Bachelor of Science (BSc)

BSc Computer Science with an Integrated Foundation Year

Take the next steps to becoming fully prepared for degree-level study in computer science.
  • Duration: 1 (as part of 4 yr integrated degree programme)
  • Year of entry: 2025
  • UCAS course code: H114 / Institution code: M20
  • Key features:
  • Scholarships available

Full entry requirementsHow to apply

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Fees and funding

Fees

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £25,000 for the Foundation Year.

Policy on additional costs

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Scholarships/sponsorships

Details of country-specific funding available to international students can be found within our  International country profiles .

The University of Manchester is committed to attracting and supporting the very best students. We have a focus on nurturing talent and ability, therefore, we want to make sure that you have the opportunity to study here, regardless of your financial circumstances.

For information about scholarships please visit our  undergraduate student finance pages  and the Department funding pages that you intend to progress to after successfully completing the Foundation Year.

Course unit details:
Foundation in Computer Science-Computational Thinking

Course unit fact file
Unit code COMP11012
Credit rating 10
Unit level Level 1
Teaching period(s) Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

The unit aims to introduce students to Computational Thinking: the thought processes involved in formulating a problem and expressing its solution(s) in such a way that a computer — human or machine — can effectively carry out.

Aims

The unit aims to introduce students to Computational Thinking: the thought processes involved in formulating a problem and expressing its solution(s) in such a way that a computer — human or machine — can effectively carry out.

Learning outcomes

 

On the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:                Developed Assessed

ILO 1 Decompose a problem into a series of ordered steps Yes Yes
ILO 2 Apply techniques such as decomposition, abstraction and generalisation to problems  Yes Yes
ILO 3 Describe computational complexity in an informal way Yes Yes
ILO 4 Explain how self-referential problems relate to the limits of computation.  Yes Yes
 

Teaching and learning methods

Weekly one hour lectures introducing key concepts and topics. These will be accompanied by online materials (video, podcasts) for self-study. 
 
Six workshops will target problems and exercises to be completed in groups with GTA support. Workshops will be supported by online materials, discussion boards and fora. 
 
Practical assignments will be largely group work. A proportion of the assessment credit will be based on individual contributions to the group and engagement in online discussion. 
 
The final exam will be online. 
 

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Other 10%
Written exam 50%
Practical skills assessment 40%

Recommended reading

Algorithmics: The spirit of computing. David Harel and Yishai Feldman (Springer), 1987.

 

Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid.  Douglas R. Hofstadter. (Basic Books) 1999.

The power of computational thinking : games, magic and puzzles to help you become a computational thinker. Paul Curzon and Peter McOwan. World Scientific Publishing, 2017.

 

For Information and advice on Link2Lists reading list software, see: 

http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/academicsupport/informationandadviceonlink2listsreadinglistsoftware/

 

 

 

 

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Assessment written exam 2
Lectures 10
Practical classes & workshops 12
Independent study hours
Independent study 76

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Sean Bechhofer Unit coordinator
Uli Sattler Unit coordinator
Andrea Schalk Unit coordinator

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