Ethical Hacking and Cybersecurity MSci/BSc (Hons)
Course Code
UCAS Code: GG45
International Code: EECU044 (BSc)
International Code: EECU045 (MSci)
Location
Coventry University (Coventry)
Study mode
Full-time
Sandwich
Duration
BSc:3 years full-time4 years sandwich
MSci:4 years full-time5 years sandwich
Start date
September 2022
Course overview
Study level: Undergraduate
Ethical Hacking and Cybersecurity MSci/BSc (Hons) has been developed to provide you with a good practical and theoretical understanding of cybersecurity, hacking, digital forensics, and the underlying computer science.
High profile incidents like the WannaCry and Petya ransomware attacks making headlines in 2017 have led to an increasing demand for highly trained individuals who can advise businesses and organisations, government and law enforcement agencies alike on the best ways to protect their computer networks and the valuable, commercially sensitive information stored within them.
Studying Ethical Hacking and Cybersecurity at Coventry University will provide you with the opportunity to learn to identify and analyse the threats posed to modern information structures and the chance to develop the knowledge and skills to be able to advise a company on how to set up secure systems.
Coventry University has over 10 years’ experience of teaching cybersecurity, producing graduates who have gone on to successful careers in the sector. Previous graduates have gone on to become security consultants, security engineers, penetration testers and other sector specific roles.
With a strong emphasis on practical application of academic and theoretical aspects, the course aims to teach the key skills and competencies required by a cybersecurity professional, using specialised physical and virtual labs (subject to availability).

Global Ready
An international outlook, with global opportunities
Teaching excellence
Taught by lecturers who are experts in their field
Employability
Career ready graduates, with the skills to succeedWhy you should study this course
- Opportunity to gain Forensic Toolkit (FTK) certification (Please note that this opportunity is separate to the degree level course mentioned and students can apply to seek such certification themselves, which will be subject to competitive application, availability, exams, and additional costs may apply). Please visit the website for further information.
- Opportunity to demonstrate your portfolio of work to potential employers at events such as the Coventry New Wizards Showcase (subject to availability).
- Option to join the CISCO Academy Programme leading to an industry-recognised CISCO Certified Networked Associate (CCNA) qualification upon successful completion (subject to competitive application and additional costs may apply).
- Active Computer Club that usually organises a range of extracurricular activities, which may include LAN gaming, robot programming challenges and hackathons (subject to availability).
- Regular and free to attend guest lectures from current practitioners (subject to availability). In recent years, speakers have included senior professors from Sheffield, Lincoln and Birmingham universities and the European Bioinformatics Centre Cambridge.
- Support applying for short and long-term placements with technology companies, providing the opportunity to gain the experience employers desire*. Past students have worked for Microsoft UK Ltd, Intel and Accenture, as well as a range of medium sized companies in web, media and the creative industries.
- £50m Engineering and Computing building features a large range of specialised computing laboratories in computer security, communications and signal processing, electrical, electronics and microprocessors, ethical hacking and forensic computing, together with a games and multimedia studio and open access computer facilities, featuring industry-standard software from Kali Linux to wireshark and FTK (subject to availability).
Practical learning builds my skills
Jennifer Sau Yan Wan is a second year Ethical Hacking and Cyber Security BSc (Hons) student in the Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing.
Read Jennifer's story

What you'll study
We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.
How you'll learn
Your course will be based on a series of lectures, with associated seminars and project based practical classes. In addition, your personal tutor will review and discuss your progress with you and provide advice
Throughout the course, great emphasis is placed on the practical development of work, with a significant portion of your time being spent on assisted lab tasks, which may involve live practical hacking challenges, seminars discussing topics such as cryptography and forward secrecy or project-based classes, which may involve more in-depth work developing secure systems in hostile environments.
Regular external talks by academic and research staff, as well as visiting lecturers (subject to availability), are designed to bring you the latest issues on a wide range of topics, which in the past have covered exfiltration methods and social engineering in banking.
Actual teaching contact hours will vary depending on the level of study and the requirements of a particular semester. In a typical week your contact hours will be divided amongst personal tutorials and small group teaching; medium group teaching (e.g. seminars, tutorial sessions, lab sessions and workshops); and large group teaching (lectures).
In addition, you will be expected to undertake significant self-directed study each week depending on the demands of individual modules. The number of contact hours may vary from semester to semester, however, on average, it is likely to be around 17 contact hours per week in the first and second years dropping to around 12 contact hours per week in the final year as you should become a more independent learner.
Assessment
This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which could vary depending upon the module. Assessment methods include formal examinations, coursework, online and in-class tests, essays, practical or project work, group work, presentations, and posters.
The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards the achieving the intended learning outcomes.
Job ready
Upon successful completion, you will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge and a broad and deep understanding of the functioning of common software, platforms and systems, with the ability to build and secure such systems as well as analyse and reverse engineer their function and develop exploits for their flaws.
- Create working solutions to a variety of computational and real-world problems using an appropriate programming language (or languages) for the task.
- Understand the underlying architecture that supports the modern computer, including both traditional operating systems and modern internet-based infrastructure.
- Create software and systems that use appropriate tools, techniques, standards and best practices in order to minimise the chance of exploitable errors and be able to analyse third-party code to determine level of risk.
- Use a range of tools, from simple and general-purpose tools such as nmap and netcat, to specialist tools such as OpenVas or Metasploit, perform penetration tests on systems and networks with good coverage and professional reporting.
- Understand professional practices of the modern cyber security and wider IT industry, including technical (e.g. version control / automated testing) but also social, ethical & legal responsibilities.
- Apply a wide variety of degree level transferable skills including time management, team working, written and verbal presentation to both experts and non-experts, and critical reflection on own and others work.
- Apply the above to advanced topics selected according to your interests or module themes.
International experience opportunities
Cybersecurity is a global problem affecting all types of organisations throughout the world and, consequently, the course is designed to be international by its very nature. For example, when considering the legal and ethical dimensions of ethical hacking, we will study case studies selected from different countries and jurisdictions, such as the USA.
In the past, we have also encouraged students to participate in Online International Learning (OIL) projects in conjunction with colleagues at Middle East College and are currently developing projects with other international partners.
Entry requirements
Fees and funding
2022/23 Tuition fees
Student | Full time | Part time |
---|---|---|
UK | £9,250 per year | Not available |
International | £18,050 per year | Not available |
For advice and guidance on tuition fees and student loans visit our Undergraduate Finance page and see The University’s Tuition Fee and Refund Terms and Conditions.
We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.
Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them. Find out what's included in your tuition costs.
Facilities
The faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing boasts modern, multifunctional teaching and research buildings that support hands-on learning. Laboratories and workshops are equipped to commercial and industrial standards and are available to students both in and out of class time (subject to availability).

Cisco lab
The Cisco lab is used for working with general networking and towards accreditation by Cisco. Optional modules allow students to work in the lab to develop skills in preparation for the Cisco certification exam.

Virtual labs
Our virtual labs provide a cutting-edge environment to create entire virtual networks, complete with services, users and even attackers. Students can access this environment from anywhere on or off campus.

Games Technology lab
This lab contains high-end gaming PCs with the capacity to run industry standard games engines and programming environments. It also supports Virtual Reality (VR) game development.
Careers and opportunities
The practical nature of our course is designed to place an emphasis on your future employability after graduation, and the opportunities to develop a wide range of technical, analytical, design and professional skills. The technical content is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect what is currently important and in demand in industry.
We place a strong emphasis on sound investigative procedures, logging, and reporting, which is particularly suited to work within law enforcement agencies, as well as consultant organisations. You’ll also have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience of different operating systems and a number of investigative, development and hacking tools.
Coventry University is committed to preparing you for your future career and giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market. The university’s Talent Team provide a wide range of support services to help you plan and prepare for your career.
Where our graduates work
Previous graduates have found employment in ethical hacking and penetration testing roles, malware and software security analysis, telecoms security, digital forensics and evidence gathering, network and security administration within organisations, government organisations and insurance companies. Other past graduates have gone on to pursue more general computing careers in other areas of IT.
How to apply
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UK Students
Full-time students applying to start in September should apply for this course through UCAS. Part-time students should apply directly to the university. Read our application pages to find out your next steps to apply.
If you'd like further support or more information about your course get in touch with us today.
Chat with our admissions team
Complete our contact form.
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International Students
Full-time students applying to start in September should apply directly to the university. Read our application pages to find out your next steps to apply.
How to applyFor further support for international applicants applying for an undergraduate degree view our International hub.
You can also download our International Guide which contains lots of useful information about our courses, accommodation and tips for travel.
Get in touch with us today for further advice and guidance.
Chat with our admissions team.
Complete our contact form.
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Disclaimer
Student Contract
By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the 2021/22 Contract can be found here. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.
Tuition fees
The tuition fee for the course that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For UK and EU students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, EU students should be aware that there may be a change to UK laws following the UK’s exit, this may change their student status, their eligibility to study part time, and/or their eligibility for student finance. We will act in accordance with the UK’s laws in force in relation to student tuition fees and finance from time to time.
For International students the tuition fee that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For international students, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation.
Accreditations
The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships shall be renewed in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery.
Facilities
Facilities mentioned on this page may not be relevant for every course. Due to the ongoing restrictions relating to COVID-19, some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) and some non-academic offerings (particularly in relation to international experiences), may vary from those advertised and may have reduced availability or restrictions on their use.
Placements and study abroad opportunities
Please note that we are unable to guarantee any placement or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be subject to additional costs (e.g. travel, visas and accommodation etc.), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand the requirements in this regard, please contact the International Office for further details if you are an EU or International student.
Additional costs
This course may incur additional costs associated with any field trips, placements or work experience, study abroad opportunities or any other opportunity (whether required or optional), which could include (but is not limited to), equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas).