Computer Science
BSc (Hons)
- Typical offer for 2025
- Duration
- UCAS code
Suitable for applications.
Overview
Learn how to design and develop the next generation of software tools and systems, and gain the knowledge and techniques required to enhance and exploit computer technology.
On this programme you will study object-oriented programming using industry standard Integrated Development Environments, web development using HTML and CSS, database technologies including MySQL and JDBC, Artificial Intelligence and applications of Machine Learning, and many other subjects including optional modules that allow you to tailor your degree content to fit your career aspirations.
This programme is designed for those with a passionate interest in technology, and who wish to progress to careers such as software engineer, system administrator, data scientist, financial analyst, app developer, and IT consultant. The flexible and diverse skillset that Computer Scientists will gain on this programme opens up many other exciting career options in a range of industries.
The BSc (Hons) in Computer Science draws on our outstanding research strengths and expertise. Our Department of Computer Science is one of the longest established in the UK, and we have a strong heritage within the subject. Our research active staff propose cutting edge projects for you to work on during your final year, and can guide and advise you in writing your own project specification to bring your ideas and passions to life under their expert supervision.
This programme shares a common first year with our other Computer Science programmes, allowing you to transfer before the start of the second year if you feel an alternative course better suits your emerging interests or career aspirations.
Professional accreditation
Accredited by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered IT Professional.
What I like is building software because it's more creative and it's more about the user experience. I like that because there’s an interaction with the client. We do quite a lot of individual and team projects. In the second year, we did a real-life project with a client called Triple-A who work with Jaguar Land Rover.
Placement Year
This 4-year BSc (Hons) Computer Science programme offers you the opportunity to take up a placement year working in industry in your third year.
The placement year is an excellent way to develop your professional experience, build industry contacts, and gain insight into the day-to-day work of a professional computer scientist.
Placements are predominantly salaried positions and may lead to offers of employment upon graduation if you excel during your placement.
Support for placement applications is plentiful, with a dedicated Faculty Career Development Advisor and academic staff members overseeing placement students.
All students on placement are assigned an academic supervisor who will visit them during their placement year and can provide advice and guidance.
Recent placement destinations have included IBM, Intel, Microsoft as well as many companies in the West Yorkshire region.
After completing your placement you’ll return to complete the final year of the programme, and apply all you’ve learnt to your final project.
Learning and assessment
Most modules use a mixture of formal lectures, practical lab sessions, tutorials and seminars. Some modules involve supervised group work, usually with an assigned academic staff member for each group. All modules require students to undertake independent study, supported through distance learning technologies such as our Virtual Learning Environment.
Reading lists and suggested resources for independent study provide further direction for students to undertake this work, and regular contact hours and informal feedback throughout the courses provide opportunities for further guidance for learners. Some modules offer the opportunity to work on live industry project through our Computing Enterprise Centre, where your learning and assessment are strongly linked to a real word project with all the benefits to your CV and experience that you would expect.
Assessments for modules mostly take the form of practical coursework, lab tests and written exams, with all forms being well represented throughout all years of the course across all modules.
In the Enterprise Pro module, you will work on a project for external clients or our collaborators in industry and academia. The projects are specifically tailored to be aligned with the studies and the topics that you have studied.
Through these projects, you'll gain crucial industry knowledge and experience to improve your employability prospects and professional skills, as well as knowledge of industry developments and their needs, which helps enhance your skills. The clients end up with software products that could be potentially used by their organisations.
You'll be working in small groups which are closely supervised and supported through laboratory practical sessions to ensure you have the right technical input to support the project and are delivering on time and keeping on track. Your interactions within the teams and with the external clients are continuously monitored by a group tutor.
Test your skills with real industry projects and competitions
We give our students opportunities that can put them head and shoulders above their peers after graduation.
From the chance to work on real-world industry projects through our Computing Enterprise Centre, to placements with major international companies like IBM, Intel and Microsoft, we want our graduates to have the academic and industry skills that employers want.
Award winning solutions
A team of students from the University of Bradford Department of Computer Science won the Barclays and SAS University Technology Challenge 2018/19.
The team was tasked with creating a concept for an open banking app, with a theoretical project budget of £500,000. They had to come up with an original idea, and set project timelines and budgets for each stage of the project.
The initial idea came from Software Engineering student Klaudia Bzdyk. She and her housemates wanted to make sharing food bills easier by enabling everyone to see when people have contributed to a food fund, how much they have put in, and giving each housemate the ability to spend the shared pot.
The winning entry was a proposed addition to the current Barclays banking app which added new 'pots' functionality - a shared pot that multiple people would be able to access from different accounts while having no financial link to the main account holder.
This was an incredibly strong concept providing a simple solution to a real problem.
Read more about our prize winning student project
Study abroad
All of our programmes offer the opportunity to study abroad at an international partner institution.
Study support
We have a commitment to strong pastoral care for all of our students, which includes a Personal Tutor for all students, regular contact hours for tutor groups and our supportive student service teams who are always ready to help with any questions and provide the advice that you need. In addition to standard study support through taught sessions, our Virtual Learning Environment allows students to access resources, participate in group work and submit work from anywhere in the world 24/7. Our Personal Tutor system provides students with a specific academic staff member to support them through regular meetings and interactive activities, acting as an independent source of advice and guidance on making the transition to Higher Education and assisting them with any questions or problems they encounter. University central services are rich with support teams to assist students with every aspect of their journey through our degree courses. From our Career and Employability Service, through our strong Students' Union, to our professional and efficient Student Finance team, there are always friendly faces ready to support you and provide you with the answers that you need.
Research
Most of our staff are research active, and contribute to the cutting edge of their disciplines.
Bradford has a strong pedigree of world leading research, and our aim is to ensure that students benefit from our staff’s insight into the future of their subject.
The integration of new and innovative research findings into our curriculum, known as research informed teaching, is a core value and one of the key principles driving the design of our courses and our modules. Particularly in the final year, but throughout their course from the very first day, students are given insight into the future of Computing and Business, and the opportunities presented when they come together.