computer science

OPENS DOORS

Diploma for Graduates

In our department the Diploma for Graduates (DipGrad) serves two important purposes:

  • as preparation for jobs in the IT industry
  • as a bridging year before entering postgraduate study in computer science.


If you have graduated in another subject but are interested in an IT career, where there are lots of jobs and good salaries, then the DipGrad offers a one year retraining qualification that can bring you up to the same level as someone who majored in computer science for their Bachelor's degree.

Or if you want to do postgraduate study in computer science but your background has some gaps, then it is advisable to spend a year filling in the gaps before joining our intensely demanding postgraduate programme, and the DipGrad is a convenient qualification within which to design such a bridging year.

For either of these purposes, our department offers papers leading to the DipGrad endorsed in computer science. A typical student who has not yet done any computing would include the following papers in the endorsed DipGrad:

  • COMP160 (our introductory Java programming paper, which is available in Summer School at the start of the year)
  • COSC241, 242, 243, and 244 (our core 200-level papers)
  • COSC343, 344, and 345 (three 300-level papers that can successfully be combined with 200-level papers because we have planned their content with this in mind)
  • either COSC326 or COSC360 (the two 300-level papers that can be done during the Summer School at the start of the next year).


This standard package begins early in January and finishes midway through February of the next year, so that the duration is just over a year.

Of course, if you have some computing in your background (for example, graduates in engineering may have some computer architecture background), then we will be happy to adapt the typical package accordingly, either by exempting you from some papers or by finding alternative papers for you to do. Also, if you are willing to devote more time to the DipGrad, say, three or more semesters, then you will have much more flexibility in the selection of 300-level COSC papers.

To discuss the selection of papers for the DipGrad endorsed in computer science, you should contact the adviser of studies in the Department of Computer Science.

For general information on the Diploma for Graduates, and to obtain the required application form, see the DipGrad prospectus pages on the main university web site.