Cyber Security MSc

What makes MSc Cyber Security at Worcester special?

In an era when digital security threats are evolving at an unprecedented pace, our Master of Science in Cyber Security (MSc) program will give you the skills and confidence to forge your cyber security career.

The course is designed for students who already hold a degree in a computing-related discipline and are looking to specialise in cyber security. The course is tailored to meet the needs of both aspiring cyber security professionals, researchers and those looking to advance in this critical career. Graduates will emerge as highly skilled, employable experts ready to protect and enhance the digital infrastructure of businesses and governments around the world.

You will be taught by academic staff who have a wealth of experience in industry, research and teaching. In our state-of-the-art cyber lab, you will gain experience focussed on the latest developments in defending digital systems, detecting attacks, or undertaking a forensic cyber investigation. The course mixes practical development, opportunity discovery and innovative use, underpinned by core principles such as understanding threats, ethical and legal considerations, strategic planning, critical thinking and problem-solving.

*Subject to approval 2025

Overview

Key features

Modules that incorporate the latest ideas in security technologies, ethical hacking, digital forensics, and regulatory compliance
Practical skills combined with skills to manage cyber projects and make decisions
Structured learning that will take you from understanding basic concepts to determining, building and testing solutions
Consideration of cyber security across the full technology landscape – from cloud systems to corporate computer networks, to edge sensors and remote autonomous devices
Teaching staff from a wealth of backgrounds including industrial and business applications as well as advanced research establishments
Hands-on experience in exploring the latest technological and computing technologies, such as AI, autonomous systems and Internet of Things technologies

Entry requirements

Academic requirements

An honours degree at 2:2 level or above in a computing- or technology-related subject (or international students holding a qualification recognised as equivalent by the University).

Computing or technology-related subjects might include:

computing
computer science
computer engineering
engineering
information technology

Entry to the MSc Cyber Security requires all applicants to complete an application form. Where information on the form is insufficient for a decision to be made the applicant will be requested to attend an interview with the Admission Tutor.

If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the Admissions Office on 01905 855111 or email admissions@worc.ac.uk for advice.

Other information

Students with relevant previous study at postgraduate level or with extensive experience may be considered eligible for recognition of prior learning. Please contact the Registry Admissions Office for further information or guidance on 01905 855111. Further information can be found on our Recognition of Prior Learning Registry Services page.

International students

Students whose first language is not English are required to demonstrate proficiency to a minimum level of 6.5 IELTS (and minimum of 5.5 in each element) or equivalent.

We accept IELTS, Pearson and many Cambridge certificates as a proof of English language fluency on our degree courses. Other equivalent English qualifications will also be considered as well as qualifications recognised as equivalent by the University. Some courses may require a higher score for professional accreditation or registration. Find out more about language requirements and support.

Part-time option

The course will normally take one academic year to complete. Part-time students will complete the course over 2 years at least. The maximum registration period allowed for the completion of these awards in part-time mode (without credit on entry) is 6 years.

Course content

Our courses are informed by research and current developments in the discipline and feedback from students, external examiners and employers. Modules do therefore change periodically in the interests of keeping the course relevant and reflecting best practice. The most up-to-date information will be available to you once you have accepted a place and registered for the course. If there are insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, this might not be offered, but we will advise you as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative.

Semester 1	Cyber Threats and Risk Attack Detection and Forensic Analysis Defensive Cyber Security Research Methods
Semester 2	Digital Ethics and Governance Cyber Security Team Project Managing Computer Projects Cyber Security Research Topics
Semester 3	Research Project (Dissertation)

The placement

You will have the opportunity to go on a work placement for 6 or 12 months. You are supported in finding placements and can apply for a vacancy as you would a job. There are dedicated sessions to support you in CV writing, interview skills and job applications as well as access to 1:1 tutorials. Most placements start on completion of the taught modules.

The placement will allow you to gain first-hand experience within a real business environment to enhance your future employability and are usually paid. Some students choose to base their research project on a business-related issue arising during the placement. This would give you access to research participants and primary data, and allow you to apply the theories and principles discussed on the programme to a real organisation.

While on placement, you will be supported by a dedicated placements team able to respond to any problems you may be having, an individual tutor who visits you twice while you are on placement and you will retain access to all the University facilities including e-resources. At the end of the placement, you are required to submit a placement portfolio containing your learning contract, a satisfactory employer appraisal, a case study and an end of placement presentation.

You can get in touch with the Placements Office on placements@worc.ac.uk.

Teaching and assessment

The University emphasises enabling students to develop independent learning capabilities that will equip them for lifelong learning and future employment, as well as academic achievement. A mixture of independent study, teaching and academic support from Student Services and Library Services, and also the personal academic tutoring system enables you to reflect on progress and build up a profile of skills, achievements and experiences that will help you to flourish and be successful.

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures, seminars, laboratory practical activities, fieldwork, etc. Interactive workshops take a variety of formats and are intended to enable the application of learning through discussion and small group activities. Seminars enable the discussion and development of understanding of topics covered in lectures, and laboratory practical activities are focused on developing subject-specific skills and applied individual and group project work.

In addition, you are assigned a personal academic tutor who will advise you throughout your course.

Contact time

Each module will have a weekly session of two hours. In a typical week, you will have around 8 contact hours of teaching, but this might differ based on the number of modules taken in each semester if you selected the part-time study mode.

Teaching sessions will typically take place in our dedicated computer labs. We also have open-access computer labs that you can use outside of scheduled teaching sessions.

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, you are expected to undertake around 30 hours of personal self-study per week. Typically, this will involve completing online activities, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library and online, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for examinations.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including The Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources.

Duration

1 Year full-time
2 Years at least for part-time (maximum registration 6 years)

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration.

Please note that whilst we try to be as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week, and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience, demonstrators and technical officers.

Teaching is informed by research and consultancy, and many of our lecturers have a higher education teaching qualification or are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy. You can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles.

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments.

Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade. Assessment methods include written examinations and a range of coursework assessments such as essays, reports, portfolios, performance, presentations and a final year independent studies project.

The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year will vary according to the mandatory and optional modules taken, but a typical formal summative assessment pattern of the course is:

3 written reports
1 group project
2 practical assessments
3 presentation
2 formal examinations of 2 hours duration
1 research proposal
Major dissertation

You will receive feedback on practice assessments and formal assessments. Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate.

We will provide you with feedback on formal coursework assessments within 20 working days of hand-in.

Meet the team

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience, and visiting speakers with specialised expertise. Teaching is informed by the research and consultancy work carried out by staff and you can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles.

Here are a few of the current members of the department who teach on this course:

Dr Andrew Tomlinson

Andrew has worked on computing projects for over twenty years. His work has included information systems development, systems analysis, IT strategy planning, data science and research. He has worked on systems for healthcare and medical diagnosis, banking, transport, cybersecurity, DNA analysis, and telecoms. Andrew’s PhD looked at detecting cyberattacks in vehicles – a potential huge problem in future driverless cars.

When he is not researching the latest computing developments or planning lectures, Andrew enjoys watching old movies, especially from the silent era, and listening to all sorts of music.

Dr Colin B Price

Colin has spent his entire career in education. From the early years teaching Physics at the British School of Brussels to his current post as Principal Lecturer in Computing, Colin has always strived to integrate his research and teaching. He has held faculty positions at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, where he has taught Electronic Engineering and also Physics to Medical Science students.

PhD Electrotechnical Engineering (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium)

MA Natural Sciences (Cantab)

BA Natural Sciences (Cantab)

Dr Chris Bowers

Chris is a Principal Lecturer in Computing and is currently the China Partnership Lead for Worcester Business School. His research is focussed on Interactive Intelligent Systems encompassing a range of application areas including behaviour change technologies, energy demand management, health and wellbeing.

Chris completed a BSc in Physics and Computer Science at Keele University before progressing to a MSc in Natural Computation at the University of Birmingham and then continuing at the University of Birmingham to complete a PhD in Computer Science.

Peter Clews

Peter has a wide variety of industry experience, including three years in database administration and data analysis for Mercedes-Benz dealerships. He has a BSc Computing with Business from the University of Worcester, where he was awarded the Academic Achievement Scholarship for his first-year results. He has an MSc in Business Intelligence from Birmingham City University (with distinction), where the topic of his dissertation was a review of rudimentary methods of sarcasm classification in tweets.

Peter currently assists with delivering the undergraduate database modules, as well as contributing to the postgraduate corporate intelligence modules. His research interests include data mining, text mining, machine learning algorithms and database architectures. Peter also has a keen interest in the provision of support for students on the autistic spectrum within higher education.

Chris Blythe

After a varied career Chris completed a Bachelors in Computing at the University of Worcester, then studied at the University of Helsinki followed by working at the University of Huddersfield as a researcher on Augmented Reality for Dementia. Chris is currently the Course Leader for the Computing undergraduate degrees, and teaches on modules in programming, web development, games design & development, and mobile development. His interests include Game Based Learning, Education for Sustainable Development and Augmented Reality for Dementia.

Careers

Our MSc will equip you with skills to pursue your career in Cyber Security and will also pave the way for studying this field at PhD level, should that be your desire.

Opportunities for Cyber Security professionals include:

Cybersecurity Specialist
Cyber Crime Analyst
System Consultant
Penetration and Vulnerability Tester
Cyber Security Engineer
Information Security Manager

Beyond specific technical skills, our MSc will allow you to develop a range of transferable skills which are highly valued, such as problem-solving, team leadership, presentation skills, adaptability, and a sustainability mindset.

Fees and funding

Full-time tuition fees	UK and EU students The standard tuition fee for full-time home and EU students enrolling on MA/MSc/MBA/MRes courses in the academic year 2025/26 is £9,450 per year. For more details, please visit our course fees page.	International students The standard tuition fee for full-time international students enrolling on MA/MSc/MBA/MRes courses in the academic year 2025/26 is £17,900 per year. For more details, please visit our course fees page.
Part-time tuition fees	UK and EU students The standard tuition fees for part-time home and EU students enrolling on MA/MSc/MBA/MRes/PGCert/PGDip courses in the academic year 2025/26 are £788 per 15-credit module, £1,575 per 30-credit module, £2,363 per 45-credit module, and £3,150 per 60 credit module. For more details, please visit our course fees page.	International students The standard tuition fees for part-time international students enrolling on MA/MSc/MBA/MRes courses in the academic year 2025/26 are £1,492 per 15-credit module, £2,983 per 30-credit module, £4,475 per 45-credit module, and £5,967 per 60 credit module. For more details, please visit our course fees page.
Additional costs	Every course has day-to-day costs for basic books, stationery, printing and photocopying. The amounts vary between courses. If your course offers a placement opportunity, you may need to pay for an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.
Accommodation	Finding the right accommodation is paramount to your university experience. Our halls of residence are home to friendly student communities, making them great places to live and study. We have over 1,000 rooms across our range of student halls. With rooms to suit every budget and need, from our 'Traditional Halls' at £131 per week to 'Ensuite Premium Halls' at £228 per week (2025/26 prices). For full details visit our accommodation page.
Postgraduate loans	The Government will provide a loan of up to £12,471 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2024 per eligible student for postgraduate Masters study. It will be at your own discretion whether the loan is used towards fees, maintenance or other costs. For more details visit our postgraduate loans page.

Full-time tuition fees