MSc (Information Technology)

The MSc Information Technology is designed for students with little or no computing background who are looking to gain the skills needed to break into the IT sector. Start in September or January to fast-track your IT career across a range of industries.

Start in January or September
This programme is available to start in either January or September.

A Conversion Programme Ideal for Career Changers

• This conversion programme is designed for students from an Arts & Humanities, Social Science, Business, or Science background, who wish to enter a new career in the IT and software development sector.
• The curriculum includes a broad range of topics, from database development and enterprise computing to cloud computing, security, and project management. On the software development front, we cover human-centred design, programming, testing, and a range of agile development theories and practices.
• Not only will you gain expertise in security-related aspects, you will also get to explore critical areas of IT administration and software development – skills that are in high demand across almost every industry sector, from energy, finance, technology and marketing to manufacturing, engineering, health, and retail.
• We place particular emphasis on you gaining extensive experience of working in software development teams, developing both your interpersonal skills and your technical abilities across a range of subjects such as human-centred design, service design, database development, software project management, and others.
• We also provide multiple opportunities for you to develop your skills and expertise beyond the classroom through a range of activities taking place on campus and in the city, including monthly meetups, quarterly co-design hack events, and other activities where you can collaborate with professional developers and designers.

How You'll Study

• Group Projects
• Individual Projects
• Lectures
• Peer Learning
• Professional Placements
• Seminars
• Tutorials
• Workshops

Assessment Methods

• Assessment is by course work, by written examination or by a combination of these as prescribed for each course. The project will be assessed by project implementation and by a dissertation. The degree of MSc shall not be awarded to a candidate who fails to complete the summer project at an appropriate standard, irrespective of their performance in other courses.

Why Study Information Technology?

• Take your career in a new direction with this conversion programme designed for students with no IT background.
• Learn the fundamental programming and web development skills needed to build complex and dynamic software systems, both on your own as well as in teams.
• Programming is introduced using the object-oriented scripting language Python and web frameworks; you learn how to create effective user interfaces by building large-scale database-driven web applications using open data.
• You will be prepared in the use and development of current and emerging digital technologies such as cloud computing, blockchain, Internet of Things, and open data to improve organisations' competitive advantage with the entrepreneurial application of these ideas.
• The programme develops web application design, authoring and administration skills, including human-centred design and evaluation, as well as entrepreneurial skills so that you can start your own business using what you learn on the degree.
• You will be taught how to continually identify and revise clients' software requirements by applying agile development practices such as scrum, pair programming, test and behaviour-driven development, mob programming, and sprints and task boards.
• Our teaching is informed by the latest research in Computing Science and we have particular expertise in agile development, information security and artificial intelligence.
• We provide a thriving environment with many opportunities to develop your skills and expertise beyond the classroom with a range of regular activities taking place on campus, and in the city including monthly meetups, quarterly co-design hack events, and other activities where you can collaborate with professional developers and designers.
• Some of the organisations which employ our recent computing graduates include: Amazon, Arnold Clark, Insiso, IBM, BP, Conoco, Hewlett Packard, EDS, CGI, CMG, Wipro, British Telecom, QinetiQ, Microsoft, Prudential, the National Health Service, and local charities.

Careers

• There are a number of careers to progress in to following graduation from this degree. Previous students have found jobs using the skills taught here with IT companies and IT departments within local, regional and global businesses, as well as software development companies, charities, local councils and other public organisations. Some graduating students have also progressed onto academic careers following a PhD. Many of our graduates have moved in to new careers, whereas others have stayed in the same area, but have benefited hugely from having this increased knowledge of IT.
• This programme provides you with the technical and analytical skills needed to successfully adapt to wide-range of situations in the ever-changing world of computing. Some become software developers, business analysts, consultants, data scientists, or follow other roles.
• A number of students take what they learn on the degree to start their own business.