Cyber Security BSc (Hons)

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lab sessions, lectures and seminars. Interactive workshops and lab sessions take a variety of formats and are intended to enable the application of learning through practical activities in our dedicated computing labs; be that on your own or in small groups. Seminars enable the discussion and development of understanding of topics covered in lectures as well as opportunities to practice skills learnt.

In addition, meetings with personal academic tutors are scheduled on at least four occasions during each year of your studies at the university.

The University places emphasis on enabling students to develop the independent learning capabilities that will equip you for lifelong learning and future employment, as well as academic achievement. A mixture of independent study, teaching and academic support from Student Services and Library Services, and also the personal academic tutoring system enables you to reflect on progress and build up a profile of skills, achievements and experiences that will help you to flourish and be successful.

Contact time

In a typical week students will have 12 contact hours of timetabled teaching in lectures, seminars and small-group work. This is in the form of on campus face-face teaching in groups of around 30 students. In the final year there is normally slightly less contact time in order to do more independent study.

Typically, class contact time will be structured around:

• Information giving, facilitated discussions, small group work, presentations
• Practical skills – the opportunity to practise group facilitation, presentation, communication and listening skills
• Visiting speakers and opportunities to visit other settings are regular features of the course
• Most teaching will take place in state-of-the-art PC labs using a variety of software specific to each module

Independent self study

In addition to the contact time, full-time students are expected to undertake around 24 hours of personal self-study per week, plus additional preparation for assessments and examinations. Typically, this will involve meeting with individual tutors to discuss progress and feedback, completing activities, creating and testing artefacts, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library and online. 

These activities, challenges and further reading are posed via the University Virtual Learning Environment. Students will also have access to software and other services required for independent studies available for use on University lab machines or for download for home use where possible. 

In addition to this, students will spend time sharing ideas with fellow students, taking part in extracurricular learning activities and engaging with external employers. 

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including the Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources as well as our network of employers and entrepreneurs.

Duration

• 3 years full-time
• 4 years full-time including one year placement.
• 4-6 years part-time

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration. Please note that whilst we try to be as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week; and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings.  

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience, and visiting speakers with specialised expertise. Teaching is informed by the research and consultancy work carried out by staff and you can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles.

Assessments

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments.

Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade. Assessment methods include written examinations and a range of coursework assessments such as essays, reports, portfolios, software artefacts, presentations, and a final year independent studies project.

The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year will vary according to the mandatory and optional modules taken, but a typical formal summative assessment pattern for each year of the course is:

Year 1

• 1 formal examination of 2 hours duration
• 1 in-class phase test
• 1 essay
• 3 practical reports with associated artefact creation
• 2 individual or group presentations

Year 2

• 1 formal examinations of 2 hours duration
• 2 in-class phase tests
• 1 essay
• 4 practical reports with associated artefact creation
• 2 individual or group presentations

Year 3

• Major independent study project of approximately 9000 words
• 2 formal examinations of 2 hours duration
• 2 in-class phase tests
• 1 essay
• 4 practical reports with associated artefact creation
• 2 individual or group presentations

You will receive feedback on practice assessments and on formal assessments undertaken by coursework. Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate. We aim to provide you with feedback on formal course work assessments within 20 working days of hand-in.

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.