Students to study cyber security in new courses

Students will be given the opportunity to improve their cyber security knowledge, with courses now being offered in a new Tech-levels programme.

The new courses, from examination board AQA, are a direct result of the 2011 Wolf Report. The report asserted that numerous vocational courses had not provided sufficient career prospects to students. The Tech-levels, available as of this month, will be IT user support, IT programming, IT networking, power network engineering, mechatronic engineering, design engineering and business marketing.

Two additional Tech-level courses will be available next year, with entertainment technology and cyber security added to the  lineup. Professional bodies and tech firms, such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Siemens and Toshiba, helped in the design of the courses.

Carol Bishop, head of vocational and technical qualifications for AQA, said that taking employer needs into account when designing qualifications was one thing, but that the employers themselves simply had to be consulted throughout the entire process.

She added:

“The input we’ve had from more than a hundred organisations means we can be really confident that our Tech-levels have exactly what employers are looking for. These new qualifications are on an equal footing with A-levels, and we believe employers will start making them a job requirement because they know they’ll guarantee the right knowledge and skills.”

If the new tech-level courses are a success, we will see a new crop of educated talent with plenty to offer as they vie for cyber security jobs within the next few years.