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Cyber Security & Digital Forensics

Entry requirements


GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE English Language and Maths at Grade 4 or above (Grade C for GCSEs taken before 2017) or equivalent. Key Skills Level 2, Functional Skills Level 2 and the Certificate in Adult Literacy and Adult Numeracy are accepted in place of GCSEs.

UCAS Tariff

128

A minimum of 80 from two A Levels or equivalent, excluding General Studies.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Computer science

Computer and information security

Computer forensics

**Develop in-demand forensic and security skills and graduate with a master’s. You’ll learn to analyse devices and protect businesses from illegal attacks.**

Develop the skills to perform digital forensic analysis on devices and implement cyber security mechanisms into any business.

As part of this course, you’ll:

- Complete an extra year of specialist study to achieve a masters qualification

- Combine expertise in two fields of national importance

- Analyse digital devices, such as hard drives, in computer forensics modules to identify and investigate their contents

- Learn to use your knowledge of computer systems and networks to protect businesses and users from malicious attacks in computer security modules

- Learn practical investigative and 'hacking' techniques

- Learn through practical applications on our bespoke Hacktivity system that replicates real-world business systems and potential attacks

**ACCREDITATIONS**
This course is accredited by the British Computer Society

**Find out more**

**Enhance your expertise**
Your fourth year of study will enable you to develop expertise in the more challenging areas of digital forensics such as image and video forensic investigations. In security areas, you’ll study in-depth software security exploitation development and the analysis and implementation of security mechanisms to defend and analyse systems. Your final year will also develop your knowledge in research practices through a research or practical dissertation project.

**Access to specialist software**
You’ll gain expertise in the use of digital forensic techniques and analysis through tools used in industry such as Encase and Cellebrite, and open-source variants such as Autopsy and FTK Imager. If you join the university’s Ethical Hacking Society, you’ll explore the very latest developments in digital security and attend talks from industry experts to enhance your learning.

**Network with professionals**
You’ll gain experience of preparing and presenting work for use by courts of law and industry customers. Attending conferences will give you the opportunity to network with professionals and enhance your career prospects. You may have the option to work with local employers as clients for your dissertation project.

**Cybercrime and Security Innovation Centre**
As part of our Cybercrime and Security Innovation Centre, teaching staff on your course work with West Yorkshire Police to develop new ways of fighting cybercrime. This partnership will give you access to cutting-edge research and industry contacts, and an invaluable insight into the real-world applications of computer security.

**Placements**
We work with organisations to find placement opportunities for you. Our links with the security industry, forensics industry and law contacts provide you with opportunities to enhance your learning.

**Study choices**
You could choose to study our three-year BSc (Hons) Cyber Security & Digital Forensics and complete the same modules as the first three years of this master’s-level course. Alternatively, if you’d like to focus your study solely on cyber security, we offer the BSc (Hons) Cyber Security.

**Why study Cyber Security & Digital Forensics at Leeds Beckett University...**
- Professionally accredited – by the British Computer Society

- Access to specialist software – including Hacktivity and EnCase to enable you to put your knowledge into practice

- Industry partnerships – including working with West Yorkshire Police

- Opportunity to join the Ethical Hacking Society – share ideas with your peers

- Placement opportunities – enhance your learning and add experience to your CV

Modules

Year 1 Core Modules:
- Fundamentals of Digital Forensics
- Computer Communications
- Fundamentals of Computer Programming
- Ethical Hacking & Penetration Testing
- Fundamentals of Databases
- Object-Oriented Programming

Year 2 Core Modules:
- Digital Forensics Processing
- Cyber Security Landscapes
- Web & Network Security
- Digital Forensics Analysis
- Team Project
In addition, choose from a list of Year 2 option modules. Please check our website for a full and up-to-date list.

Year 3 Core Modules:
- Project
- Systems Security
- Mobile Forensic Investigations
In addition, choose from a list of Year 3 option modules. Please check our website for a full and up-to-date list.

Year 4 Core Modules:
- Reverse Engineering & Malware Analysis
- Research Practice
- Forensic Image & Video Processing
- Dissertation
- Software Security & Exploitation

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Headingley Campus

Department:

Computing, Creative Technologies and Engineering

Read full university profile

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.

82%
Computer science
73%
Computer forensics

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.

Computer science

Teaching and learning

83%
Staff make the subject interesting
94%
Staff are good at explaining things
85%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
90%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

78%
Library resources
80%
IT resources
88%
Course specific equipment and facilities
78%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

90%
UK students
10%
International students
83%
Male students
17%
Female students
74%
2:1 or above
11%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

D
C
C

Computer and information security

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

90%
UK students
10%
International students
95%
Male students
5%
Female students
70%
2:1 or above
12%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
B

Others in computing

Teaching and learning

80%
Staff make the subject interesting
80%
Staff are good at explaining things
80%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
88%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

85%
Library resources
58%
IT resources
83%
Course specific equipment and facilities
70%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

95%
UK students
5%
International students
83%
Male students
17%
Female students
62%
2:1 or above
8%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

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.

Computer science

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.

£20,000
low
Average annual salary
98%
high
Employed or in further education
65%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

47%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
11%
Design occupations
9%
Information technology technicians

This is a newly-classified subject area for this kind of data, so we don’t currently have very much information to display or analyse yet. The subject is linked to important and growing computing industries, and over time we can expect more students to study them — there could be opportunities that open up for graduates in these subjects as the economy develops over the next few years.

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.

£21,000
med
Average annual salary
92%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

45%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
10%
Information technology technicians
7%
Other elementary services occupations

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.

Others in computing

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.

£21,000
med
Average annual salary
92%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

45%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
10%
Information technology technicians
7%
Other elementary services occupations

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Computer science

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£21k

£21k

£27k

£27k

£27k

£27k

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.

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.

£21k

£21k

£27k

£27k

£27k

£27k

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.

Others in computing

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£21k

£21k

£27k

£27k

£27k

£27k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Lower entry requirements
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UCAS Points: 120-153
Nearby University
University of York | York
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MEng 4 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 56-152

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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here