Useful links
Below is a list of useful links for students trying to expand their skills or want to know more about the cyber industry
Initiatives & Organizations
CyberFirst is an NCSC-run scheme designed to introduce students and young people to Cyber. They run a number of in-person and online events each year that cover a variety of theoretical and practical cyber-related activities.
For students and interested individuals looking to break into the cyber networking and collaborative scene. The “independent, Cheltenham-centric platform enables networking, innovation and collaboration for the cyber technology industry, with an aim to establish Cheltenham as the cyber hub of the UK”.
BSides is a franchise of a community-driven framework for building events for and by information security community members. The goal is to expand the spectrum of conversation beyond the traditional confines of space and time. It creates opportunities for individuals to both present and participates in an intimate atmosphere that encourages collaboration.
Self-Teaching Resources
Immersive Labs is a favourite among project pioneers. Used by extensively by each of the founders, the E-Learning platform provides labs and learning material free of charge to students within their “Digital Learning Academy”. The platform provides a zero-to-hero cyber security knowledge base allowing you to have the knowledge for the job you want. Or, if you’re not at that point or don’t know what to learn, the platform provides pathways and listings to help you decide your future.
Free Udemy Courses (hotukdeals)
Are you a visual learner but finding the right online video courses can be very expensive and difficult but there is a light at the end of the tunnel? Platforms (in this case Udemy) often allow their content creators to host content on the site for free. But how do you find these free courses? Fortunately, that struggle doesn’t have to be your concern if you know where to look. The popular forum “hotukdeals” has many posts about free courses but you’ll have to snap them up whilst they’re hot!
Programming Resources
SoloLearn is Taylor’s personal favourite when it comes to learning and refining his programming skills. It contains 29 different interactive programming courses that can take you from novice to competent in a time that suits you and for completely free!
For those who don’t know if the idea of programming is for them, we have “Code Combat”! The gamified version of programming learning where it enables you to learn the principles of writing and running commands/code to reach an end result. Starting from one line of code, it will build upon your fundamental knowledge of the writing and executing of your programs with no prior knowledge needed!
Codeacademy is an interactive platform with free online coding classes in a variety of languages each with practical teaching elements.
Academic Pathways
NotGoingToUni is a site with numerous opportunities for school leavers that isn’t universities including jobs and apprenticeships. The site advertises many jobs and apprenticeships for a variety of ages.
The Institute for apprenticeships helps create and maintain apprenticeship standards. Their website holds a lot of information regarding apprenticeships for both employers and learners.
UCAS is the university and college admissions service. Their website allows you to browse and apply for universities and college courses. UCAS is a great site if you are interested in university and want to learn more about a specific course from its entry requirements to the course map.
University League Table Rankings
The Complete University Guide has a lot of information about different universities including table rankings. These rankings are based on entry standards, research quality, graduate prospects and student satisfaction. This website is a great way to find out students’ feedback on their university.