Leeds Beckett Cyber Security degree fully certified by the National Cyber Security Centre

The certification places Leeds Beckett among a small group of UK universities to hold full certification for an undergraduate cyber security degree, recognising the quality and rigour of the university’s teaching, curriculum and student outcomes.

Delivered within the university’s School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing and led by Course Director Dr Pip Trevorrow, the degree underwent a detailed assessment process carried out by an independent panel of experts from academia, government and industry.

To achieve certification, the university demonstrated that the programme meets the NCSC’s standards across the full design and delivery of the course. This included mapping the curriculum against the Cyber Security Body of Knowledge (CyBOK), evidencing staff expertise, providing assessment materials and student work for review, and demonstrating strong student outcomes and satisfaction.

The NCSC Certified Degrees programme aims to help students make informed decisions when choosing cyber security courses and to raise standards of cyber security education across UK higher education.

Dr Pip Trevorrow said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the team and reflects the quality, rigour and real-world relevance of what we deliver to our students every day. Having the course fully certified by the National Cyber Security Centre is a mark of genuine excellence, and I’m immensely proud of everyone who has contributed to reaching this milestone.”

NCSC Deputy Director for Cyber Growth, Chris Ensor said: “The certification of the Leeds Beckett University’s BSc (Hons) Cyber Security degree by the NCSC demonstrates our shared commitment to responsibly developing the cyber security talent pipeline. Offering a NCSC-certified degree helps prospective students make better informed choices about the quality of courses available, and employers can be assured that graduates will have studied relevant material, be well-taught and have valued industry skills.”

Practical cyber learning through Hacktivity

A key feature of the course is Hacktivity, a cyber security teaching platform developed at Leeds Beckett by Dr Z. Cliffe Schreuders.

The platform provides hands-on cyber security learning through practical labs and capture-the-flag style challenges used across modules on the degree. The activities are aligned with the Cyber Security Body of Knowledge (CyBOK) framework, supporting the programme’s alignment with the standards used in the certification process.

Hacktivity has been developed through sustained research and innovation funding, including CyBOK grants and CyberASAP (Innovate UK) commercialisation funding. The platform is also available as an online subscription service used by other UK higher education institutions and individual learners.

At the CYBERUK 2025 conference, Ollie Whitehouse, Chief Technology Officer at the National Cyber Security Centre, described Hacktivity as, “a truly innovative education platform, which has come out of UK academia.”

Research and industry connections

The BSc (Hons) Cyber Security programme is part of Leeds Beckett’s wider cyber security activity, including the university’s Cybercrime and Security Innovation Centre, which brings together research expertise, industry collaboration and real-world operational insight.

Students on the course can also undertake industry placements, attend professional conferences and complete a major final-year project, often working with employers and partners across the region.