Why should you go to Queen’s University Belfast for a Master’s Degree in Cybersecurity?
You shouldn’t. Here’s why.
Many of us quit our jobs to study the MSc in Applied Cybersecurity at Queen’s University Belfast. Many did not. Yet we regret attending QUB. On this website, I hope to save you from making the same mistake by explaining why the programme is so critically flawed and outline the ways in which the administration have been, at best, dismissive.
I will be detailing the many reasons why you should not trouble yourself with the Queen’s University Belfast MSc in Applied Cybersecurity. But I will also briefly provide you some alternatives routes for your cybersecurity career going forward.
Many students feel that they have suffered both financially and emotionally due to the (mis)management and poor content delivery of the course. This would be bad enough on its own but when issues are raised the administration has paid lip service at best and placed the blame on students at worst.
The unseemly cost of it all
Since 2016 the course fees have sky-rocketed from the standard postgraduate rate of just £5,500 for EU/UK students to £12,600. With fees increasing by £7,100 and an overall increase of 229% the programme is now one of the most expensive in the industry.
The course is the second most expensive GCHQ/NCSC certified full-time programme in the United Kingdom for UK/EU students. By way of comparison, Queen’s University Belfast charges more than 86% of all GCHQ certified MSc. programmes.
With apparently no justification for the increase in fees, it should be noted that the curriculum has apparently not changed substantially after this increase. Whatever the reasons there may have been for such an enormous increase in fees, it can only be assumed that the reasons were not due to a higher quality or even substantially different course content.
On average the Queen’s University Belfast MSc. Applied Cybersecurity programme is £5,055 more expensive than the next 21 NCSC certified programmes in the UK. That’s almost as much as the programme cost by itself in 2016. For a programme in which many of the students feel that it has failed in fulfilling its most basic of duties, that is absolutely appalling sum.
There are a lot more reasons than financial not to go to Queen’s, and I will detail many of them in future posts, but I think it is best summarised by one of the past students when they said this:
I decided not to go into any cyber security roles because the course (particularly the 2nd year). Even some of the theory taught didn’t hold up (just from my own security training as a software engineer). — Anonymous Student
If the net result of the programme is that it not only fails to provide you with the requisite skills you need in industry but instead actively disenfranchises you from the entire field, something very seriously wrong must be going on.
There are far more attractive alternatives
University College Dublin (UCD) has an excellent course in computer forensics. Their MSc. in Digital Investigations and Computer Forensics is available as online part-time as well as full-time. It is a wonderful course that is drawn from a programme they teach law enforcement which will teach you the lowest levels of computer forensics and introduce you to Irish and EU Law whilst preparing you to be an expert witness in forensic cases. Admittedly it is a narrower specialisation which focuses primarily on forensics. That being said, there is more content delivered in the first semester of this degree than there is in an entire year of the Queen’s MSc. programme. It should be noted that UCD is not vetted by GCHQ/NCSC as the certification programme is not available to any university outside of the United Kingdom.
Cost: €9,000 for EU/UK students.
Most cybersecurity positions which are not very low level or graduate require at least some degree of certification. As such, even a Masters Degree will often not be enough to get an interview let alone a job. The following are some of the highest regarded certifications in the industry (world-wide) which you are probably going to have to get for a good position regardless of any MSc. programme. Given that they all assume very little knowledge it begs the question what value an MSc. really brings to the table.
Offensive Security offers a wonderful certification course, the Offensive Security Certified Professional. It is one of the most sought-after certifications in the industry. It is hard work but it is rewarding. No MSc. programme will prepare you for pen-testing and malware quite like the OSCP certification will. Depending upon your skill level and commitments, you can complete the OSCP in as short as one month part-time.
Cost: $1,150 (Incl. 90 days online labs, training materials)
EC-Council offers a barebones, somewhat low-level, certification course. The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). To be perfectly honest it does not compete with the OSCP either in value for money or in content. However, it is well regarded by Industry and is often the first checkbox recruiters may be looking for on your CV. This can be self-studied with one of the many books available from publishers or alternatively you may opt for the full online training program from the EC-Council.
Cost: $2,014 (Incl. Exam voucher, 6 months online labs & training materials)
CompTIA offers the well-renowned Security+ certification. Much like CEH this certification is a junior option. Yet it is no less recognised (albeit somewhat less sought-after) with broad focus including pen testing. As with the CEH certification, Security+ may be self taught from a variety of publisher’s study guide books.
Cost: $450 (Incl. Exam and Retake Exam Vouchers, and training materials)
Brexit, politics and safety
Arguably one of the biggest reasons to avoid Queen’s University Belfast is Brexit and the developing political situation.
Increasingly it seems that the U.K. is headed towards a Hard Brexit which means that Northern Ireland (U.K.) and The Republic of Ireland (which as an independent nation will remain in the European Union, or E.U.) may soon be separated by a physical hard border which is policed.
Northern Ireland has had more than its fair share of troubles in the past, and some believe that Brexit may re-ignite these old tensions. The Unionist Twelfth celebrations this year were some of the most violent for years [1] [2]. Some fear that when a hard border returns to separate the Island of Ireland that these tensions could return to those of the past.
This could mean that Queen’s University Belfast may not be the safest place to study in coming years.
Next in the series:
Broken promises of student involvement in the annual CSIT Cybersecurity Conference.
