
Computer Science - MSc
Currently viewing course to start in 2023/24 Entry.
The MSc in Computer Science is a conversion course that provides you a broad and balanced introduction to computer science. The course aims to prepare you for technical roles in the IT industry by introducing the key technologies and skills needed for employment.
- Level Postgraduate Taught
- Study mode Full Time/Part Time
- Location City Centre
- Award MSc
- Start date September 2023, January 2024
- Fees View course fees
- School School of Computing and Digital Technology
- Faculty Faculty of Computing, Engineering and The Built Environment
Overview
The MSc in Computer Science is a conversion course that provides you a broad and balanced introduction to computer science. The course aims to prepare you for technical roles in the IT industry by introducing the key technologies and skills needed for employment.
Introducing STEAMhouse
STEAMhouse is a centre for technology, innovation, creative thinking
Our brand new £70 million pound building, STEAMhouse, will become the new home for the School of Computing and Digital Technology from the start of the 2022 academic year.
What's covered in this course?
The course has been designed to provide you with practical experience with models, techniques and tools from the forefront of the discipline that drive innovation in the design of software-based systems within this domain. The key topics taught on the course include Software Development (using the programming language in demand in the industry), Software Analysis & Design (techniques for designing large and complex software), Database Design & Development (backend storage for almost every IT installation in the world), Web Application Development (full stack web application development) and Artificial Intelligence (foundation of machine learning and the future of all contextual decision making). You will also learn the key skills of research, academic writing and project management required for study at masters’ level. These skills are further developed and placed in the context of the dissertation.
As a conversion course, it is assumed that you are starting fresh with little or no experience of computer science. The course offers several arrangements to ensure your smooth transition to computer science. This includes pre-semester week long programming boot camp, where you will have the opportunity to develop fundamental understanding of the programming languages that will be taught in the course. Before starting the course, you will be directed to some online short courses that will help you to develop basic understanding of various technical aspects covered in the course. You will be allocated to a personal tutor, who will be there to monitor your personal and academic welfare. In weekly meetings, your personal tutor will review your progress, discuss goals and expectations, and help you to set action plans. The philosophy of the course is to promote lifelong self-learning by providing a curriculum that promotes a variety of approaches to study. The curriculum is designed to develop not only the academic knowledge, but also the engineering ethos and practical skills required by the modern computer science professional. Academic members of staff within the School of Computing and Digital Technology will teach topics and supervise projects according to their personal research interests. This will give you a cutting-edge experience, one that opens up new opportunities for career advancement in industry. For students who show an aptitude for research, there is also the possibility of continuing their studies on a PhD programme.
The development of transferable skills is core to the learning strategy of the programme and is incorporated into work units and assessments: for example; team-working skills are fostered through the use of group, task-based practical projects. Keeping lab-books and submitting self assessment documentation in support of personal performance fosters self-management and personal development. You are required to meet strict deadlines, which will help you to plan your overall workload and develop time management skills.
The course structure and its content have been developed by taking into account input from various sources, including the curriculum philosophy of the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and The Built Environment, suggestions from industrial partners, feedback from current students, QAA benchmark statements, British Computer Society (BCS) requirements for accreditation, and the Computer Science curriculum guidelines released by The Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula comprising the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the IEEE Computer Society.
This course is offered full-time, part-time and also full-time with the Professional Placement option to give you the opportunity to gain work experience as part of your degree.
I made the decision to enrol on the new MSc Computer Science course as it was a conversion course and thus was designed for people with no prior physical experience in technology, like myself. The course introduced us to various fields of technology such as software development, artificial intelligence, and IT project management—fields of technology I had never considered pursuing before.
Our lecturers are incredibly informed about our field, and they have incorporated any trends or updates into the curriculum to make sure we are keeping up with market demands and mastering the appropriate programming languages and software technologies.
Lindelani Moyo
Why Choose Us?
- Industry-ready - we will prepare you for the software development industry by introducing the key technologies and skills needed for employment
- Practical experience in programming languages and platforms that are in high demand in the industry
- Excellent links with industry – including SAS and Oracle. Our curriculum is embedded by industry so that you graduate able to progress into a professional career.
- Graduate jobs – after successful completion of the course you could go on to jobs such as Web App Developer, Python Developer, Database Engineer, Data Scientist (entry point), Research
- Women in Computing – we support females in computing to share experiences and become confident computing professionals through special events and society activities
- Lab-based learning - our campus has over 20 industry-standard computer labs, so you will enjoy practice-based learning throughout the course
Studying with us during the Covid-19 pandemic
The University has put in place measures in response to Covid-19 to allow us to safely deliver our courses. Should the impact of the pandemic continue in future years, any additional or alternative arrangements put in place by the University will be in accordance with the latest government public health advice, health and safety legislation, and the terms and conditions of the student contract.
OPEN DAY
Join us for an on-campus open day where you'll be able to explore our campus and facilities in person. Booking for the next event isn’t open yet. Register your interest below and we’ll email you as soon as booking goes live.
Next Event: Saturday 24 June
Entry Requirements
Essential Requirements
In order to be considered for a place on this course, you must have an Honours degree at minimum of 2:2 or equivalent. |
Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MSc
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 12 months
- £9,250 in 2023/24
- Full Time
- 18 months with Professional Placement (see below*)
- £10,175 in 2023/24
- Part Time
- 20 months
- Show fees
- £1028 per 20 credits
- Year 1 - 80 credits
- Year 2 - 100 credits
Fees for Part-time students
This course can be studied on a Part-time study basis. The cost per year of study is based on credit requirements for that year.
Award: MSc
Starting: Jan 2024
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 12 months
- £9,250 in 2023/24
- Full Time
- 18 months with Professional Placement (see below*)
- £10,175 in 2023/24
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MSc
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 12 months
- £16,870 in 2023/24
- Full Time
- 18 months with Professional Placement (see below*)
- £18,557 in 2023/24
Award: MSc
Starting: Jan 2024
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 12 months
- £16,870 in 2023/24
- Full Time
- 18 months with Professional Placement (see below*)
- £18,557 in 2023/24
If you're unable to use the online form for any reason, you can complete our PDF application form and equal opportunities PDF form instead. The University reserves the right to increase fees in line with inflation based on the Retail Prices Index or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament up to a maximum of five per cent.
Professional Placement option*
The Professional Placement option will allow you to complete a credit bearing, 20 week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.
You will be responsible for finding and securing your own placement. The University, however, will draw on its extensive network of local, regional and national employers to support you in finding a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will also benefit from support sessions delivered by Careers+ as well as advice and guidance from your School.
Placements will only be confirmed following a competitive, employer-led selection process, therefore the University will not be able to guarantee placements for students who have registered for the ‘with Professional Placement’ course. All students who do not find a suitable placement or do not pass the competitive selection process will be automatically transferred back to the standard, non-placement version of the course.
Personal statement
Students are required to submit a personal statement as part of their application for this course.
Your postgraduate personal statement is going to shine a light on your personal experience, academic success, personal skills and any other factors that will support your application for further study.
Here are the key areas you’ll need to address:
Your passion and motivations
Studying a postgraduate course usually means you want to specialise in something. So what’s driving you?
Why this course?
Show that you’ve researched the course offering. What is it about this particular course that appeals to you? Is it the lecturers? The modules? Etc.
What makes you a good postgraduate candidate?
Tutors want to know that you can handle postgraduate study, so show them how your undergraduate experiences or work life has equipped you for a more advanced level of study. Key areas to address are research and group work but this can vary depending on your chosen course.
Relevant academic or work experience
Add anything relevant that relates back to your chosen course and shows how your skills will contribute towards your learning. What extra-curricular activities have you taken part in? What awards have you won? What employment or voluntary experience do you have that has helped you develop transferable skills? How do these specifically relate to the course you are applying for?
You should also mention your future plans and how a postgraduate qualification fits in. Try to look beyond your postgraduate study – do you plan to jump straight into a specific career or follow your studies with a research degree? Lastly, use plain, professional English and, where possible, utilise the language of your chosen industry.
Get more information on writing personal statements.
Course in Depth
Module
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 180 credits):
Within the module of Computer Programming you will learn the key skills of Programming and how this relates to technology and communications. Programming is an engineering tool that plays a vital role to drive most of the modern technologies surrounding us, including the technological devices for communication, transportation and entertainment. In other words, it can be said that our modern lifestyles are heavily dependent on programming. Moreover, businesses increasingly rely on computers and the software run on them. Programming skills and a broader and deeper understanding of programming are therefore becoming increasingly important to the jobs market.
This module is about software engineering with a focus on software design. It covers three stages of the software engineering life-cycle, requirements, design and implementation, but with a focal point on design and an emphasis on the design theme. The module provides the necessary skills to construct models of requirements and designs. The standard UML is used as the modelling language, the vehicle through which important design concepts are explored to convey a software engineering ethos based on getting it right by adequately studying the problem and mindfully constructing designs of software solutions.
This module provides a comprehensive introduction to a vitally important core IT topic (database technology) that is found in almost every IT installation in the world and as such provides extremely good transferable skills. The module not only introduces you to traditional database skills and knowledge (data models, normalization, SQL etc.) but also looks forward into the future IT world via OO, XML and web-database technologies. Once mastered, these database skills will provide a firm foundation for higher-level academic study or a rewarding IT career.
This module aims to provide you an in-depth knowledge of the skills and techniques required to develop web applications. The module will equip you with skills for client-side programming, serverside programming, and backend services e.g. databases to build modern web applications. You will also learn how to deploy and maintain web applications.
The amount of data produced by humans and machines today far outstrips the ability of humans to consume, analyse, and make complex decisions based on that data. Artificial intelligence forms the foundation of all machine learning and reflects the future of all contextual decision making. From healthcare to finance, AI now impacts nearly every industry by dramatically improving workplaces' efficiencies and expanding the capabilities of the work humans can do. When AI takes over repetitive or dangerous tasks, minimises occurrences of 'human error', or support decision-making, it frees up the human workforce to do work they are better equipped for, involving creativity and empathy.
This module prepares you for the research project that you will undertake towards the end of your master’s course. It equips you with knowledge and transferable skills that will also help you in your subsequent career, for example, when you are asked to write a report or to carry out an IT project. You will become familiar with the research literature in your discipline, research methodology and research ethics, as well as project management tools, methods and techniques.
The purpose of the module is to enable you to undertake a sustained, in-depth and research-informed Level 7 project exploring an area that is of personal interest to you. In agreement with your supervisor, you will decide upon your topic which will take the form of a practical outcome (artefact) with accompanying contextual material. The main consideration when choosing your topic is that it must be aligned to the programme you are studying and informed by the research strategy of your school, and you should consider the relevance of this topic to your future academic or professional development.
Professional Placement Year (optional)
In order to qualify for the award of MSc Computer Science with Professional Placement, you must successfully complete all of the Level 7 modules listed above as well as the following Level 6 module.
This module is designed to provide you with the opportunity to undertake a credit bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree.
The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.
Download course specification
Download nowKnowledge and understanding are acquired though a mixture of formal lectures, tutor-led seminars and practical activities, with other independent learning activities at all stages.
Emphasis is placed on guided, self-directed and student-centred learning with increasing independence of approach, thought and process.
The course provides access to effective commercial development environments and ensures students have practical awareness of computer systems requirements. You are required to meet strict deadlines, and to manage and plan overall workload.
Knowledge is assessed formatively and summatively, by a number of methods, including seminars, course-work, viva, presentation, and project work.
Assessment criteria are published both at a generic course level and to provide guidance for individual items of assessment.
You will undertake a major project involving research and application of that research in the solution of appropriate systems problems.
Professional Placement option*
The Professional Placement option will allow you to complete a credit bearing, 20 week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.
You will be responsible for finding and securing your own placement. The University, however, will draw on its extensive network of local, regional and national employers to support you in finding a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will also benefit from support sessions delivered by Careers+ as well as advice and guidance from your School.
Placements will only be confirmed following a competitive, employer-led selection process, therefore the University will not be able to guarantee placements for students who have registered for the ‘with Professional Placement’ course. All students who do not find a suitable placement or do not pass the competitive selection process will be automatically transferred back to the standard, non-placement version of the course.
This course is accredited by the following organisations:
Our accreditations from these bodies show employers that you have the level of knowledge and skills they need when you graduate.
Employability
Enhancing your employability skills
We know that employers are looking for graduates who have a good balance between in-depth academic knowledge and technical and practical expertise, which is why our course is geared towards employability.
What you learn on our course will help you to stand out when you look for your first professional role. Because you will know how to use sophisticated, industry-standard software, you will be able to demonstrate that you can put into practice your deep theoretical knowledge.
We will also prepare you for a career by equipping you with a range of transferable skills, such as complex problem-solving expertise, the ability to analyse in a careful and considered manner, and working as a team member. We aim to have you employer-ready by the time you graduate and, as part of your Advanced Computer Science course, we will invite guest speakers to underpin the subjects taught.
Thanks to our excellent partnerships and working relationships with some of the UK’s leading companies, you have the chance to network with leading organisations such as IBM, Dignity plc, Mortgage Brain and Griffiths Waite. In addition, our specialist industry links with the Linux Professional Institute, the Oracle Academy, Cisco, and Microsoft, plus our world-class facilities, will mark you out as a highly employable graduate.
This is why our graduates have gone on to pursue computing and software development and designer careers in a wide range of industries, from SME software companies, to industry, government, banking and healthcare. Furthermore, many graduates continue their studies to Doctorate level.
International
Birmingham City University is a vibrant and multicultural university in the heart of a modern and diverse city. We welcome many international students every year – there are currently students from more than 80 countries among our student community.
The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.
Our international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:
- Explore some of the good reasons why you should study here.
- Find out how to improve your language skills before starting your studies.
- Find all the information relevant to applicants from your country.
- Learn where to find financial support for your studies.
Facilities & Staff




Our Facilities
As a student in the School of Computing and Digital Technology, you will have access to our labs, software, professional sound studios, computer games labs and industry-standard facilities to develop your practical skills in audio, video and multimedia application development, content creation and more.
We are currently undertaking a £340 million investment programme in our facilities, including a major expansion of our City Centre Campus. This includes our brand new £70 million development, STEAMhouse, which will be the new home to Computing and Digital Technology students. This state-of-the-art centre will give you access to outstanding facilities and equipment, as well as opportunities to collaborate with businesses across multiple sectors and work on real industry-based projects.
Our facilities in Millennium Point have undergone a £6.5million investment with a new maker area, engineering labs/equipment and IT equipment.
Thanks to our partnerships with Cisco, Microsoft, Oracle, Juniper, SAS and LPI you will have access to the latest technology and facilities that reflect advanced professional practice. Our students also have access to software such as the Adobe Suite including Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.
Our staff
Dr Khaled Mahbub
Associate Professor in Software Engineering
Khaled started his academic career, in September 1999, as a Lecturer (US hierarchy) in Computer Science & Engineering at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he worked until March 2001.
More about KhaledDr Antonio Nehme
Lecturer in Computer Science
Antonio Nehme holds a BSc in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from the Lebanese American University and a PhD in Cyber Security from Birmingham City University. His research focuses on identity management and access control, security of microservices-based applications, auditing and secure collaborations in distributed systems,...
More about AntonioFaisal Saeed
Senior Lecturer
Faisal Saeed is a Senior Lecturer in the Computer Data Science Department at the School of Computing and Digital Technology, Birmingham City University. Previously he worked as Associate Professor at Taibah University, KSA from 2017-2021, and as Senior Lecturer at the Department of Information Systems, Faculty of Computing, Universiti Teknologi...
More about FaisalDr Debashish Das
Data Science Lecturer
Having 20 years of teaching and research experience at leading universities in UK, Malta, Malaysia and Bangladesh, Debashish joined Birmingham City University as a Data Science Lecturer at the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and The Built Environment.
More about DebashishRasheed Mohammad
Lecturer in Computer Science
Dr. Rasheed has 20-year teaching experience. He has taught several courses in computer science including website development, operating system, database I&II, Data structure, Java programming, c/c++ programming, intelligent systems, computer organization, computer system security etc.
More about RasheedDr Essa Shahra
Assistant Lecturer
Essa Shahra recently joined the Computing and Data Science department at Birmingham City University as Assistant Lecturer.
More about Essa