Graduate Diploma in Computer Science

You will receive access to your Student Portal when you register. You can then access your University of London email account and two other key resources:

• The Coursera Platform. Here, you can access electronic copies of all study materials, resources (including audio-visual), and forums to discuss course material and work collaboratively with others.
• Access to academic support and feedback from London-based support teams. Tutors introduce the modules, respond to queries, monitor discussions, and provide guidance on assessments. Utilize interactive study materials including videos, quizzes and online games to gauge your personal progress. ‎

The programme will take between one and five years to complete, depending on how many modules you choose to study in each session. If you’re working while completing the programme, you can pay for modules as you go and study at your own pace. On average, a student studying part time will complete the Graduate Diploma in two to three years. ‎

Study at your own pace, either part-time or full-time. Once you begin a module it is generally expected that you will complete it in the six-month session. Each module presents about 150 hours of study. Over a 22-week session, a 15 credit module will typically require five to seven hours of work/effort per week, and a 30 credit module will typically require ten to 15 hours of work/effort per week. ‎

The programme comprises six 15 credit modules and one 30 credit project. ‎

The maximum number of modules you can study in any one session is five, or three plus the final project. This can be a combination of new modules and resits (with a maximum of four new modules) or resits only. ‎

Most modules are a combination of coursework and a timed written assessment.

During your study period you will undertake formative assessments, which help you to measure your progress but do not count towards your grade, and summative assessments Summative assessments do count towards the final grade. These include a mid-session coursework submission and an unseen written examination (or final project) at the end of the session.

Written examinations are held twice a year. You can defer sitting an exam once (subject to a fee) but you cannot defer the submission of coursework. ‎

As this is a technical programme, you will need access to suitable IT facilities. For this programme, you will also need a media player (such as VLC) to play video files. All students must have regular access to a computer (or mobile device*) with an internet connection to use the University of London website and the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). These are where the programme’s study resources are located.

You may also require additional capabilities and software for specific modules, such as:

• Video and audio recording
• Programmer’s text editor such as Atom; integrated development environment software (IDE)
• Additional software: Xamarin and Games development; 3D Graphics and Animation, and Virtual Reality all use Unity3D
• Access to hardware: Android or iOS device; VR Head mounted display and a microcontroller like Arduino

See the programme specification for details. ‎

Yes, students who successfully complete the programme will be invited to our annual graduation ceremony in London (subject to restrictions in place for events of this kind). ‎

As, upon graduation, you are expected to have a strong background in programming and good skills in at least one programming language, you will be a suitable candidate for most of the jobs in the computing industries that do not require a strong specialisation and/or significant work experience.

Jobs such as software developer, programmer, web developer, system analyst, database application developer, junior games developer, junior data scientist, etc. in areas including the technology sector, media industries, the health sector, transport, the financial sector, e-government, etc., are all open to you. Your skills will be equally suited to small start-up companies and large organisations.

As an alternative route, you could consider continuing your professional development with postgraduate studies in any more specialised field of computing.

To find out more about the career support available to our students please visit our global employability page. ‎

Yes, the University of London’s Careers Group provides bespoke careers resources, advice, and support for its global student community.

The University of London Career Service offers career development to all students, whatever their careers stage: career starter, career developer or career changer. Our outstanding insight and understanding of what employers are looking for is enhanced by research with input from alumni and employers. There is an all-year programme of regular live and interactive webinars and careers drop-ins, led by an experienced careers consultant from the Careers Group, University of London. In these webinars you can explore your career options and improve your job-hunting techniques in a global, trans-disciplinary classroom of your fellow students, and benefit from the insights of your student peer community. We also offer our rich resource bank of online careers resources and recordings to help you maximise your career management and professional skills. Available through the student portal, you can access these resources whenever most convenient for you.
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Applications should be made via the University of London website, in line with the procedures and deadlines set out there. ‎

For this programme, recognition of prior learning is not permitted. ‎

The total cost of the programme for 2021/22 is between £3,528 - £5,295*, depending upon geographic location. You won’t be billed upfront for the whole certificate. Instead, pay as you go - each time you take a module, you’ll pay the tuition just for that module.

*Indicative totals assume students complete the qualification within the minimum time without resits and Recognition of Prior Learning (requiring additional fees). Programme Fees are subject to annual revision and typically may be increased by up to 5% per annum. For further details please refer to the University of London website.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) Please note: all student fees shown are net of any local VAT, Goods and Services Tax (GST) or any other sales tax payable by the student in their country of residence. Where the University is required to add VAT, GST or any other sales tax at the local statutory rate, this will be added to the fees shown during the payment process. For students resident in the UK, our fees are exempt from VAT. ‎

To be eligible for this Graduate Diploma programme you must have ONE of the following:

• an acceptable bachelor's degree;
• an acceptable master's degree (or any other appropriately accredited Level 7 award) provided this is at least 1 year full time in duration;

Plus:

• GCSE Mathematics (Grade A - B) or equivalent

For entry requirements from other countries, please check the University of London website‎

We do not normally require official transcripts for admission purposes, just uploaded scanned copies of your relevant supporting documents. See University of London’s Supplying Evidence page for more information. ‎

We aim to contact you with a status update within 3–7 working days of submission, depending on how close to the deadline date you apply. If you do not hear from us within this time period, then feel free to contact us. ‎

You need to demonstrate a good level of English to be admitted to our programmes. We accept a range of evidence, including proficiency test scores. If you don’t have evidence but believe you can meet the standard, we may consider your case. More information on the English language requirements can be found on the University of London website. ‎

Find details on how to submit evidence. ‎

No, we accept qualifications from around the world. We advise all applicants to read our Qualifications for Entrance and English Language requirements before applying. ‎