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“At the University of Bolton, we take great pride in providing a quality, supportive learning environment for our students.” Professor George E Holmes DL | President & Vice Chancellor
“...tutors are very supportive and you’re not just a student ID number, at this university you are an individual with a name.” Ellisse Vernon | BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing
Our BSc (Hons) Computing (Cyber Security) is ideal if you're fascinated by computers, enjoy problem-solving and want a fast-paced, challenging job. We offer the knowledge and skills needed to anticipate and combat computer software and data threats, including hacking, theft, viruses, and other forms of cyber attack.
Key information
Award:
BSc (Hons)
Mode of Study:
Full-time
Duration:
3 years
Location:
University of Bolton
UCAS points:
96
UCAS code:
G310
Start date:
To be confirmed
Course Details
Globally, the shortage of cyber security professionals is estimated to be 3.12 million (1), meaning that the future offers qualified cyber security professionals access to excellent career opportunities and competitive salaries. Our BSc (Hons) Computing (Cyber Security) course is an ideal route into this dynamic and evolving industry.
Cyber security focuses on protecting data and information systems from cyber breaches. Covering how to design secure computer systems, this unique degree emphasises secure software development and promotes a deep understanding of the structure of computing systems. Throughout the course, you’ll develop technical knowledge and applied skills in security defence techniques and counter-measures, ready to protect computer systems and electronic infrastructures from attack. In particular, we’ll focus on helping you learn to design and develop your own security tools for probing, analysing and defending computer systems against attack.
Our expert and dedicated team will cover how to analyse and evaluate security threats and vulnerabilities to information systems, perform security risk assessments and develop security controls, processes and software. We’ll support you as you learn how to respond to security incidents and implement resolution activities. The department’s strong links with business mean you’ll have the chance to work on ‘live briefs’ in your coursework assignments, so you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy real-world context and application for the skills and knowledge we’ll help you develop.
With class sizes no greater than 30, we can offer you meaningful, personalised learning plans. Our dedicated and enthusiastic lecturers, many of whom are active researchers with extensive industry insights and experience, will help you develop both the theoretical knowledge and the practical, hands-on skills required by the security sector that will put you one step ahead of attackers from day one. Meanwhile, guest speakers and lecturers give you access to highly relevant and up-to-date input from industry settings.
All of this is backed by our well-equipped IT suites, where you’ll get to apply and develop your learning individually and in groups, with expert guidance and support.
(1) https://www.isc2.org/News-and-Events/Press-Room/Posts/2020/11/11/ISC2-Study-Reveals-the-Cybersecurity-Workforce-Has-Grown-Globally accessed on 13 August 2021
Highlights
Our Computer Science courses are top in the UK for student satisfaction, according to The Complete University Guide 2022.
Our Computer Science courses are also placed first in the UK for teaching quality and student experience by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021.
The department, and the wider University, provides a warm and friendly environment for your studies, with relatively small class sizes, purpose-built teaching facilities, and excellent student support and library services.
Your teaching and tutorial team brings an impressive range of professional experience and technical prowess to the course, so you’ll have the chance to explore and evaluate a range of perspectives relating to your studies.
A big part of our commitment to your progress is helping you develop your employability and industry networks. Our teaching team works collaboratively with industrial partners to ensure that you have access to the latest and relevant industrial skills. So, we’ll encourage you to attend guest lectures that give your learning context, offer access to industry contacts, and contribute to your underlying professional development.
By underpinning our content and assignments with a strong industrial focus, we foster a keen understanding of the professional IT environment and help you develop essential skills such as team-working, communication and problem-solving.
This degree offers a comprehensive overview of key cyber security principles, methods, and activities, such as types of security, common attack techniques, risk assessment, penetration testing, managing risk, and assessing an organisation's ‘cyber security culture’.
We’ll focus on your individual needs and provide personalised learning support to help you find the learning strategies that best support you as you begin your journey towards an exciting and challenging career as a cyber security professional.
Key Features
Our dedicated laboratories, servers and end-hosts feature high-specification hardware and the latest software, so you’ll have industry-equivalent hands-on experience.
We've invested in a suite of security and forensics tools. We operate these in a 'dirty lab' where you have full administrator access to the computers to practice skills and develop knowledge through testing and experiment.
As you’d expect, many of our computing facilities are accessible online, so you can work on your assignments wherever you are and whenever inspiration kicks in.
We’ll support you to develop sought-after skills such as background research, critical reasoning and problem-solving, as well as professional communication, time management, teamwork, and lifelong learning.
We’ll also encourage you to build a portfolio of evidence representing the projects and tasks you’ve completed during your studies, ready to impress potential employers.
We continually monitor and update the course to reflect current and ever-changing computing issues and keep your learning in line with technological advances and innovations.
By choosing to study with us, you'll have the chance to enjoy Bolton's many shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities. Manchester, one of the UK's most multicultural and lively cities, is less than 20 minutes away by train. Not forgetting, the North West of England is renowned for its beautiful countryside, coastline and heritage. This makes Bolton an ideal base from which to explore some of the best cultural and outdoor activities the UK offers.
Professional recognition
The University of Bolton’s BSc (Hons) Computing (Cyber Security) programme offers you the opportunity to develop the skills to be recognised as a RedHat certified practitioner in systems administration and gain a number of other industry-relevant professional accreditations. We were the first UK university to become a RedHat academy and offer you access to the accreditation examinations at a significantly reduced cost.
Any subjects are acceptable at Level 3. Relevant science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) and computing-related subjects are preferred.
You should also have five GCSEs at grade C or above or grade 4 to 9 (or equivalent), including English and Mathematics.
If you don’t meet the standard entry requirements but have non-traditional qualifications and/or relevant experience, we’ll be happy to consider your application. You’ll need to achieve a minimum mark in a diagnostic mathematics test and attend an interview.
You may be required to attend an interview and/or provide a portfolio of work.
If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
Our BSc (Hons) Computing (Cyber Security) degree offers the knowledge and skills needed to implement, maintain and support the security controls that protect an organisation’s computer systems and data assets from threats and hazards.
As a graduate, you’ll possess a deep understanding of computer systems and how underlying infrastructure, software and data contribute to modern computing environments. You’ll also have the skills and knowledge required to identify where threats and hazards can occur in modern infrastructure, along with the skills to develop, implement, maintain and support security tools and controls that analyse, prevent and protect against attacks.
During the course, you can also expect to develop a wide range of technical, professional and interpersonal skills, such as attention to detail, team working, communication and analytical skills, time management, problem-solving and lifelong learning.
What can I do with this qualification?
A recent report showed that the average advertised salary for a core cyber security role in the UK is £59,200 (2). Graduates from this programme should prove valuable to private, public and third sector organisations of all sizes and across the full spectrum of industries. Given the worldwide shortage of cyber security professionals, you should be able to choose an interesting, challenging and rewarding environment to work in.
On successful completion of the course, you’ll be well prepared for a career in cyber security. You might seek a technical role in an area such as penetration testing, security design or malware analysis, or choose a broader role, such as security planning, risk assessment or security planning. Opportunities in areas such as defence, forensics, commerce, technical security and system administration should be open to you. As you progress through your career and gain experience, you’ll be able to work your way up to positions of greater responsibility, such as chief information security officer, IT security director or security architect.
After graduation, you’ll also be ready to progress to postgraduate-level study or additional IT certification to develop your expertise further. Studying for a PhD or professional doctorate is another option.
(2) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/973802/Ipsos_MORI_Cyber_Skills_in_the_UK_2021_v1.pdf accessed on 13 August 2021
Alternative career options
Graduates can use the qualification as a stepping-stone into a range of other careers. For some of these roles, relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. Roles include:
Consultancy
Digital copywriting
IT sales
IT training
Teaching
Research and development
Network engineering
Product management
Technical writing
Social media management
Data analysis
Information systems management
Games development
Course fees
Home Fees
Year of study
Total
Entry year
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
2025/26
International
Year of study
Total
Entry year
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
2025/26
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2021-2022 academic year:
EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status.
If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement.
Please read the
student finance eligibility 2021-2022 policy on www.gov.uk for information.
The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the
normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in
March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
For 2021-2022 entry, the maximum government approved undergraduate tuition fee for UK students is £9,250 per year.
The University is able to charge this fee subject to an approved Access and Participation Plan for 2021-2022 and its current rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework.
For details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:
If you wish to apply for multiple institutions or multiple courses at Bolton for September entry, then apply through UCAS
You can apply for up to 5 courses through UCAS (at the same or different institutions) for a fee of £27.
Alternatively, if you only wish to apply for a single course at a single institution then a reduced applicant's
fee of £22.50 is applicable.
The online application form and guidance notes are available on the
UCAS website.
You will need the following information to complete your UCAS application form:
If you wish to apply for a single course offered by the University of Bolton for any intake, you can apply directly
If you have carefully considered your course and institution choices and decided that this course is the best option for
you, you may apply directly to the University using our online application form shown below.
A direct application to Bolton provides the following features:
Free of charge to apply
Secure, simple and streamlined
Contact us directly for any admissions queries
Regular updates on your application directly from the University
Invites to offer holder events and taster sessions where you can meet your future tutors and get a flavour of university life
NOTE: You cannot apply both through UCAS and directly to Bolton. Submitting an application to any university through UCAS during
the same academic year will void any direct application you make to Bolton.
For courses starting in September, please be aware that we are required to share your information with UCAS if we accept you on this course.
We will create a simplified UCAS acceptance record on your behalf and return this to UCAS. By submitting your application directly to the
University of Bolton, you agree to these terms.
If you are ready to apply directly, please select your chosen start date from the list below.
Before applying, please read the entry requirements section of this page.
If your course runs at multiple locations or has various start dates, please be sure to select
the correct application link from the list below.
Before beginning your application, you should have the following information to hand:
Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
Details of any employment history, including name, address, dates and role
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format.
Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page.
If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already inputted.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Undergraduate Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or
UGadmissions@bolton.ac.uk
The University welcomes applications from international students from all over the world.
We try to make the application process as simple and as fast as possible for our international applicants.
How you apply is determined by your current location and what you are choosing to study:
Apply direct to the University. Links for the next available intakes of this course are shown below.
Please click the link which will direct you to the online application form. Please read the user
guidance before completing this.
Apply via one of our approved in-country referral partners. A list of our partners may be found on the
International pages of this website.
Apply via UCAS for courses starting in September only – visit
www.ucas.com.
Should you have any queries please contact the International Team on +44 (0) 1204 903110 or email
international@bolton.ac.uk
Apply online: University of Bolton
BSc (Hons) Computing (Cyber Security) - 19 September 2022 (Intake not currently accepting international applications)
University of Bolton Group Partners
Bolton College
University Collegiate School
Alliance Learning
University of Bolton
For valued members of the University of Bolton Group and progressing students, we try to make our application
process as simple and as fast as possible.
If you have carefully considered your course and institution choices and decided that this course is the best
option for you, you may apply free of charge to the University. By selecting the appropriate link from the
list shown below, you will be taken directly to our online application form. Please read the user guidance
before completing this, and ensure you upload all supporting documents such as certificates and your
personal statement when you apply.
When you are asked to add a contact email address, please ensure you add your college/university email
account address as well as your personal address. If you do not add your college address as your contact
address, we will be unable to identify you as a partner and offer you the benefits of being part of our group.
NOTE: You cannot apply both through UCAS and directly to Bolton. Submitting an application to any university through UCAS during
the same academic year will void any direct application you make to Bolton.
For courses starting in September, please be aware that we are required to share your information with UCAS
if we accept you on this course. We will create a simplified UCAS acceptance record on your behalf and return
this to UCAS. By submitting your application directly to the University of Bolton, you agree to these terms.
If you are ready to apply directly, please select your chosen start date from the list below.
Before applying, please read the entry requirements section of this page.
If your course runs at multiple locations or has various start dates, please be sure to select
the correct application link from the list below.
Before beginning your application, you should have the following information to hand:
Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
Details of any employment history, including name, address, dates and role
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
Details including email addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format.
Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page.
If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already inputted.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Undergraduate Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or
UGadmissions@bolton.ac.uk
We look forward to receiving your application and you continuing your academic journey with us!
Learning and teaching methods use a blended style, which means you’ll have face-to-face sessions as well as taking part in online learning. You can expect a mixture of seminars, lectures and tutorials, practical laboratory/workshop sessions, a visiting speaker programme, critiques, self-directed study and e-learning, as well as online sessions and support. We’ll help you gain practical skills through technical introduction and support, workshop sessions, demonstrations and activity-based assignments. Throughout the course, a strong practical theme promotes active learning.
In terms of assessment, we aim to provide creative and industry-relevant ways for you to demonstrate your theoretical and practical knowledge. You can expect assessments to involve assignments, projects, in-class tests, portfolios and presentations. Some assessments will contribute to your final module mark and allow you to demonstrate that you’ve met the learning outcomes. In contrast, others are designed to help you identify areas that need extra attention on your part or where you need extra support from your tutors.
Modules
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
Programming and Scripting
Security Fundamentals
Networking Principles
Modern Operating Systems
Programming for Cyber Security
Secure Systems
Scaling Networks
Advanced Operating Systems
Undergraduate Project
Ethical Hacking and Digital Forensics
Information Security Management
Network Management
Assessment methods
Level
Assesment method
Level one
Coursework 100%
Level two
Coursework 88%, Practical exams 12%
Level three
Coursework 75%, Written exams 25%
Learning activities
Level
Learning activity
Level one
Guided independent study 66%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 34%
Level two
Guided independent study 77%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 23%
Level three
Guided independent study 77%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 23%
Disclaimer
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
