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A placement year helped Oliver Youle to define his career goals

How a computer science student became a more independent learner while studying at Bath

Picture of Oliver Youle on Bath Campus
The course will help you to get up to speed, whatever your starting point.

The biggest challenges

Being responsible for my own learning and keeping on track were the biggest challenges I faced on my course. I found university a big step up from studying at school. No longer being fed information, and being able to choose whether or not to attend lectures, were alien to me.

Becoming more independent and growing as a person is what I’ve most loved about being at university. The diversity of learning styles offered by the computer science course also suited me, and it’s well-paced.

Having been university-based during the first two years, my placement in year three was an opportunity to see what I'd learnt working in practice. It was a welcome break from studying and offered a different kind of learning, one I’d recommend a hundred percent.

Testing the waters in a real work setting helped me identify the areas of computer science I most enjoyed. From this, I was able to specialise in my final year as I worked towards my career goals, choosing areas I might not have considered previously.

Programming experience isn't essential

I strongly recommend applying for the BSc Computer Science course at Bath, with or without programming knowledge. The course will help you to get up to speed, whatever your starting point.

‘Becoming more independent and growing as a person is what I’ve most loved about being at university.’
Oliver Youle, BSc (Hons) Computer Science including placement year

Oliver on his final year project, identifying phishing websites

Find out about Oliver's final year project as part of his BSc Computer Science.