Year in Computing

Kickstart your journey into the world of computer programming with our beginner-friendly module designed for those with no prior experience. This engaging module introduces you to the core principles and practices of programming through a blend of interactive lectures and hands-on exercises. You will dive into essential programming concepts, from writing your first lines of code to developing practical projects. You will also learn crucial debugging techniques and best practices in coding style and documentation, giving you a strong foundation to build on.

By the end of the module, you will be well-prepared to explore a variety of programming languages to create apps, build websites, or pursue a career in tech. This module provides the skills and confidence to take your first steps into the exciting world of computer science.  

We use a variety of physical, digital, and virtual interfaces every day. How many of these do we find easy, effortless, and a pleasure to use? How many of these do we find frustrating to use?

Some user interfaces are well designed and provide a good user experience, but many interfaces are poorly designed. Throughout this module, you will learn about the quality of design and the need for a professional, integrated, and user-centred approach to interface design and development.

You will explore a variety of analysis and design methods and understand what good interaction design is, and how to design easy to use, effective, and efficient interfaces. You will learn about different design principles and how to use these principles to optimise the interaction between humans and computers. 

You will master the fundamental skills of user experience (UX) design and are likely to find yourself automatically analysing designs and spotting usability problems.  

Web applications are accessed via web browsers without users needing to install any additional software. Updates and improvements can be rolled out easily as they are handled centrally without the need for installation updates on users’ computers. This makes web applications flexible, accessible to a variety of users, and cost effective, making them a popular choice for both organisations and users.

Web applications follow a client-server architecture design pattern, a fundamental concept of modern software development. You will learn how to use the client-server architecture to develop web applications. You will explore the fundamentals of client-server interaction and learn about the differences between client-side and server-side web development.

Data is a crucial asset of any organisation and plays a crucial role in computing. Web applications use data from servers to display real-time information and to create interactive and engaging online user experiences. Databases are the backbone of data management and enable secure storage and access to data. 

You will explore the fundamental concepts of database design and data manipulation operations, and how to use these technologies to create dynamic web applications.  

Web applications, or web apps, are not tied to a specific platform, and they can run on any device with a web browser and an Internet connection. This makes web apps accessible and as a result they are a valuable resource for enabling interactions and communications between users and organisations.

You will explore the fundamental technologies for creating web content and interactive experiences. You will transition from building static web pages to creating websites that provide interactive functionality and update content dynamically. 

To ensure that websites adapt seamlessly to various screen sizes, you will learn how to make web pages responsive and provide an optimal user experience across different devices. You will be introduced to the text-based format for exchanging data in web applications and learn how to improve responsiveness and efficiently handle time-consuming operations in websites.  

This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the fundamental components (hardware and software) of a typical computer system, and how they collaborate to execute software programs. The module provides a compressive overview from the lowest level of abstractions in hardware to the highest level of abstractions of modern programming languages. 

For example, they will see logic circuits, machine language, programming language implementations, high-level languages, and applications. This material provides a general understanding of computers, and it will also prepare students to develop software considering the system perspective, e.g. cost of abstraction and performance implications.  

Students undertake a project either individually or in a small group. The project will be related to computer science and/or software engineering, broadly construed. 

The project may be self-proposed or may be selected from a list of project proposals provided by academic staff. Typically, a project will involve the investigation, specification, design, implementation, documentation and demonstration of a technical artefact and related background research; the balance between these will vary from project-to-project. 

When possible, projects of related topics will be supervised by a single supervisor through regular small group supervision meetings.  

Yes, if you are a University of Kent undergraduate student who: 

• is currently in Stage 2 or Stage 3 of their degree
• averaging 50% or above in their current degree programme.

Two groups of students are not eligible:

• students from the School of Computing
• students from the School of Psychology.

If your degree is accredited with a professional body, you will need to confirm with your home School that this can include the option of a Year in Computing.

Students who successfully complete the Computing year and their home degree will graduate ‘with a Year in Computing‘. The full transcript of your degree results will include your marks for the Year in Computing, as evidence of your achievement for potential employers.  

Your degree classification will depend on your main degree subject and not the Year in Computing which is a pass/fail year. If you pass the year, you will get ‘with a Year in Computing‘ added to your degree title. If you fail, you will drop back to your current degree. You do not risk your current degree classification by doing the year.

Please talk to staff in your home School about whether adding a Year in Computing will affect your accreditation or not.

The Year in Computing should be viewed simply as an additional year of study, making a three-year degree into a four-year degree. If you pay your own tuition fees, then you will have to pay for an extra year. For those eligible, student loans should normally be available for all four years. However, it is your responsibility to check with the Loan Authority that they will continue to give you financial support on the new programme.   

International students wishing to add the Year in Computing course will be approved on a case by case basis in accordance with UK immigration regulations and the University’s Student (Tier 4) policy on Academic Progression and Change of Course. You also need to be aware that you may need to return home overseas to apply for a new visa to add the year to your degree.  

Except for the project, modules on the Year in Computing are assessed by a mixture of coursework and unseen examinations. Coursework is typically practical in nature, with deadlines spaced throughout the module.  

You can study for a conversion Master’s in Computer Science if you have a good degree in another subject and neither this Master’s nor the Year in Computing assumes any prior knowledge of computing. However, the content of the two programmes and the way they are funded are quite different. Both of these programmes will equip you for a tech-based career. It is important that you consider which is the most appropriate for you.  

Unfortunately not. The programme is only open to current Kent undergraduates, not Master’s or PhD students.