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MEng (Hons) Computer Science with Cyber Security

Become a warrior in the fight to ensure people and systems are kept safe online

Year of entry: 2024/25

UCAS code

II10

Institution code

Y50

Length

4 years full-time

Typical offer

A*AA (full entry requirements)

Start date

September 2024 (semester dates)

UK (home) fees

£9,250 per year

International and EU fees

£28,800 per year

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Discover York

Cyber security covers concepts, policies, guidelines, tools and technologies used to protect the cyber environment, organisational assets and users.

Our integrated Masters helps you develop as a multi-skilled, highly competent practitioner. The course provides a solid foundation in computer science and cyber security, including coding, mathematics and basic engineering.

You will then undertake advanced training, informed by our world-class research, in topics such as secure systems, cryptography and forensic analysis, gaining a solid theoretical foundation to take full advantage of emerging new technologies.

On graduation, you’ll be prepared for a career in cyber security or related fields across industry and government.

This course is also available as an extended, five-year course: Computer Science with Cyber Security with a year spent in industry.

Accreditation

This course is accredited by:

  • BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered IT Professional.
  • BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer.

Find out more about what this professional accreditation means.

Software lab virtual tour

Our software labs offer spaces for individual and group work.

The labs are used for seminars and practical sessions and are fully equipped with the latest software to support your studies.

UK Top 20

for Computer Science and Information Systems in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2023

Course content

All students will study our core topics in computer science, which we have designed to be consistent with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) curriculum guidelines. These core topics provide the fundamental knowledge that all computer science graduates should possess, and the foundation required to specialise in the third and fourth years. The core topics are structured into eight streams:

  • Theory
  • Software
  • Systems and Devices
  • Data
  • Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
  • Intelligent Systems
  • Engineering
  • Cyber security

At least 25% of the course content will be in your specialist area of Cyber Security. To recognise this, your degree title will reflect your specialism.

Study abroad

There are opportunities for you to spend time abroad during your course:

Placements

You can apply to spend a year in industry as part of this course.

Year 1

In Year 1, you will focus on establishing a solid foundation regardless of your previous experience of programming and computing.

Core modules

Academic integrity module

In addition to the above you will also need to complete our online Academic Integrity module.

Year 2

Year 2 of the course will build upon the solid foundations you will have laid down in Year 1. You’ll take modules from streams 1 to 5 to deepen your learning and start on two further streams studying intelligent systems and undertake a group engineering project. You should develop your interests which you will then begin to focus on in Year 3.

Core modules

Year 3

In Year 3, you will really get under the skin of the specialist areas which interest you.

All option modules are open to third and fourth year students subject to meeting module prerequisites. When you take option modules in Year 4, you will need an additional assessment to reach Masters Level (M-Level). This may, for example, be an extra exam question with stricter marking criteria.

Core modules

Option modules

You will also study four option modules:

There is also the opportunity to study an elective module from another department.

Elective modules

You may be able to replace one option module with an elective module, studying a complementary subject, a language or an interdisciplinary topic.

Year 4

In your final year, you will work on a team engineering project which will be designed in collaboration with industry partners and take modules which access departmental research at an advanced level.

All option modules are open to third and fourth year students subject to meeting module prerequisites. When you take option modules in Year 4, you will need an additional assessment to reach Masters Level (M-Level). This may, for example, be an extra exam question with stricter marking criteria.

Core module

Option modules

You will also study four option modules:

Elective modules

You may be able to replace one option module with an elective module, studying a complementary subject, a language or an interdisciplinary topic.

Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff.

Learning by design

Every course at York has been designed to provide clear and ambitious learning outcomes. These learning outcomes give you an understanding of what you will be able to do at the end of the course. We develop each course by designing modules that grow your abilities towards the learning outcomes and help you to explain what you can offer to employers. Find out more about our approach to teaching and learning.

Students who complete this course will be able to:

  • Apply computational thinking to problems they encounter, using skills in problem analysis, representation and abstraction, and in algorithm selection, at different scales in complex situations, and drawing on the foundations of computer science. 
  • Adapt to new technologies, languages, paradigms, terminologies and models as they become available, being confident to use advanced techniques and tools in their practice. 
  • Design and build computer-based systems to serve the needs of users, with the most appropriate combination of software and hardware, by applying the theory and practice of programming, software engineering and cyber security, while making effective use of the variety of physical implementations on which that software may be running. 
  • Engineer solutions to problems by using skills from the whole breadth of Computer Science across all parts of the development lifecycle, with particular focus on cyber security.
  • Make immediate and effective contributions as part of multidisciplinary teams in industry, consultancy or education, by managing workloads, optimising resources and meeting deadlines, using experiences from team projects. 
  • Communicate with technical and non-technical stakeholders about complex computational problems and their solutions in a clear and organised manner. 
  • Operate as responsible Computer Science professionals by maintaining awareness of key legal and ethical issues, appreciating how computers and technology can impact on society, how society is impacted by a need for secure computing systems, and by continuing to expand and deepen their knowledge through critical engagement with the discipline. 
  • Apply theoretical and practical knowledge of cutting-edge cyber security research to new or unfamiliar problems they encounter in employment or further study, and to communicate the results in a significant technical report or other appropriate medium.

Excellent facilities

Our modern, self-contained building houses four software laboratories, two hardware laboratories and a range of social learning spaces.

Committed to equality

We are proud to hold an Athena SWAN Bronze award in recognition of the work we do to support gender equality.

Fees and funding

Annual tuition fees

UK (home) International and EU
£9,250 £28,800

UK (home) or international fees?

The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.

Fees for subsequent years

  • UK (home) fees may increase within the government fee cap in subsequent academic years. We will notify you of any increase as soon as we can.
  • International fees are subject to increase in subsequent years in line with the prevailing Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate (up to a maximum of 10%).

More information

For more information about tuition fees, any reduced fees for study abroad and work placement years, scholarships, tuition fee loans, maintenance loans and living costs see undergraduate fees and funding.

Additional costs

There are unlikely to be any mandatory additional costs associated with the course, although you may want to set aside £200 for optional photocopying and personal stationery over the duration of the course.

Funding

We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2024/25 throughout the year.

See Undergraduate scholarships for current information about funding opportunities for Computer Science students.

Living costs

You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.

Teaching Excellence Framework Gold Award

Gold-standard education

Our teaching, learning and student experience is outstanding, recognised by a Gold rating from the Office for Students in the 2023 national assessment (Teaching Excellence Framework).

Why we’re gold-rated

Teaching and assessment

You’ll study and learn with academics who are active researchers, experts in their field and have a passion for their subjects. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities, and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace. Find out more about our approach to teaching and learning.

Teaching format

A typical week will involve about 10-15 hours of scheduled teaching time. Our courses are based on a series of lectures with associated laboratory sessions, programming classes and tutorials.

Throughout the course, you will have a personal supervisor responsible for guiding your studies. In addition to any timetabled sessions, you will meet with your supervisor regularly, and you can also go to them at any time should you have any issues, academic or personal. There are problem classes to help you put learning from lectures into practice and regular project supervision meetings for your individual project.

You will also undertake learning outside of the scheduled timetable. This can be through working in the labs, through reading recommended materials or by working through problems. Consequently, you'll need to be self-motivated, self-disciplined and willing to learn outside regular classes.

As you progress through the course you will develop your skills to become a more independent learner. You'll also spend time working on your individual research project later on in the course, in addition to timetabled activity.

Timetabled activities

In your first year, you can expect:

Lectures4-6 hours per week
Tutorials0-2 hours per week
Problem classes2-4 hours per week
Practicals3-6 hours per week
Optional activities0-3 hours per week

These figures are representative of a typical week. Your contact hours will vary throughout the year due to your module choices, non-compulsory classes, exam periods and changes to scheduled activities.

Outside your timetabled hours, you'll study independently. This may include preparation for classes, follow-up work, wider reading, practice completion of assessment tasks, or revision.

In the UK, full-time students are expected to spend 1,200 hours a year learning. That's about 40 hours of classes and independent study each week during semesters. Everyone learns at a different rate, so the number of hours you spend on independent study will be different to other students on your course.

Facilities

We have four software and two hardware laboratories which you will be able to use depending on the topic of your final year project. These facilities are professional grade and used by our research teams so, depending on your interests, you'll get first hand exposure to these environments.

Our study and social pod is open 24/7 for group and individual study. It can also be booked for student society meetings and for events.

Our Interaction Labs provide excellent facilities for research and teaching in human-computer interaction. The Interaction Labs consist of an Accessibility and Usability Lab and a Games Research Lab, both of which are stocked with the latest technologies.

Our Real Time Systems Lab is the main research and development facility for the Real Time Systems research group. Inside the laboratory is a range of high-performance computers, custom hardware like FPGAs, robots, and various industrial machinery.

The Computer Vision group have a darkroom laboratory which enables us to conduct experiments in controlled illumination conditions and a second laboratory which includes a commercial 3D scanner. 

Along with students in the School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, you'll also have access to the Robotics Lab on Campus East, a purpose-built laboratory used for various robotics research projects and teaching. Within it, there is a dedicated student working area, with workstations and electronics bench equipment, alongside the main 80m2 robotics arena. The arena features a 5.5m high ceiling allowing drone experiments to take place as well as ground-based robots. Special tracking systems are installed to allow positional data of the robots to be extracted. There is also a workshop area with CAD, soldering and 3D printing facilities.

Find out more about our facilities, including a video tour showing our labs, teaching and research spaces.

Teaching location

The Department of Computer Science is based on Campus East. The majority of your teaching will take place in the department, with additional teaching taking place at other locations on Campus East.

About our campus

Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can use the fast and frequent bus service. Take a campus tour.

Assessment and feedback

We use a variety of assessment techniques throughout your course. This allows you to practice different techniques, from report writing, presentations and live demos to timed programming assessments and closed exams. It also means that you are not disadvantaged by being assessed in any one way.

To aid your learning we provide feedback on your assessments in addition to the marks you receive. Our Departmental Examinations Team is also available should you have any assessment queries.

We also ask our students for feedback on the course at the end of each year. This helps to improve and modify what we do to help meet the needs of our students.

Virtual tours

Take a virtual tour of our modern, dedicated facilities.

Our study and social pod is open 24/7 for group and individual study and events. It comes with a kitchen including a fridge, microwave and boiling water tap.
Our dedicated hardware labs will introduce you to the basics of computer architecture, operating systems and program language construction, providing a basis for further study in later years.

Careers and skills

The move towards a digital economy creates demand for computer scientists and software engineers across a broad section of employers, so the skills you develop here will make you attractive to many organisations. Most of our graduates go into the field of IT/Computing, followed by Financial Services, some undertake further study (eg PhD) and others go straight into industry (for example working for IBM, BAE Systems).

Many of our graduates are employed by software and electronics industries, but the continuing expansion of the use of computers in commercial and financial operations means that you will be able to find employment in other industries - and here your sharpened numeracy and analytical skills will have prepared you well.

Read some profiles of our past students and find out how their degree from York helps them to do jobs in organisations as diverse as Mars Inc and Cancer Research UK. Other companies that York graduates have gone on to work for include Amazon, BAE Systems, Morgan Stanley, G Research, Thales, the Civil Service, M&G Investments, Ubisoft, Rapita Systems, Sky, BT, Raspberry Pi, IBM, JP Morgan, Hut Group and Automaton Games.

Career opportunities

  • Computer programmer
  • Software engineer
  • Software developer
  • Business analyst
  • Research scientist
  • Network manager
  • IT Systems manager

Transferable skills

At York, you will gain a broad understanding of all of the essential scientific principles, engineering techniques and practices in Computer Science. This allows you to be flexible and adapt quickly in any field that you wish to go into. More specifically, we can identify four main skill areas:

  • analytical skills
  • research skills
  • management skills
  • communication skills

Entry requirements

Typical offer
A levels

A*AA including Mathematics

Access to Higher Education Diploma We accept the Access to Higher Education Diploma. The syllabus must contain a significant portion of Mathematics that is considered equivalent to A level standard. Applications will be considered on an individual basis - please contact the Department before you apply.
BTEC National Extended Diploma DDD and grade A in A level Mathematics (or equivalent qualification). We consider applicants with a combination of other BTEC Level 3 qualifications, and this must include grade A in A level Mathematics (or equivalent qualification). Please contact us to discuss your combination of qualifications.
Cambridge Pre-U D2, D3, D3 including Mathematics
European Baccalaureate 87% overall, including 85% in Mathematics
International Baccalaureate 37 points overall, including grade 6 in Higher Level Mathematics (either Analysis and Approaches or Applications and Interpretations).
T levels We are currently not accepting T Levels for this course unless an additional A Level (or equivalent qualification) in Mathematics has been taken.
Scottish Highers / Advanced Highers Advanced Highers - A in Mathematics plus Scottish Highers - ABBB

We may also be able to consider three Advanced Highers or a combination of Highers and Advanced Highers, where an applicant does not meet the grade requirement through Highers alone. Please contact us to discuss your qualifications.
International foundation programme Foundation Certificate from our International Pathway College or an appropriate alternative.
Other qualifications We welcome applications offering a mix of OU, A level and other appropriate qualifications. Applications will be considered on an individual basis: please contact the Department before you apply.
Other international qualifications Equivalent qualifications from your country

Additional requirements

We require a qualification in a physical science; for example, a GCSE at grade 4 (C) or above in Physics, Double Science, Combined Science: Trilogy, or Science and Additional Science.

Alternative offers

Meeting the following additional criteria may qualify you for an alternative offer.

Criteria Adjustment
Widening participation If you successfully complete one of the following programmes, you may be eligible for an alternative offer up to three A level grades (or equivalent) below our typical offer: Black Access Programme, Next Step York, Realising Opportunities, YESS, YorWay to York. More about widening participation.
Contextual offers If you have experience of local authority care or live in an area with low progression to university, you may be eligible for an alternative offer up to two A level grades (or equivalent) below our typical offer. More about contextual offers.
EPQ We recognise the value of this qualification although it will not be included as a condition of entry. It may be taken in to consideration when you receive your results.

English language

If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:

Minimum requirement
IELTS (Academic) 6.5, with a minimum of 6.0 in each component
Cambridge CEFR 176, with a minimum of 169 in each component
Oxford ELLT 7, with a minimum of 6 in each component
Duolingo 120, minimum 105 in each component
GCSE/IGCSE/O level English Language (as a first or second language) Grade C / Grade 4
LanguageCert SELT B2 with a minimum score of 33/50 in each component
LanguageCert Academic B2 Communicator with a minimum score of 33/50 in each component
KITE 459 Main Flight score with 426 in each component
Skills for English B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component
PTE Academic 61, with a minimum of 55 in each component
TOEFL 87 overall, with a minimum of 21 in each component
Trinity ISE III Merit in all components

For more information see our undergraduate English language requirements.

If you haven't met our English language requirements

You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.

The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.

After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.

Applying

To apply to York, you will need to complete an online application via UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service).

Next steps

Contact us

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Department of Computer Science

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