealing with any welfare issues.

Contact hours
In your first year the course is delivered via lectures, tutorials, workshops, laboratory classes and self-directed learning, including revision and working on exercises. As you proceed through your course the number of structured hours decreases and there's a strong emphasis on project work in your final year. The range of projects in your final year includes practical work in the laboratory, computer-based projects, or theoretical studies. Education-based projects are also available to those interested in entering the teaching profession. Lecturers provide a pool of topics for final year projects, however, you are strongly encouraged to come up with your own ideas.

Learning settings:

Laboratory-based work is an integral part of our Computer Science degree programme, vital to develop your experimental practical skills and to reinforce concepts introduced in lectures or to explore a particular phenomenon. First-year practical sessions typically last for four hours and increase in length in subsequent years so that you can study more advanced concepts and work more independently.

Lectures take place in our theatres which, as well as the traditional whiteboard and pen, are equipped with the latest technology, including facilities to show movies, animations and molecular graphics, to record lectures and to interact with 'ask the audience' style electronic voting systems.

Small-group tutorials/personal tutorials run alongside the lecture course, addressing any individual problems you may have and allowing you to consolidate lecture material, as well as test your understanding through problem-solving exercises.

Enquiry Based Learning (EBL) is a group activity which requires you to work in a team, with a variety of assessment methods; in either a group or individually, by written reports and sometimes as a presentation. Based on techniques used in research-led organisations like the University of Birmingham, EBL gives you a research-orientated approach to a problem and helps you to gain essential skills that are highly valued by employers.

Feedback shows that, on average, 90% of the students on this course find work and/or further study after graduating, and those in work are, typically, earning £23,000-£25,000 a year six months after graduation. Of those working, 97% are doing professional/managerial jobs.

Preparaing for your career is one of the first things you need to think about when you start university. Our Computer Science graduates can choose from a huge variety of career opportunities, including working with one of the global technology giants, or in other areas of industry and technology. But you'll also be highly sought after by employers in the fields of finance, business, government, teaching and research.

At the University of Birmingham, we also enhance your employability with superb opportunities to gain industry experience, assisting you to secure mentoring opportunities, global internships and placements, from summer jobs to spending a whole year in industry between your second and final study years. This placement year is a chance to earn money and gain real-life experience, allowing you to get involved in serious projects and put into practice the skills and knowledge gained from your degree. It's a great chance to prove your worth and placements often lead to sponsorship and/or the offer of a graduate job.

Whether you have a clear idea of where your future aspirations lie or want to consider the broad range of opportunities available once you have a Birmingham degree, our Careers Network can help you achieve your goal.

Our unique careers guidance service is tailored to your academic subject area, offering a specialised team (in each of the five academic colleges) who can give you expert advice. Once you have a career in your sights, one-to-one support with CVs and job applications will help give you the edge. In addition, our employer-endorsed award-winning Personal Skills Award (PSA) recognises your extra-curricular activities, and provides an accredited employability programme designed to improve your career prospects.

Your Birmingham degree is evidence of your ability to succeed in a demanding academic environment. Employers target Birmingham students for their drive, diversity, communication and problem-solving skills, their team-working abilities and cultural awareness, and our graduate employment statistics have continued to climb at a rate well above national trends. If you make the most of the wide range of services you will be able to develop your career from the moment you arrive.

Career destinations of previous graduates include:

•  Accenture
• Goldman Sachs
• Honda
• HP
• IBM
• Logics
• QinetiQ
• Rolls Royce
• UBS

University Careers Network

Preparation for your career should be one of the first things you think about as you start university. Whether you have a clear idea of where your future aspirations lie or want to consider the broad range of opportunities available once you have a Birmingham degree, our Careers Network can help you achieve your goal.

If you make the most of the wide range of services you will be able to develop your career from the moment you arrive.

Contact us

• Sophie Miller - Careers consultant (s.a.miller@bham.ac.uk)
• Richard Newman- Careers consultant (r.j.newman@bham.ac.uk)
• Caroline Egan - Careers adviser (c.egan@bham.ac.uk)
• Brendan Bacon - Internship officer (b.bacon@bham.ac.uk)
• Carl Jukes - Applications support adviser (c.jukes@bham.ac.uk)

Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) 2010/11

The DLHE survey is conducted 6 months after graduation.

Range of Courses of Further Study for Birmingham's Computer Science Graduates

• MPhil Computational Biology
• MSc Computer Science
• MSc Artificial Intelligence
• MSc Computer Security
• MSc Intelligent Systems Engineering
• MSc Internet Software Systems
• MSc Natural Computation
• PGCE ICT
• PhD Computer Science
• PhD Software Engineering

Range of Occupations for Birmingham's Computer Science Graduates

• Computer Programmer
• IT Consultant
• Project Manager
• Research Fellow
• Research Scientist
• Software Consultant
• Software Developer
• Software Engineer
• Web Developer
• Web Programmer

Visit the Careers section of the University website for further information.