Course overview
Are you interested in how cybersecurity is used to help defend computer systems against digital crime?
Would you like to learn to design, implement and manage cyber resilience initiatives?
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to computer science with a focus on cybersecurity, including the tools and techniques used to secure and protect computer systems, networks and data.
This four-year course includes an initial full-time Foundation Year and offers an alternative route into university and gaining a degree.
This route is for you if you do not have the necessary qualifications or don’t yet feel ready to begin degree-level study, or are returning to education and would like some support to get up to speed with learning in a university setting.
The Foundation Year in Computing will allow you to develop your academic skills and confidence as well as introduce you to key concepts, debates and skills that will support and inform your subsequent years of undergraduate study.
Following successful completion of your Foundation Year, you’ll progress onto Year 1 of our Computer Science with Cybersecurity BSc (Hons) degree.
This course is subject to validation. You can still apply for this course while it is being approved.
About this course
During your Foundation Year, you will undertake modules to enable you to enhance your academic skills and equip you with the tools you’ll need to study with confidence. You’ll carry out a personal project so you can study an area of interest related to your chosen future subject specialisation.
​You’ll study the principles of coding, learning and applying these skills to create simple apps. You’ll study web development and produce code for a website and will explore social media integration, data capture and cyber security.
Following successful completion of your Foundation Year, you’ll progress onto Year 1 of our Computer Science with Cybersecurity BSc (Hons) degree.
There is an urgent need to find solutions and answers to the ongoing threat of digital crimes, coupled with a skills gap in information security and data privacy across the employment sector.
This degree is designed to equip you with the theoretical, conceptual and practical skills needed to defend and mitigate possible threats in computing and networking environments.
You’ll gain a broad perspective on the handling of sensitive and confidential information, including consideration of government regulation and ethics.
Our academic experts will introduce you to the tools, frameworks and concepts used by adversaries (black hat) to compromise computer systems. You’ll use this knowledge to develop mitigation strategies and build strong defensive walls across the computer network and computing infrastructure.
You’ll develop practical hands-on, technical skills and awareness of the core concepts, theories and principles of how to secure data and information against breach and compromise.
Through the professional work placement and employer projects included in your degree, you’ll learn about current practices in the cybersecurity industry and be able to put theory into practice, while building your employability skills, such as teamwork and leadership.
The course provides additional opportunities to obtain professional industry-recognised certifications in areas relevant to hacking and cybersecurity, such as Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Microsoft Certified Ethical Hacker and CompTIA Penetration Tester (PenTest), which can help you stand out in the job market.
You’ll graduate ready to apply your acquired knowledge to design, implement, manage and lead initiatives on cyber intelligence, cyber resilience and threat mitigation, working to secure data for both public and private employers in a range of computing and business-related contexts.
Why study with us?
- Build your self-confidence, academic skills and core subject knowledge in preparation for progression onto degree-level study and becoming a more independent learner.
- Gain a comprehensive understanding of threat mitigation strategies and cyberdefense intelligence.
- Develop your applied knowledge of core theories, concepts, principles and policy regulations of data privacy.
- Undertake professional work placements to apply theory in a real-world setting and gain highly desirable employability skills.
- Enhance your CV through opportunities to obtain professional certifications from tech giants, including Cisco and Microsoft.
Course Modules
You will study a variety of modules across your programme of study. The module details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Foundation Year
During your Foundation Year, you will study four core modules.
Academic Skills and Studying with Confidence (Core)
We'll help you develop core academic skills such as using electronic resources, planning and note-taking, communication skills related to essay and report writing and delivering presentations.
You'll learn to manage your time, prioritise tasks and manage stress, and become more confident in engaging with collaborative learning, debates, discussions and critical reflection.
Project (Core)
You'll have the opportunity to study an area if interest related to your chosen future academic specialisation and will benefit from highly personalised learning.
Specialised activities will focus on project skills include:
- Project management tools
- Gantt chart planning
- Use of work breakdown structure
- Flowchart design
- Pseudo Code
Principles of Coding (Core)
Learn the general principles, concepts and rules of object-oriented coding and apply these to the design, development and testing of simple apps.
You'll use online tools such as Google App Script.
You'll be introduced to the fundamentals of market-led design and to the practice of coding to a specified brief.
Principles of Web Development (Core)
You'll code for a website using HTML or JavaScript and open-source software tools such as CCS.
You'll focus on back-end development and website functionality such as file download, social media integration, sign-up, and data capture.
We'll also cover test processes, open-source code and cyber security.
Year 1
During your first year, you will study five core modules.
Introduction to Software Development (Core)
We'll look at data representation and management, algorithms, data structures, methodologies for software design and implementation, testing, and debugging.
You'll review some basic mathematical concepts important for computer science, but you'll mainly do practical work.
Improve your knowledge of the JavaScript and Python languages.
Computing Skills and Employability (Core)
Develop soft and transferable skills to help you collaborate successfully on a team project.
Develop group working skills through guided independent and group activities and reflect on your strengths and areas for development.
You'll work on a software solution for a real employer-led problem, giving you an understanding of software development within an applied business context.
Introduction to Tech Stack (Core)
Get a general view of web technologies, becoming familiar with all the aspects involved in designing and developing dynamic web applications.
You'll start by scratching the surface of the Web, by looking at client technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Then find out about web servers, server-side development, databases, cloud architecture and operating systems.
Technology in Business (Core)
Get an overview of how technology is used, deployed and developed in a business environment.
Explore technological perspectives on how to reduce costs, increase profits, valuation, cost-benefit analysis, business case and regulatory guidelines.
Team Project (Core)
Develop soft and transferable skills to help you collaborate successfully on a team project.
Develop group working skills through guided independent and group activities and reflect on your strengths and areas for development.
You'll work on a software solution for a real employer-led problem, giving you an understanding of software development within an applied business context.
Year 2
During your second year, you will be required to study four core modules.
Further Software Development (Core)
Build proficiency in computer programming and mobile app development, setting the technical skills within realistic commercial contexts.
You'll develop your knowledge of the principles and processes of programming in higher-level programming languages, such as using an integrated development environment and standard libraries, fundamental data structures, abstract data types and algorithms, higher-order functions and object-oriented design.
Get an overview of Android app development, native apps and app wrappers, patterns, and the terminology of Domain-Driven Design.
Professional Development and Placement (Core)
You'll complete a six-week placement as part of this module.
Bridge the gap between your academic skills gained at Leeds Trinity and your future professional life.
Develop your personal and professional skills and reflect on these during your placement.
The focus of this module will be on self-awareness, employability skills, professional behaviours, networking, interpersonal relationships, and teamwork in an organisation.
Team Project (Core)
Learn to work effectively in a team to deliver on a client brief.
With each new experience, you'll find yourself more able to use tools and processes effectively and achieve higher professional standards.
Build on your experience of agile development, effective teamwork, communication and applying your learning to a real-world project.
Year 3
During your final year, you will study two core modules and will be required to choose two option modules.
Secure Development and Deployment (Core)
Cover principles, methodologies and processes that enable secure and effective end-to-end software product development and deployment.
Build on your software design and development skills gained in earlier modules so you can securely develop, deploy, and retire software using platforms such as Azure and AWS.
You'll mainly be doing practical work, with code review forming a substantial part of the module.
Project (Core)
Bring together your learning across previous modules and your elective specialist modules to take on an independent project.
You'll demonstrate advanced skills and knowledge in a specific subject area, define problem boundaries and investigate plausible solutions with reference to wider social and cultural contexts.
The goal is to deliver a software artefact that has real context.
You'll communicate your findings in oral and written forms.
Professional work placements
Experience matters. That's why we embed professional work placements within our standard undergraduate degrees.
How does it work?
Careers and Placements will work with you to find your perfect placement or help you arrange your own, whether that's in Leeds, another part of the UK or even abroad. You will be able to take part in a series of workshops, events and live ‘employer challenges’ to boost your confidence and prepare you for your placement.
During your placement, you will have an opportunity to gain degree-relevant work experience, build your knowledge of career sectors and secure valuable employer references and industry contacts. This experience will help you to shape your career decisions and find the right path for you.
Our established links with business and tech companies across the region means there are a wide range of sectors where you can undertake your placement. Previous placement providers for Computer Science students include Sky, Infinity Works, Aire Logic and TwentySix Digital. However, cybersecurity opportunities exist across the public and private sector, and we aim to match your placement to your chosen area of interest.
During your placement, you'll gain valuable work experience and acquire relevant skills in different cybersecurity roles such as ethical hacker, IT security operations, cyber-analyst, cyber-operations (CyberOps), operations management, risk management, security architect, penetration testing (Pentest), public policy and regulation, information security analyst, Cyber technical support, risk and compliance, cyberpolicy and regulation.
To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:
Learning and Teaching
At Leeds Trinity we aim to provide an excellent student experience and provide you with the tools and support to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional potential.
Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy delivers excellence by providing the framework for:
- high quality teaching
- an engaging and inclusive approach to learning, assessment and achievement
- a clear structure through which you progress in your academic studies, your personal development and towards professional-level employment or further study.
We have a strong reputation for developing student employability, supporting your development towards graduate employment, with relevant skills embedded throughout your programme of study.
We endeavour to develop curiosity, confidence, courage, ambition and aspiration in all students through the key themes in our Learning and Teaching Strategy:
- Student Involvement and Engagement
- Inclusion
- Integrated Programme and Assessment Experience
- Digital Literacy and Skills
- Employability and Enterprise
To help you achieve your potential we emphasise learning as a collaborative process, with a range of student-led and real-world activities. This approach ensures that you fully engage in shaping your own learning, developing your critical thinking and reflective skills so that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and use the extensive learning support system we offer to shape your own development.
We believe the secret to great learning and teaching is simple: it is about creating an inclusive learning experience that allows all students to thrive through:
- Personalised support
- Expert lecturers
- Strong connections with employers
- An international outlook
- Understanding how to use tools and technology to support learning and development
Programme delivery
Your time on campus, learning through in-person teaching, is at the heart of your academic experience and the way we deliver our programmes. This is supported and further enhanced by additional engagement activities and opportunities provided online and through digital teaching materials. This blended approach seeks to ensure a positive learning and teaching student experience.
Your programme of study has been carefully designed around a three-phase model of delivery:
- Preparation: You will be given clear tasks to support you in preparing for live teaching. This could include watching a short-pre-recorded lecture, reading a paper or text chapter or preparing other material for use in class.
- Live: All your live teaching will be designed around active learning, providing you with valuable opportunities to build on preparation tasks, interact with staff and peers, and surface any misunderstandings.
- Post: Follow-up activities will include opportunities for you to check understanding, for staff to receive feedback from you and your peers to inform subsequent sessions, and for you to apply learning to new situations or context.
Preparation, Live and Post teaching and learning and the digital materials used will vary by course, but will be designed to help you structure your learning, take a full and active part in your course, and apply and test your developing knowledge and skills.
Assessment
A variety of assessment methods are used, matched to the learning outcomes for your programme, allowing you to apply and demonstrate the full range of knowledge and skills that you have developed.
For more details on specific assessment methods for this course contact hello@leedstrinity.ac.uk
Entry Requirements
Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.
Information about the large range of qualifications we accept, including A-Levels, BTECs and T Levels, can be found on our entry requirements page. If you need additional advice or are taking qualifications that are not covered in the information supplied, please contact our Admissions Office.
| Qualification | Grade |
|---|---|
| UCAS tariff | 64 |
| GCSE requirements | GCSEs at grade C or 4 (or higher) are required in English Language and Maths |
Applications are welcome from mature students with few formal qualifications.
Any previous relevant work experience and learning will be assessed and, where appropriate, we may offer an alternative way to assess suitability to study.
This course is not available to students on a Student Route Visa.
Fees and finance
Funding
UK Home Students:
Tuition fees cost £9,250 a year for this course in 2024/2025.
Part-time tuition fees will be prorated accordingly to the number of credits you're studying.
Depending on government policy, tuition fees may change in future years.
Tuition fees for 2025/26 entry will be set in summer 2024.
Living costs, e.g. accommodation, travel, food, will also need to be taken into consideration.
Leeds Trinity offers a range of bursaries and scholarships to help support students while you study.
International Students, including EU Students:
Visit our webpage for international students.
Part-time study is not available for international students on a Student Route Visa.
Additional costs
We advise students that there may be additional course costs in addition to annual tuition fees. These include:
- Books - recommended and required reading lists will be provided at the start of your course. All the books and e-books are available from our Library to borrow but you may choose to purchase your own.
- Print costs - the University provides students with a £6 printing credit each academic year which can be topped up either on campus or online.
How to apply
For full-time undergraduate courses, you apply through UCAS. That's the University and Colleges Admissions Service.
On your application form, you'll need to know our institution code - it's L24 - and the course code. If you click through to the UCAS website using the button below, it'll take you to the right place with all the information you need.
You'll need to write a personal statement - we've prepared a guide to help you.
Although the equal consideration deadline has passed for 2024 entry there are still ways to apply now.
If you included five choices on your application, have received decisions from all five, and weren’t accepted, or if you declined the offers you received, you will be able to use Extra which opens on 28 February. If you use Extra to add another choice you cannot reverse this to go back to your original five choices.
If you did not use all your choices in your initial application, you don't need to use Extra, you can just sign in to your application and add another choice, as long as it’s before 30 June, and you’ve not accepted or declined any offers.
If you don’t hold any offers after 5 July, you will be able to add an additional choice using Clearing.
Applications are not yet open for courses starting in September 2025. You can register and start your application for 2025 from 14 May 2024, although you cannot submit it until later in the year. The UCAS application deadline for courses starting in September 2025 is 29 January 2025.
There's lots more information about the application process on the UCAS website, or you can get in touch with our admissions team who will be happy to help:
- call 0113 283 7123 (Monday to Thursday, 9.00am to 5.00pm, or Friday 9.00am to 4.00pm)
- email admissions@leedstrinity.ac.uk
This course is not available to students on a Student Route Visa.
Graduate opportunities
Providing you with the opportunity to develop the professional skills and experience you need to launch your career is at the heart of everything we do at Leeds Trinity University.
There is an increasing demand for cybersecurity professionals and graduates from this course will be well-positioned to exploit the wide range of career opportunities in this growing field across the public and private sector, including penetration tester, cybersecurity analyst, network security engineer, security architect and security risk and governance or become self-employed. The degree also offers a solid foundation for postgraduate study or academic research in related disciplines.
After you graduate, Careers and Placements will help you as you pursue your chosen career through our mentoring scheme, support with CV and interview preparation and access to graduate employability events.
To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:
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