MSc Computer Science (Cyber Security)
- Canterbury, United Kingdom
- Online
MSc
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 24,700 *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for international | UK: £15,000
Key Summary
About: The MSc Computer Science (Cyber Security) conversion course at the University of Kent trains you in computer science and systems security to address cybercrime and complex threats. You’ll learn from staff at a government‑recognised Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research. The course is BCS accredited, can include a paid industrial placement and offers an Internationally Incorporated Master’s route.
Career Outcomes: Graduates gain career opportunities in software engineering, systems analysis, networking, consultancy, web and mobile development, finance, commerce, government and healthcare. Employers include BAE Systems, Cisco, IBM, The Walt Disney Company and BT. Paid placements can be overseas.
Cybercrime is a growing threat to society, democracy and organisations with increasingly high-profile cybersecurity cases in the news. This conversion course has been designed to meet the demands of organisations seeking to protect valuable data. This course will provide you with the key skills and knowledge in computer science and systems security to enhance your career prospects in identifying and solving complex security problems.
The University of Kent is recognised by the British Government as being an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research, meaning you will be taught by staff who are top researchers in this area.
It's possible to take this course with an additional placement. If you don't meet our entry requirements, you can also access this course with an Internationally Incorporated Master's (IIM).
Accreditation
This course is accredited by BCS (British Computer Society). The course partially meets the requirements for a Chartered Information Technology Professional (CITP).
About the School of Computing
Our world-leading researchers, in key areas such as cyber security, programming languages, computational intelligence and data science, earned us an outstanding result in the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF); an impressive 100% of our research was classified as either 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent' for impact.
Strong links with industry underpin all our work, notably with Cisco Systems Inc, Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Nvidia, Erlang Solutions, GCHQ and Google.
Our courses are taught by leading researchers who are experts in their fields. The School of Computing at Kent is home to several authors of leading computer science textbooks.
We have a large range of equipment providing both Linux and PC-based systems. Our resources include a multicore enterprise server and a virtual machine server that supports computer security experiments.
The School also has a unique makerspace called the Hackspace, which offers exciting teaching and collaboration opportunities.
Scholarship value
The award covers tuition fees, return airfares and living costs for a one-year taught Master's programme.
Deadline
Deadline for Commonwealth application: - 12 December 2024.
Hold an unconditional offer (with the only outstanding condition, international fee deposit) of a programme of study from the University of Kent - 31 January 2025
Criteria
To be eligible to apply for this scholarship, candidates must:
- Hold an undergraduate degree at UK first-class level equivalent.
- Be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by one of the eligible Commonwealth countries listed or be a British Protected Person.
- Be a permanent resident in one of the eligible Commonwealth countries listed above.
- To be committed to the University of Kent, you can apply for more than one course and/or to more than one University, but you may only accept one offer of a Shared Scholarship.
- Not have studied or worked for one (academic) year or more in a high-income country.
- Be unable to afford to study in the UK without this scholarship.
- Return to their home country as soon as their period of study is complete. In some circumstances, a student may be permitted to remain in the UK if seeing doctoral study and satisfy certain strict conditions.
- Hold an offer by the deadline for a full-time postgraduate taught degree on one of the eligible courses at the University of Kent:
- MSc Artificial Intelligence
- MSc Infectious Diseases
- MSc Cyber Security
- MA International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
- MSc Applied Actuarial Science
- MSc Conservation Science
- MA English and American Literature
Further details
Commonwealth Shared Scholarships, set up by DFID in 1986, represent a unique partnership between the United Kingdom government and UK Universities.
Funded by the UK Department of International Development (DFID), Commonwealth Shared Scholarships enable talented and motivated individuals to gain the knowledge and skills required for sustainable development. They are aimed at those who could not otherwise afford to study in the UK.
These scholarships are offered under six themes:
- Science and technology for development
- Strengthening health systems and capacity
- Promoting global prosperity
- Strengthening global peace, security and governance
- Strengthening resilience and response to crises - Access, inclusion and opportunity.
How to apply
To be considered for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship you must:
- Make a formal application for a postgraduate degree at the University of Kent commencing September 2025/26. This can be done online here.
- Complete the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) online application process. For information on how to do that and full details of the application process please go directly to the Commonwealth Scholarships webpages.
- Applications will be considered based on Academic Excellence and a completed application.
- The Commonwealth will accept applications until 12th December 2024 (closing at 16:00 GMT).
Stage 1
Compulsory modules currently include the following
- Advanced Java for Programmers
- Object-Oriented Programming
- Privacy & Cyber Law
- Cybercrime and Adversarial Behaviours
- Computer Systems
- Human Factors in Cyber Security
- Project & Dissertation
Optional modules may include the following
- Digital Forensics
- Software Engineering
- Web-Based Information Systems Development
Graduate destinations
Our graduates have gone on to work in:
- software engineering
- mobile applications development
- systems analysis
- consultancy
- networking
- web design and e-commerce
- finance and insurance
- commerce
- engineering
- education
- government
- healthcare.
Recent graduates have gone on to develop successful careers at leading companies such as:
- BAE Systems
- Cisco
- IBM
- The Walt Disney Company
- Citigroup
- BT.
Industrial placements
You can gain practical work experience as part of your degree through our industrial placements scheme - we have a dedicated Placement Team who can give advice and guidance. All our placements are in paid roles.
In previous years, students have worked at a wide range of large and small organisations, including well-known names such as:
- Accenture
- BT
- GSK
- IBM
- Kent Police
- Microsoft
- Morgan Stanley
- The Walt Disney Company.
You can take your work placement abroad. Previous destinations include Hong Kong and the US.
An industrial placement gives you invaluable workplace experience, which greatly enhances your employment prospects and also helps put your academic learning into a real-world context.
Teaching and assessment
Assessment is through a mixture of written examinations and coursework, the relative weights of which vary according to the nature of the module. The final project is assessed by a dissertation.
Study support
Postgraduate resources
The School of Computing has a large range of equipment providing both UNIX (TM) and PC-based systems and a cluster facility consisting of 30 Linux-based PCs for parallel computation. New resources include a multi-core enterprise server with 128 hardware threads and a virtual machine server that supports computer security experiments.
All students benefit from a well-stocked library, giving access to e-books and online journals as well as books, and a high bandwidth internet gateway. The School and its research groups hold a series of regular seminars presented by staff as well as by visiting speakers and our students are welcome to attend.
The School of Computing has a makerspace which offers exciting new teaching and collaboration opportunities. Among other equipment, it contains milling machines, a 3D printer, laser cutter and extensive space for building and making digital artefacts.
Our taught postgraduate students enjoy a high level of access to academic staff and have their own dedicated laboratory and study room. Students whose course includes an industrial placement are supported by a dedicated team which helps them gain a suitable position and provides support throughout the placement.
Dynamic publishing culture
Staff and research students publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: Journal of Artificial Evolution and Applications; International Journal of Computer and Telecommunications Networking; Journal of Visual Languages and Computing; Journal in Computer Virology.
Links with industry
Strong links with industry underpin all our work, notably with Cisco, Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Agilent Technologies, Erlang Solutions, Hewlett Packard Laboratories, Ericsson and Nexor.