Mathematics and Computer Science with Foundation Year

Birkbeck College

Qualification

Degree

Length

4 yrs

UK fees / yr

£9,535

Study

full-time

Worth knowing: about 21% of students don't make it past first year here - ask the uni what support they offer.

Robin · your guide

Here's the honest picture on this course - what you'd study, whether you'd likely get in, what it pays, and where it leads. Everything's real data.

About this course

Mathematics and computer science is a combination that has become increasingly important as computing has grown more sophisticated and data has become central to how decisions are made in every sector of society. Mathematics provides the theoretical foundations that computer science rests on: the logic, algebra, and analysis that underlie algorithms, cryptography, machine learning, and the formal reasoning about what programs can and cannot do. Computer science provides the practical skills and systems knowledge to apply those foundations to real computational problems.

Together, they equip you to work at a level of rigour and depth that neither discipline alone provides.

At Birkbeck College, this four-year programme includes a foundation year that builds the mathematical and computational foundations needed for the main degree, making it accessible to students who are motivated to study at this level but whose prior qualifications may benefit from a structured preparatory stage. The main programme develops rigorous mathematical theory alongside comprehensive software development skills and modern computing practices, covering areas including algorithms, programming, databases, software engineering, discrete mathematics, and numerical methods. The typical entry tariff is 88 UCAS points.

Graduates of mathematics and computer science programmes are in strong and consistent demand across technology, finance, data science, and research. Software development, systems engineering, data analysis, algorithm design, financial technology, and artificial intelligence research are all accessible career paths. The combination of mathematical depth and programming competence is particularly sought after by organisations working on complex technical problems, and the foundation year makes this degree accessible to a wider range of students than a standard entry mathematics or computing programme.

Many graduates also go on to postgraduate study in mathematics, computer science, or related fields.

Could you get in?

The grades students arrived with

<48 pts5%

48-63 pts10%

64-79 pts25%

80-95 pts15%

96-111 pts10%

112-127 pts10%

128-143 pts5%

144-159 pts5%

How they qualified