Overview
Cybercrime continues to rise and so does the need for skilled graduates. Kickstart your career in cyber security with an innovative and dynamic BSc in Computer Forensics and Security from Canterbury Christ Church University.
Delve into the intricacies of computing and online security and learn how to become a cyber forensics investigator. On this BSc cyber security degree, you’ll engage with a range of topics that will teach you cyber security fundamentals and how to confidently tackle challenging online security issues. From protecting organisational ecosystems to ethical hacking, you’ll develop the skills needed to protect systems from malicious attacks, human error, and vulnerability exploitations.
With a cyber security undergraduate degree from CCCU, you’ll be ready to enter a range of careers including civil litigation and criminal prosecution. You'll also learn the latest security tools including Autopsy, X-Ways, XRY, TSK, and Wireshark.
Not only will you grasp the specialist skills needed to thrive in multiple professions, but you'll have the opportunity to collaborate with other students, apply project management skills, and incorporate principals of commercial management through work and assessments. From this, you'll graduate with a well-rounded range of skills and the in-depth knowledge needed to succeed in the workplace.
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National Student Survey 2024An inclusive approach
At CCCU, we appreciate that you bring your own unique combination of achievements, experiences, and aspirations. We believe in recognising your full potential – not just your qualifications.
Each application is considered on its overall merits, including relevant work, voluntary, or professional experience. We are committed to fair, supportive, and inclusive decision-making.
If you have your results, you can apply now. You can also call us on 01227 926000 to discuss your options or register for a priority callback, and we’ll get in touch.
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As well as the core modules, you may also have the opportunity to study a number of option modules. Option modules will not be pre-selected for you. We provide examples of option modules. The availability of specific option modules may vary from year to year. The offer of an option will be subject to a minimum number of students choosing the module to ensure the appropriate student experience. The offer of option modules may also be affected by staff availability. It means we cannot guarantee the availability of a particular optional module. However, we will ensure you have a choice of option modules.
Core/optional modules
How you’ll learn
The course uses elements of the pioneering CDIO (conceive, design, implement, operate) international engineering education model, developed by the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology. CDIO gives you a rich hands-on experience and some of your teaching will be done via real-world inspired projects.
You'll be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars and practical labs. You'll typically have around 12 contact hours per week (depending on your module choices) and are expected to also spend about 4 hours each week co-ordinating with team members on group activities. Lab work usually involves working in small groups where you can discuss and develop your understanding of topics covered in lectures and put theory into practice.
You'll also have regular scheduled meetings, in addition to the above contact hours, with an assigned academic personal tutor.
All courses are informed by the University’s Learning and Teaching Strategy 2015-2022.
When not attending timetabled sessions, you'll continue learning through self-study. Typically, this involves completing computer-based exercises, preparing for workshops and seminars, undertaking research in the library, working on projects, undertaking coursework assignments or preparing for class tests and examinations and reading journal articles and books. Your module leader will direct you towards specific readings and/or activities to complete before class.
For your final year Individual Study (dissertation), you'll undertake independent research and will be assigned a supervisor, who will guide you through your first substantial and independent work during regular scheduled meetings.
Your overall workload typically consists of 12 contact hours and an additional 25 hours of independent learning per week. In addition, there may be field trips.
For each 20 credit module, your study time will about 10 hours a week plus work on assessments or preparation for examinations. Assessments would normally be expected to take approximately 50 hours for an assignment worth 50% of a 20 credit module. A similar amount of preparation and revision time would be expected for an examination worth 50% of a 20 credit module.
The team consists of highly qualified academics. They have a range of expertise and experience.
All our team members hold Doctoral or professional qualifications (e.g. Member of the British Computer Society or Eur. Ing.). Find out more about the current teaching. You should note members of the teaching team might change.
Postgraduate students assist in some teaching and assessing some modules. However, experienced academics teach the majority of lectures and seminars.
How you’ll be assessed
You'll be assessed largely by coursework and project work, though some modules will also have examinations or class tests. Coursework is mainly practically-oriented with appropriate theoretical elements to ensure a well rounded education. Assessments are generally individual, with group work in some modules where this matches the approaches used in industry.
We use coursework assessment methods based on their suitability for specific modules. Formative feedback is provided formally in Year 1 and during the Year 3 individual study, and informally in workshops and seminars.
Methods of assessment used include production of software artefacts, project plans and diaries, essays, reports, ‘investigation-based’ presentations, oral presentations, individual studies/projects, poster presentations, online assessment, logs, examinations and time constrained assignments.
Feedback
You'll receive feedback on all practice assessments and on formal assessments undertaken by coursework. Feedback on examination performance is available upon request from the module leader. Feedback is intended to help you learn and you are encouraged to discuss it with your module tutor.
We aim to provide you with feedback within 15 working days of hand-in (formal coursework assessment).
Your future career
As well as a breadth of technical skills, you will develop hugely important professional skills to enable you to engage successfully with employers and their business. The option to take a year in industry as part of your degree provides an immersive experience for you to enrich your technical and professional skills further.
Areas of work for the computer forensic/cyber security professional include, but are not limited to digital forensic investigation in law enforcement, the intelligence services (MI5), consultancy, financial services or healthcare. Staff at Canterbury Christ Church have real-life experience in all of these areas and are well placed to advise what practitioner life is really like at the operational end of cyber security work.
You will also have a strong grounding for further study on specialist Masters or Research (MPhil/PhD) programmes. This degree will stand you in good stead to work towards professional qualifications with a number of commercial providers and also those of the British Computer Society.
The demand for the experts in Cyber Security and Digital Forensics is very high. Our fantastic team is dedicated to making you feel at home and helping you transition into your new career life.Dr Man QiCourse director
Related courses
Fees
The 2025/26 annual tuition fees for this course are:
| UK | Overseas | |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time | £9,535 | £15,500 |
Tuition fees for all courses are payable on an annual basis, except where stated. The fees represented here are for study with Canterbury Christ Church University. If you are looking to study at a partner institution, please visit their website for fees information.
Please read the 2025/26 Tuition Fee Statement for further information regarding tuition fees and year on year fee increases.
Home (UK) Fees
The Government has announced that it will increase the tuition fee cap by 3.1%, in line with inflation, for the 2025/26 academic cycle. Subject to parliamentary approval, the University intends to increase our tuition fees in line with this and as per our terms and conditions. This means that from September 2025 our undergraduate home tuition fees are expected to be £9,535.
Overseas/International Fees
Undergraduate / PGCE tuition fees for international students are not set by the UK Government.
- Read advice about funding your degree
- See information about the financial support available for undergraduate studies
- If you would like information about paying your fees, please contact accounts.receivable@canterbury.ac.uk
- For specific fee queries, please contact fees@canterbury.ac.uk
Regulated by the Office for Students
The Office for Students (OfS) regulates Canterbury Christ Church University. The OfS is the independent regulator of higher education in England. It aims to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers. Further details about its work are available on the OfS website.
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