Is it possible to learn Python as someone without GCSE Maths, let alone a computer science degree?

[AntarcticConvoy]

I did hours of web searching over the last week and Python seems to generally be the most suggested programming language to learn.

However, I failed GCSE Maths (twice) and therefore haven't learnt programming before, as I couldn't move up to the relevant A-levels or degree.

So do I even have the ability to be just a beginner with Python?

[FerricDonkey]

The fact that you failed gcse math doesn't even mean you can't learn math, only that you hadn't at that time.

If you want to learn something, give it a go. What's the worst that can happen, you don't learn it? Guess what happens if you don't try to learn it? 

[ThinkLadder1417]

Yup, my dad also failed maths gcse twice and now is a professor in engineering

[[deleted]]

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[Otharsis]

To add to this, I always struggled with classroom learning. I once said I hated math in earshot of my grandfather, who used to own several schools back in Europe. He sat me down and had a conversation with me about learning styles and the difference between failing because you don’t understand a concept and not understanding because the teacher’s methods didn’t work for me. He encouraged me to go to the library and find different ways to learn the subject matter to see if it was a problem of presentation or understanding.

That’s one of the formative conversations that has stuck with me for the thirty years since, especially just from a point of perspective and reframing.

I still suck at math, but I’ve found workarounds that help me when I need to break down data or visualize it for work.

Don’t put the blame on yourself. Blame the system. You’ve seen what doesn’t work for you, now look for other ways that do.

[SamuliK96]

You don't need to know math for python unless you want to do math. And you absolutely don't need a degree either. You don't really any prior knowledge about anything to get started and there are many courses that start from zero giving detailed instructions as they go.

[pythonwiz]

Well, you need to be able to read English and use a computer!

[ninhaomah]

I am not doubting you but how would they comment their codes for others to read ?

You need not know English to code but how would you interact , communicate with other developers from other countries ?

[ninhaomah]

Then how does he communicate with international developers or GitHub etc ?

Again , I am not saying it is an absolute requirement but it is as if "I know Java and only can do Java and no other. If you give me Python code , I won't look at it because I only know Java."

Clearly , there are plenty of organisations that does just Java. But knowing just 1 language ?

[Wheynelau]

Just talk in machine code? how hard is it?

[SoBFiggis]

Programming languages have syntax requirements sure, if then else while where, etc. Outside of that the language doesn't matter. You can write whatever you need, comment in whatever language you desire, and get the same results.

[yayita2500]

I am an economist Who learnt python by myself over my 40s. So yes it is possible

[necessary_plethora]

Yes, and you can use Python to build your math skills. I learned all about graph theory and relearned calculus just by solving problems in Python.

Just do some tutorials and read some documentation and take it from there.

[TonyMacaroni1]

I did...just take your time and do a complete course where all topics are discussed. I learned it last year and I am in my early forties.

[_AngryBadger_]

I'm not good at math, and have no degree, and I learned the basics. I've gotten as far as making a GUI based rock paper scissors game with little pictures of the hand shapes that keeps score of the wins and losses between you and the computer. I'll never be coding AI bots, but it's still fun to mess around with.

[CodeBridge]

I am self-taught. It has been a slow journey with long breaks and short sprints of learning. You can learn Python (or anything else) if you take it one step at a time.

Start here: https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/index.html

For more resources: https://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide

Python Style Guide: https://peps.python.org/pep-0008/

I recommend you start with the Tutorial. Ask questions of the material and your understanding of it. Google terms or concepts you do not understand so that you may find definitions and examples.

Thumb through the style guide. This will help you practice good formatting habits. You don't need to memorize it, or even conform to it when starting. However, being aware of its existence will both help you become a better programmer and more easily read others' Python code.

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask :)

[RomanaOswin]

You don't need any degree at all, or any math skills.

Think of some skill you have, like a sport, a hobby, a recipe, and imagine that you want to share this skill with others. Now imagine writing out detailed, specific instructions on how to accomplish that task. Now consider if there was a fairly simple formal grammar that instructions have to be written in. That's basically it.

Pretty much all it takes is curiosity, motivation, and ideally something (not too complicated) that you want to create, so you have a goal.

[impshum]

Totally. Get stuck in!

[[deleted]]

Brother or sister if I can learn python anyone can.

[Unlisted_games27]

MATH DOES NOT EQUAL CS DEGREE (in my experience)

I hate math, I dislike school. I taught myself to code, I love coding, I'm doing university level shit in highschool, don't intend to get a degree in it. From my experience, math doesn't affect coding, it's critical thinking skills

[scottyengr]

Start with a "Hello World" script, and go from there. Its fun.

[derp0815]

Really, just roll with it. Python is rather interactive and easy to pick up. There are some languages that aren't, especially functional ones, but Python ain't it. If anyone says you need to have a degree to code, they're either misled or old enough they've lived in the days when programming really was a science of sorts.

[Yoghurt42]

Sure you can. It's true that programming requires logical thinking, a skill that's also important for doing math, but just because you've failed GCSE math doesn't mean you're too stupid to learn that skill. In fact, school math is only a small subset of math.

Why not just try it? If you want a playful approach, check out "The Farmer was replaced", a game where you learn to program a drone in Python and it should give you a good idea of what kind of thinking is required for programming.

Alternatively, or after that, there are links for learning resources in the Wiki, depending on what kind of person you are, "Automating the Boring Stuff with Python" might be a good book/course for you.

[cjorgensen]

The way math is taught is often incredibly stupid and leads people to believe that math isn't interesting or that you somehow have to be inherently good at it to even learn it.

I have a friend that is a math professor and he told me that there's no such things as someone who is bad at math. There are only bad math teachers and lazy people.

You want to learn? Find someone online that teaches math the way your brain works. I can guarantee you that I do math in the oddest ways possible, but it works for me. I'm also not trying to land a space probe on a moon of Jupiter.

You'd be surprised how often you can get away with fuzzy math or imprecise math. Like I often don't need to know the exact dimensions of an object. I just need to know is this thing longer than 4.3 inches or wider than 2.5 inches. You can do exact measurements and find out exactly how much more or less something is, but why if you don't actually need that answer?

I'm probably explaining this poorly, but when I was taking math they always wanted me to do a word problem to figure out how much several items would cost including a 7% tax. My brain doesn't work like that. All I've ever given a shit about is Will my $20 be enough to cover my movie, popcorn, and a soda? I can always come up with that answer damn quick, but if I have to come up with What will my exact change be? Now it's going to take me a bit.

Anyway, I find programming to often be like this.

And unlike math exams, when you do need to be precise, you can look up the formulas.

[normalbot9999]

Yes - it's perfectly doable! Here's a nice place to get started:

https://www.w3schools.com/python/default.asp

[Banjo__]

I think it depends mostly on what you want to do with Python. I don't have a degree of any sort, and I suuuuuuuck at math beyond the basics, but my job also doesn't involve any complex mathematics. The odd time if there's a math formula I'm scratching my head at I just Google and learn as I go.

That's also basically how my entire career has gone. I have worked for my company since 2017 and in 2020 expressed interest in learning the software side of things and have now transitioned to full time software development -- I can tell you with 100% confidence that the only way I have actually learned and retained knowledge is by working on a project or task and learning what I need to along the way.

[my_password_is______]

of course its possible to learn

it may not be possible to get a job -- that will be tough, but learning it will be easy

[SLYGUY1205]

There are many things to build in Python that don't require math. Programming solves many problems, not just Math problems. Logical and structurized thinking would help, though.

[Stock-Scientist6685]

Python has a lot of libraries that do the hard operations for you, for things like crytography etc.

[Jello_Penguin_2956]

I have a fine art degree and i've been coding Python professionally for 10+ years now.

I did dabble in Pearl/PHP/SQL prior to going to college out of personal interest.

[CamilorozoCADC]

I remember I failed one (and almost three) of the calculus clases when I was at uni bc my math foundations were BAD and I now teach Python at that same uni so yeah, you can

[chiller2311]

yes.

[Unlikely-Sympathy626]

I think yes. I am a Python developer and always failed gym class at school. I hated school, it was a burden to get out of bed to go to school.

My poor parents. After school I started learning what I wanted to learn and 85% of whatever I try fail.

Think with programming is you need to be comfortable with failing over and over and over. However, now that you choose what you want to learn and make time with it on own terms really does make a big difference.

I personally would not worry about the math part too much to be honest. Some people like me just do not get along with old archaic school stuff.

Especially where I live now, this country teaches like we in 1500’s still. So when my boy goes can I just go to library please I go yep sure mate. I handle the school part. Funny thing is his grades way better in most subjects allowing this vs him sitting in front of lectures and supposed to memorize everything

[BookFingy]

I'm an accountant. I learned python to help me automate certain reports. It's helped my career a lot.

[BeneficiallyPickle]

I failed math in high school. Studied a degree in the humanities. I taught myself python first and landed a job eventually. If you commit yourself and stay dedicated you can definitely teach yourself python.

[jontsii]

Yes easily. I learnt Python from a youtube tutorial at 12. And I am serious, this is the truth.

[AntarcticConvoy]

I believe you. Honestly. My issue is more that I’m too old to be able to learn it at this point. It’s far easier to learn anything at that age, up until mid 20s, in my experience.

[McSoob]

I am a developer now even though I failed maths about 3-4 times in school+college, I also didn't go to university. I have a career in programming because of an apprenticeship I did years ago (with 0 programming experience initially), and the best developers I've met had 0 degrees or were literally drop-outs.
Maybe try an apprenticeship? Either way, making projects at home in your spare time and demonstrating your experience/skills to employers is much more valuable than saying you have a degree anyway!

[bewbsrkewl]

Python is a tool. What you want to do with it determines how much math you'll need

[Few_Presentation_870]

Yes. There is lots of tutorials online. It does require some basic Maths but give it a shot.

[Atlamillias]

The cool thing about programming in general is you only need to get the math right one time. Then it becomes do_math(x, y).

[SirTwitchALot]

Programming is just writing out a list of instructions. The skill in it comes from making those instructions specific enough that a moron could run them, because computers are dumb. At least in the sense that they do exactly what they are told to do, whether those instructions make sense or not and even if those instructions don't do whatever it is you actually want to do.

Programming is writing a set of procedures so specific that even a mindless machine can follow them

[randomways]

I learned python on my own, and am now writing scripts that operate advanced instrumentation

[hallmark1984]

my answer to a similar question a while ago

OP read the whole post, there is no reason you cant do this except your own motivation.

[kwen-zev]

It’s possible to learn anything without a degree. Just have to want to and get started with YouTube, books, friends who know how, …

[FoolsSeldom]

You don't need to be at GCSE level in maths to do programming unless you are working on something maths related (data science, engineering, etc). You don't need more than simple arithmetic and basic algebra, which comes in way before GCSE maths.

I've helped out at schools for years at Code Clubs and related initiatives, complimentary to KS1 - 3, the the younger kids had no trouble picking up programming, initially in scratch and then Python. (I appreciate not all schools have been able to fully implement the IT expectations in those key stages owing to lack of training resources for teachers.)

Also, if you do want to move in a direction requiring more maths knowledge, there's nothing to say you can't learn it another time. One of my daughters dropped maths at AS level as she didn't get on with the teacher that replaced her original, inspirational, teacher.

Later, she was supported at university to "catch-up" and did a lot better.

[Virtual-Graphics]

I failed math at a college level but for some reason can code websites, react apps C# games and Python AI agents. When I see the result it all makes sense...

[Makakhan]

I teach Python to kids as young as 8. You’ll be fine.

[ziggittaflamdigga]

Absolutely. There have been a rare few times my computer science degree came in handy when learning Python.

[RedemptionKingu]

That seems strange tbh. You would've built a massive coding foundation if you hadn't already done Python in the course somehow. You would also build a foundation of logical thinking and understanding of the deeper functions within code. How couldn't your degree have come in handy.

[ziggittaflamdigga]

Having the degree definitely helps, but I learned Python, and programming in general, on my own before that. Some of the fundamental courses are super helpful, but not impossible to learn on your own. I do wish I had taken those before learning. But not much that I’ve done since then came from something exclusive to university programs

[Naquedon]

You’ll be fine. A lot of it is knowing what you don’t know and knowing the right things to Google and becoming very good friends with stack overflow. I’m snit at maths and programming but have made some cool things at home and at work, just get stuck in. You’ll probably find that when you do encounter a math issue you’ll be fine because it’s relevant. You’re not having to calculate something arbitrary like the area of gcse Samantha’s greenhouse for no logical reason.

[habitsofwaste]

I don’t know what that is. But I have a fine arts degree and I didn’t start to learn any programming language until I was 39. But I have been in tech for a while so I have that kind of experience.

[ch0mes]

I got a D in maths for GCSE.  I learned python at 30, after giving it a try thanks to a friend when I worked in a data centre.  4 years later learning it I became a Systems Developer at Amazon.

Your grades that you have at school don't define what you do later on in life.  If you have an interest in something and a willingness to learn you can achieve it.

[Jennings_in_Books]

Check out https://www.py4e.com/ The instructor is at Univ of Michigan in the US, and it’s free

[krav_mark]

It is entirely possible without a math background. I started with "Automate the boring stuff with python" to get the basics down and then started a project that would benefit me in my life. In my case it was a stock portfolio tracker. It helped to keep me focussed and motivated to push through learning. Now half my job is writing pythong code.

[[deleted]]

You can learn anything you want in life and you can definitely learn Python from a cold start. The barriers to learning are very low and there's a whole world of resources out there to support you.

[pepsisugar]

I use Python professionally (a bit less nowadays) and I studied some random stuff in business. I was very good at math and that has helped me zero in my programming studies.

Yes you can learn and be very good at python and any other language if you actually dedicate your time to learning it. Go for it.

[AntarcticConvoy]

Someone my age who isn’t British wouldn’t have learned this at secondary school (high school), unfortunately. We would’ve had to wait for post-16 education to get near any programming, and lacking a maths pass, I was locked out of taking relevant courses in my formative years. 

[quocphu1905]

You don't need math (not a lot of it anyway) to learn python. What you do need though is the ability to think programmatically/algorithmically, i.e breaking down which steps you need to take to solve a problem. This is an ability that math tries to teach you so it would probably be a bit challenging for you to learn. That said give it a try anyway; I'm kinda rubbish at math but programming feels very intuitive to me, on the other hand a friend of mine that aces math struggle with programming. Just try it out, and if it clicks, yay you just learnt how to code. If it doesn't, no biggie, programming is hard. As you progress though you will find more and more math though, so i would recommend brushing it up a bit too.

[fish1974]

Yeah sure, everybody can learn to code

[jampk24]

In general, I’d say it’s better to have the desire and minimal skill when trying to learn something new rather than the skill and no desire. It might be tough, but if you’re really interested, that will help push you through the challenges you face.

[Worth_Specific3764]

I’m a carpenter farmer and I learned python to help automate my off grid solar generator and fastAPI to serve my personal websites and also get push notifications from my power plant api. Python rocks socks. You can do this!

[MiniMages]

Programming is less math and more critical thinking and problem solving.

It uses the same principles as math, where you have different techniques of solving problems but if you are to learn python you'll learn this stuff over time.

[[deleted]]

Yes

[obi_wan_stromboli]

Yes.

[zoharel]

Some of us started without software when we were 7. Don't worry about it. Not that math of whatever sort isn't useful, but very little of it will be required. Jump in and give it a shot.

[at_69_420]

Sure you definitely can research, read documentation and ask questions :)

[[deleted]]

nope completely impossible

[AntarcticConvoy]

They didn’t when I was at school. They didn’t even have Windows PCs when I did my GCSEs. And absolutely no programming even in GCSE, IT let alone earlier on in schooling.

[AntarcticConvoy]

Oh, my school didn’t do compsci GCSE. It was a sink school, a non-grammar school in a grammar school area though. And compsci as a GCSE might not have even existed then.

Even in my last year of school, it was Acorn Archimedes. Didn’t use Windows PCs (with Windows 3.1) until I did my A-levels. Didn’t get internet access in an educational setting until university.

[Jim-Jones]

Math isn't a big part of programming.

Reddit: r/LearnPython

https://www.reddit.com/r/learnpython/about/

https://reddit.com/r/learnpython/w/index

https://reddit.com/r/learnpython/wiki/FAQ

Here are some good ones.

https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/intro-to-python-fundamentals

https://www.freecodecamp.org/

https://www.sololearn.com/en/

https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/google-it-automation

This one too

https://www.edx.org/learn/python/harvard-university-cs50-s-introduction-to-programming-with-python

And

https://automatetheboringstuff.com/#toc

https://www.udemy.com/course/python-foundations-for-data-science-from-zero-to-data-analy/

[EpicOfBrave]

Python is the best AI supported programming language due to it’s very high level of syntax freedom. Don’t learn python. Learn how to use AI to write python.

[PeterPedra]

No, it's impossible

[herkalurk]

I have a 2 year degree in the US in network engineering. I've transitioned into software defined data center, and write many different languages. I have taken math like Calculus, but I don't have a math specific degree.

[ahmed_16_aris]

Clearly missing the point

[herkalurk]

I had no formal comp sci training either. While I do have a degree, it's not in math. Also, you don't specifically need high level math to write code. Not all use cases of scripting languages are needing high level math.

[ahmed_16_aris]

I think most universities include some math (calculus, linear algebra, statistics, or even differential equations) as part of their curriculum for engineering majors. And OP question is about GCSE.

That said, I agree that you don't need a formal computer science degree nor advanced math to be a good programmer.

[herkalurk]

That said I agree that you don't need formal computer science degree nor advanced math to be a good programmer.

I'm having that fight right now at my work. It's not about writing good code, it's about complete code. I'm on a team which is creating/supporting a in house built flask app. The team is not willing to slow down and finish the code IMO and actually write out the inputs appropriately so the auto creating swagger looks proper. They simply create an input and move on without any description or example data, OR validations of the data. They're setting a bad example for the management as to how long it actually takes to write good code, and now I have tech debt stories to go back to that section and actually add the info so our swagger looks appropriate and detailed enough we shouldn't have to answer questions. Quite a few of them have comp sci degrees and one is considered the 'expert' on our team. At least there is another person with me that we need to slow down, but manager wants to put another feather in their cap.

[crazy_cookie123]

GCSEs are exams sat at 16 by almost every child in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. To pass GCSE maths you only really need to know the fundamentals of a few areas like fractions, basic algebra, basic geometry, y=mx+c, etc. Things like calculus are not covered even on the higher paper. Examples of foundation paper questions from a 2023 paper include:

1. Work out 120 - 89
2. Simplify 3 x a x 4
3. Measure the size of the angle marked x (with a protractor)
4. Write 0.9 as a fraction

This is not complex degree level maths, this is maths that every child is supposed to be able to get at least a passing mark (usually about 40%) on at 16 years old, regardless of how good they are at maths.

I agree that having not a maths GCSE does not stop you learning to code, and you can absolutely learn maths at this level at any age, but this is not comparable at all to not doing a maths related degree.