BSc (Hons) Cyber Security (Top-up)

Standard entry criteria: Ideally, you will be working towards, or have attained, a Level 5 qualification (international equivalent 120 ECTS Credits) in a related discipline. You must be interviewed by the curriculum team (international applicants via internet (e.g. Skype). You will hold, or be working towards, GCSE (or Level 2 equivalent) maths and English (or a minimum 5.5 IELTS in each band for international applicants).

Non-standard entry criteria: Evidence of appropriate computing and IT experience or employment within the sector. You must be interviewed by the curriculum team (international applicants via internet (e.g. Skype). You will hold, or be working towards, GCSE (or Level 2 equivalent) maths and English (or a minimum 5.5 IELTS in each band for international applicants). You will be required to attend a Higher Education Pre-induction day to assess your suitability to the programme.

You will meet with a course tutor who will ask a set of standard questions. This is also an opportunity for the curriculum team to learn about your motivation for the course and career aspirations and an opportunity for you to ask questions. A tour of the facilities will be available. Please bring your relevant qualifications.

This programme is designed to provide you with the skills and knowledge to become a professional computing practitioner, specialising Cyber Security. The programme has been developed in response to research and identifies the skills and knowledge essential for working in the computing industry. Our fantastic computing team manage a LinkedIn group with over 1450 members; more than 1000 of these are employers from the Computing and IT sector who are available to directly communicate with you when you join the programme. You will be encouraged to communicate directly with these employers to gain work experience and or arrange trips/visits to employer premises to see networks and network engineering in practice. Additionally, each module aims to bring a subject specialist guest speaker to inform the curriculum. Employers are asked to review assignment briefs and where appropriate act as a Live Client or approve a simulated scenario which reflects realistic practice. Where employers act as a ‘live client’, they are invited to observe assessment and provide feedback however they do not influence the marks awarded for academic work. An example of this is where an Agile specialist from Sage Newcastle will deliver a talk in Project Management. Through a range of teaching and learning activities, this programme seeks to engage your academic curiosity, stimulate your intellectual capacities, and promote methodical, systematic and logical thinking within the digital industries, supporting the enhancement of employability/self-employment skills. The curriculum reflects contemporary issues supporting personal and professional development.

• Ethical Hacking
• The Cyber Security Landscape
• Principles of Computer Forensics
• Research Methods
• Project Management
• Computing Project.

• Monday - 9am - 4pm ~Tuesday - 9am - 4pm ~Wednesday - 9am - 4pm ~Thursday - 9am - 4pm ~Friday - 9am - 4pm

Any times indicated are based on current courses and may be subject to change in future years. Full timetables will be confirmed at the start of each course.

A range of teaching learning and assessment strategies are incorporated into the programme and are appropriate for those studying at Level 6. You will engage in:

• Lectures
• Seminars
• Workshops
• Self-study
• Research
• Formative assessment
• Peer and self-assessment of learning.]]]Summative assessment strategies include: [[[Reports
• Practical observation
• Presentations
• Product.

A comprehensive personal tutor system is in place to make sure you have a direct personal contact with an individual member of the course team to discuss academic and personal matters relevant to your learning. In addition to support from your personal tutor, you will receive academic support from your module tutors. Support is given to via tutorials at set intervals during the academic year and there is likely to be opportunity within some studio sessions for additional support.

The programme has been designed and developed to ensure you are provided with opportunities to gain the skills and knowledge desired by employers. Our computing team works with a range of employers to ensure our courses are up-to-date with current industry practice. You will have the opportunity to engage with a vast array of employers via our dedicated LinkedIn group 'NCD IT'. This group will enable you to communicate directly with employers and build your own industry network. Wherever possible, guest speakers will deliver talks related to the modules of study, to demonstrate links to industry. Employers will endorse assignment briefs to help ensure currency and accuracy. Some of the assignment briefs will have been endorsed by employers to ensure that the skills and knowledge employers are looking for are being assessed within the constraints of academic standards.

A work placement is not a fundamental expectation of this top-up degree programme. You will be encouraged to source work experience opportunities, to allow you to stretch your knowledge, understanding and practical skills beyond what you have learned in your modules. Work placements are a great chance for you to develop a range of work-based skills needed for progression. Work related skills will be developed across the course from initial tutor led activities within module Project Management through to Computing Project.

You can progress to work in a relevant job role within the computing industry.