Cyber Security
Entry requirements
GCSE/National 4/National 5
3 GCSEs at grade C, or grade 4, or above, including English and Maths.
UCAS Tariff
from a minimum of 2 A Levels (or equivalent).
About this course
Cyber attacks make headlines across the globe. Demand for talented computing graduates is outstripping supply, so fine-tune your network and data skills with us, take an optional placement year, and be ready to make your mark in the global cyber security industry. Our new Cambridge-based course is being prepared for National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) certification, while our close links to cyber security institutions such as OWASP and Cyber Crime Prevent bring industry experts into the classroom.
As a student at ARU, you’ll start by understanding the fundamentals of computing including computer networks, Linux operating systems, client/server architectures and secure high-level software development. You'll come to understand and recognise the cybercrime threats that organisations, and their infrastructures, face.
We’ll go on to study the cryptographic principles underpinning digital security and their application, how organisations' infrastructures can be protected from attack and how digital forensics can be used to investigate cyber related crime and malware infections. In a Security Management module, we’ll investigate how organisations visualise security operations, undertake threat intelligence and investigate potential threats.
Our degree course includes access to the CCNA Routing and Switching and EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) curriculums. This gives you the chance to progress your learning to full certification – you’ll just need to pay for your exam fees.
Our specialist labs are the perfect place you apply your knowledge and skills, carrying out penetration testing, digital forensic investigations and analysing how malware operates. They’re equipped with tools such as Kali Linux Penetration Testing Distribution, X-Ways Forensic, Autopsy, Cisco PacketTracer, OWASP ZAP and Burp Suite.
The university is active within both the Cyber Security and Digital Forensics industries working closely as Academic Supporters for OWASP Cambridge (Open Web Application Security Project), CIISec (Chartered Institute of Information Security), BCS Cybercrime Forensics Special Internet Group, CREST and ISACA London.
With our Cyber Security and Networking Research Group we host regular networking events with industry, hosting guest speakers, capture the flag events and open source project placements through Google Summer of Code (GSoC).
We work actively with both national and international law enforcement through our working relationships and research activities with Home Office, ECTEG (European Cybercrime Training and Education Group) and Cyber Resilience Centre in the East.
Modules
Year one, core modules
Computer Systems
Introduction to System Architecture and Automation
Software Principles
Core Mathematics for Computing
Cyber Crime Fundamentals
Year two, core modules
Database Design and Implementation
Network Routing and Switching Essentials
Digital Security
Networking Technologies
Principles of Digital Forensics
Ruskin Module
Year three, core modules
Final Project
Ethical Hacking and Countermeasures
Digital Forensics and Malware Science
Professional Issues: Computing and Society
Security Management and Governance
Software Security
Assessment methods
We’ll use a range of assessment methods to help measure your progress. Besides exams, you’ll undertake coursework, lab tests, group work, presentations, case studies and log books.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Cambridge Campus
Computing and Technology
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Software engineering
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Software engineering
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
A specialist subject, and not surprisingly graduates tend to go into software engineering roles or related. The degree classification students achieved made a particular difference last year — computing graduates with the best grades were much less likely to be out of work after six months and employers can even rate a good grade as important as work experience. Most students do get jobs, though, and starting salaries are good — particularly in London, where average starting salaries for good graduates were getting towards £38k last year. Be aware that at the moment, recruitment agencies are much the most common way for graduates from this degree to get their first job, so it may be worth getting in touch with a few specialist agencies in advance of graduation if you take this degree to get a foot in the door.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Software engineering
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£23k
£25k
£31k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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