The demand for skilled cyber security professionals with a strong understanding of modern computing architectures is rapidly increasing. The BSc Computer Science with Cyber Security programme recognises this demand and integrates key computer science and security concepts to enhance your future career prospects.
Learning from expert academics and industry professionals, you can gain hands-on experience with security technologies, threat modelling, and incident response strategies applicable to industry environments. You can also enhance your expertise in network security, data protection, and access management.
This course aims to help you to develop the skills to tackle complex security challenges in modern computing environments, preparing you for a wide range of industry roles such as Security Engineer, Security Architect, Security Consultant, or other specialised cyber security roles within organisations with specific security requirements.
Build your skills through practical application of knowledge
Learn from industry-experienced experts
Gain industry experience through placement opportunities
Attain industry-recognised certifications as part of the programme
Use dedicated computer laboratories for your work
Industry-informed curriculum
Content on the programme is divided into 12-week modules. Your learning will primarily take place in lectures and supported hands-on workshops in our industry-standard facilities.
A key focus within the curriculum is on building resilient and secure systems in the face of modern threats. This is delivered through topics such as secure application development practices. You can also develop expertise in secure network design and incident investigation techniques.
You'll have the opportunity to complete a final-year project, where you can explore an area of security research, incident response, or vulnerability analysis which is of interest to you. This is an excellent opportunity to apply your knowledge to a significant security challenge and demonstrate experience in identifying, analysing, and mitigating security threats.
This module introduces the fundamentals of computer hardware, which underpins core aspects of computer science. This knowledge is essential not only for a deeper understanding of the processes governing computing but also for realising how hardware interacts with software.
By studying Computer Architecture, students can gain greater confidence in their study subject and future benefits when improving their programming skills. The module will study the individual components of a computer system, their function, main characteristics, performance and their mutual interaction.
This module aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the general principles and practices of advanced programming with respect to software development. Notions and techniques of advanced programming are emphasised in the context of analysis, design, and implementation of software and algorithms. Great importance is placed upon the Object-Oriented paradigm and related concepts applied to algorithm and software development using the C++ programming language, however students will also be exposed to the principles and underlying theories pertaining to functional programming.
The module aims to provide a modern introduction to the concepts of symbolic artificial intelligence, set in the context of intelligent agents.
The module covers the concepts such as state space representations and search, heuristic and adversarial search methods, and optimization techniques. The module also covers knowledge representation, AI planning, and some nonstatistical, machine learning methods.
This module considers basic computer communications and networking with an emphasis on the Internet Protocol.
The module examines the Internet Protocol as a model for intercommunication in modern network implementations. Additionally the module examines fundamental design features of a Network Protocol and the need to implement security in the modern Internet.
The module adopts a standards driven approach and determines methods used in modern network systems for the distribution of data. An emphasis on network infrastructure and protocols underpins the module together with basic security considerations important in modern network architectures. Aspects of security concepts are extended to consider mechanisms that counter various forms of threat that exist from different sources.
This purpose of this module is to provide students with the experience of working as part of a team within a simulated commercial setting. Students will go through the key phases of software development from ideation through to development, testing, delivery, and publishing. Through the module students will learn how to manage and deliver commercial software development projects. This will include ethical, social and professional issues, project management, communication, time management, and team working strategies.
This module develops on the skills learnt in the first year and places them in a simulated commercial setting. The artefact produced as part of the software development process should be suitable for inclusion within a professional portfolio.
The module introduces the fundamentals of machine learning and principled application of machine learning techniques to extract information and insights from data. The module covers supervised and unsupervised learning methods. The primary aim is to provide students with knowledge and applied skills in machine learning tools and techniques which can be used to solve real-world data science problems.
This module offers students the chance to demonstrate their ability to work independently on a significant, in-depth project requiring the coherent and critical application of computer science theory and skills.
Students must initially produce a project proposal and related materials to frame the work, specifying clear, specific, academically justified, and appropriately scoped aims and objectives, as well as feasible means for fulfilling those aims and objectives. Students then work independently to fulfil those project goals. Throughout this process students are expected to demonstrate the application of practical development and analytical skills, innovation and/or creativity, and the synthesis of information, ideas and practices to generate a coherent problem solution.
The module aims to introduce the main concepts of Autonomous Mobile Robotics, providing an understanding of the range of processing components required to build physically embodied robotic systems, from basic control architectures to spatial navigation in real-world environments.
Students will have the opportunity to be introduced to relevant theoretical concepts around robotic sensing and control in the lectures, together with a practical “hands on” approach to robot programming in the workshops.
This module introduces the student to the theory, principles, methods, and techniques of 3D computer graphics. The specialised mathematical underpinnings are explored along with their practical application in algorithms commonly used in videogame development. The development of skills in implementing computer graphic applications with modern, standard graphics pipelines encourages students to develop their programming skills while observing the theory of 3D graphics in practice.
This is delivered through a hands-on games programming context where students will be encouraged to develop interactive 3D graphics applications using industry standard tools and technologies.
This module aims to develop students' awareness and ability to implement and utilise mathematical approaches commonly seen in real-time systems such as videogames. In addition, modern graphical techniques will be explored, with reference to current industry practice, and students will be expected to demonstrate an ability to analyse requirements, systematically appraise existing methods, and employ critical-thinking in the development of their own pieces of work.
Digital image processing techniques are used in a wide variety of application areas such as computer vision, robotics, remote sensing, industrial inspection, medical imaging, etc. It is the study of any algorithms that take image as an input and returns useful information as output.
This module aims to provide a broad introduction to the field of image processing, culminating in a practical understanding of how to apply and combine techniques to various image-related applications. Students will have the opportunity to extract useful data from the raw image and interpret the image data — the techniques will be implemented using the mathematical programming language Matlab or OpenCV.
Parallel Programming is an important modern paradigm in computer science, and a promising direction for keeping up with the expected exponential growth in the discipline. Executing multiple processes at the same time can tremendously increase computational throughput, not only benefiting scientific computations, but also leading to new exciting applications like real-time animated 3D graphics, video processing, and physics simulation. The relevance of parallel computing is especially prominent due to availability of modern, affordable computer hardware utilising multi-core and/or large number of massively parallel units.
Realistic physics simulation is a key component for many modern technologies including computer games, video animation, medical imaging, robotics, etc. This wide range of applications benefiting from real-time physics simulation is a result of recent advances in developing new efficient simulation techniques and the common availability of powerful hardware.
The main application area considered in this module is computer games, but the taught content has much wider relevance and can be applied to other areas of Computer Science.
In this module, students can develop their understanding of how to design and develop and applications for Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) platforms. The module will start by introducing students to underpinning theoretical concepts of user experience in VR platforms, such as immersion, presence, fidelity, and embodiment. These will be used as a framework to explore a wide range of applications, primarily training and education, medical applications, therapy, and entertainment.
Fundamental design aspects will be introduced, such as interfaces and interactions, interactions with non-human characters, locomotion, and object manipulations. Within the context of training/education, design considerations relating to learning outcomes, knowledge transfer, and retention will be discussed.
Students are expected to consider the role of fidelity in relation to safety critical training, such as medical applications, and the advantages of VR over traditional displays will also be considered. Students can also learn how to assess user experience in VR using a variety of tools (primarily self-report measures). Students can also look at limitations such as simulator sickness, and accessibility of movement-based interfaces. The AR section of this module will mirror the VR topics mentioned, and compare and contrast AR platforms with VR, to enable students to make appropriate platform choices.
Alongside theoretical aspects, students can engage in parallel practical workshops, during which they will put into practice some of the concepts discussed in lectures. This will involve the use of appropriate development tools and platforms, and consideration of design aspects. Students have the chance to build an application during workshops, and use this as a tool to conduct an evaluation related to user experience.
† Some courses may offer optional modules. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by staff availability.
We want you to have all the information you need to make an informed decision on where and what you want to study. In addition to the information provided on this course page, our What You Need to Know page offers explanations on key topics including programme validation/revalidation, additional costs, and contact hours.
On the course you can access industry-standard facilities and dedicated computing labs to support your studies and enable you to hone your skills. This includes access to high-performance PCs with Nvidia GPUs as well as access to cloud vendor platforms, for example Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform, for real world cloud service deployments.
Students on the course have the opportunity to gain cutting-edge industry certification in areas such as security, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing. Examples of the certification exams and digital badges you can achieve as part of the programme include Microsoft Security Fundamentals and Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals
This programme gives you the option to complete a sandwich year. If you choose the sandwich placement option, you take a year out to work in industry and gain experience between the second and third year. If you wish, this can be abroad. You will be supported throughout your placement. A Placement Year Fee is payable to the University of Lincoln during this year for those joining in 2025/26 and beyond. You are expected to cover your own travel, accommodation, and living costs. There are also opportunities to take shorter work placements, for example over the summer period, and to be involved in systems development projects for real industry clients.
A range of assessment methods are used across the programme, including in-class tests, individual and group coursework, and poster sessions. These are designed to evaluate your understanding of theoretical computer science and security concepts as well as your practical application of skills.
Coursework assignments typically involve the development and deployment of computer science and security-based solutions, code implementations, and the creation of detailed technical documentation.
104 UCAS Tariff points from a minimum of 2 A Levels or equivalent qualifications.
BTEC Extended Diploma: Distinction, Merit, Merit.
T Level: Merit
Access to Higher Education Diploma: 45 Level 3 credits with a minimum of 104 UCAS Tariff points.
International Baccalaureate: 28 points overall.
GCSE's: Minimum of three at grade 4 or above, which must include English and Maths. Equivalent Level 2 qualifications may be considered.
The University accepts a wide range of qualifications as the basis for entry and do accept a combination of qualifications which may include A Levels, BTECs, EPQ etc.
We may also consider applicants with extensive and relevant work experience and will give special individual consideration to those who do not meet the standard entry qualifications.
Non UK Qualifications:
If you have studied outside of the UK, and are unsure whether your qualification meets the above requirements, please visit our country pages for information on equivalent qualifications.
https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/studywithus/internationalstudents/entryrequirementsandyourcountry/
International students will be required to demonstrate English language proficiency equivalent to IELTS 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. For information regarding other English language qualifications we accept, please visit the English Requirements page.
If you do not meet the above IELTS requirements, you may be able to take part in one of our Pre-sessional English and Academic Study Skills courses.
The University of Lincoln's International College also offers university preparation courses for international students who do not meet the direct entry requirements. Upon successful completion, students can progress to Bachelor's study at the University of Lincoln. Please visit https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/internationalcollege/ for more information.
For applicants who do not meet our standard entry requirements, our Science Foundation Year can provide an alternative route of entry onto our full degree programmes:
https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/course/sfysfyub/
If you would like further information about entry requirements, or would like to discuss whether the qualifications you are currently studying are acceptable, please contact the Admissions team on 01522 886097, or email admissions@lincoln.ac.uk.
The best way to find out what it is really like to live and learn at Lincoln is to visit us in person. We offer a range of opportunities across the year to help you to get a real feel for what it might be like to study here.
