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
A minimum of 80 from two A Levels or equivalent, excluding General Studies.
About this course
**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:
The Uni
Headingley Campus
Computing, Creative Technologies and Engineering
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.
Computer science
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)
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?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Others in computing
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.
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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.
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.
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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
£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
£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
£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.
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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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