Royal Holloway has received a Gold award recognising excellence in cyber security education and good practice from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
Royal Holloway’s Masters in Information Security, delivered by the world-leading Information Security Group, as well as Bachelors and Integrated Masters degrees in Computer Science (Information Security) in collaboration with the Department of Computer Sciences have all received full NCSC certification for the high quality of cyber security education they provide. Royal Holloway is unique in being the only university in England to have full NCSC certification for all of its cyber security degree courses at both post- and undergraduate level.
The Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education (ACE-CSE) Gold award programme builds on NCSC certification by offering universities a way to demonstrate a broader commitment to excellence in cyber security in the wider community.
The university went through a further rigorous process to prove to independent assessors that they are developing in the three key areas of influential and growing community of cyber security educators; shaping and supporting cyber security education; and engaging with industry, government, educators and students.
Professor Keith Martin, Information Security Group and Director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security for the Everyday at Royal Holloway said: “Royal Holloway has been a centre of excellence in cyber security education since the 1990s, and we are happy to have this formal recognition of both our teaching and our wider knowledge transfer activities. Part of the remit of the ACE-CSE also recognises that we are working more closely with colleagues who govern the cyber security of the Royal Holloway campus itself, so we look forward to helping to further progress this relationship.”
The Gold award lasts for five years, and places Royal Holloway among a select group of ten university recipients in the UK.
Chris Ensor, NCSC Deputy Director for Cyber Growth, said: “I am delighted we can recognise Royal Holloway as an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education for its outstanding approach to cyber security education.
“It is a testament to the continual efforts of academics, support staff and senior management that cyber security remains high on their agenda.
“We very much look forward to working with them over the coming years and strongly encourage other universities to work towards achieving similar recognition in the future.”
The ACE-CSE programme was launched in 2020, and runs in parallel with the NCSC/ESPRC Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR) programme, which the Information Security Group at Royal Holloway is also recognised by.
Mike Johnson, Chief Information Officer at Royal Holloway, added: “The IT Services Team at Royal Holloway are delighted that the support they receive and collaboration they are engaged in with their colleagues specialising in cyber security teaching and research is being recognised. The ACE-CSE has galvanised this relationship and we look forward to working together for the benefit of the whole university community.”
