Qualifications for programmers

Question

Hi hope you can help! What exams (gcse’s plus), courses and universities (UK) are best to take / go to for a career in programming. Are there any which are known to be autism friendly? Thank you.

Answer 1

Hi Sharon

Engineers and scientists (especially programmers), seem to have a correlation with autism, or at least autistic traits:
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/autism-experiment-reveals-people-in-technical-professions-are-more-likely-to-have-autistic-traits-a6719956.html

Here's a link from The National Autistic Society (about starting college, and what to consider)
http://www.autism.org.uk/about/transition/starting-college-uni.aspx

From that website
"Autism is considered to be a disability under the Equality Act 2010 (and Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in Northern Ireland) meaning that colleges and universities have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to their admissions procedure so that it’s more accessible to autistic applicants"

So in theory, all universities should support your requirements.

GCSE's A-Levels:
* Maths
* Computing
* Physics

From the UCAS website:
"Some universities require a B in maths GCSE for computer science degrees"

I would Google without quotes "Entry Requirements Computer Science Warwick University", and do that for the top universities for computer science.

The top universities for computer science are listed here:
https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=computer%20science

I know some people with autism can struggle with neurotypical social skills at times, so it would be worth being aware that programming in teams, in a professional context, and even at university, requires team work. Just trying to flag up a possible area to work on.

Wishing you luck with your studies and future career.

Here's someone talking about Aspergers at University:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78Drlq7wAEk

Any questions, just let me know. Tony Attwood is a good resource too.

Answer 2

thanks xan