[MaxBarraclough]

Sure, I think we agree really.

My point was that for the programming material, they're more prepared than many of their peers. For theoretical material, they're on the starting block with everyone else.

It's good to work on your developer skills beyond what your degree gives you, but no-one should expect that their undergraduate studies will be easy simply because they're already a programmer. That's like assuming your degree in pure math will be easy because you studied algebra in high school.

If you have a choice between doing well in your degree course, and learning additional developer skills, you should go with the former.