Is the University of South Wales a good university?

Hey everyone! I'm planning on going to University in 2016 (Year 12 currently) so
I have started looking round at Universities. One of which is the University of South Wales where i'd like to the Computer Security course.

Is the University a good one to go to?

Thanks everyone!

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 1

Origami Bullets

It's not Russell Group, research intensive or highly competitive. So, I'm sure you will get a lot of people coming along here telling you it's not a good uni (I will reserve my own judgement).

Whether or not it's a good university *for you* will depend on a number of factors, such as
- what are your grades like, relative to the entry requirements?
- will it teach you what you want and need to learn
- what are the career prospects like?
- will you like living in the local area for 3 years?
- when you visit, does it feel right to you?
- is there another uni out there that is a better fit for you?

TSR's resident cyber security bod, Mad Vlad, will tell you that there is A.D.significant skills shortage in the sector, but you should ensure that the degree you take will equip you with the skills that employers actually want.

mad Vlad

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 2

Maffyman

I starting looking at non Russell Group as they don't seem to have that course at BSc level. The closest I could find was in Cardiff.

http://coursefinder.cardiff.ac.uk/undergraduate/course/detail/G4F4.html

Do you think that would be fine for a career in Computer Security?

Thanks

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 3

UpInTheMorning

I think the best way would be to do a degree in computer science at a Russel Group university, and then specialise in security in the future.

A computer science degree will give you a broader technical base, and the theoretical side is necessary for things like cryptography.

Reply 4

Maffyman

Thanks for the advice UpInTheMorning, I will now look at these courses in detail.

Thanks again!

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 5

ageshallnot

Original post by Maffyman

Newcastle have a similar approach with their BSc in Computer Science (Security and Resilience) and an integrated Masters:

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/i190/courseoverview/
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/i192/modules/

The same applies with Royal Holloway, who offer degrees in Computer Science Information Security:

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/computerscience/coursefinder/bsccomputerscienceinformationsecurity.aspx
https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/computerscience/coursefinder/mscicomputerscienceinformationsecurity.aspx

All four are available with a year's industrial placement, which would be extremely valuable to you.

Original post by UpInTheMorning

If the above do not suit, then this might be the best way to go.

Reply 6

swanseajack1

I will try and answer your query as best as I can. university of south wales was formed by a merger of the universities of Glamorgan and Newport. The course you are looking into is in the Pontypridd site which was the main site for the University of Glamorgan. whilst not being extremely high in the rankings it has always had a good reputation in engineering and particularly Forensic science. the uni is one of the earliest to operate courses in that field and is very highly respected in that area. it is a small town not far from Cardiff by train with all that city offers in terms of shopping and nightlife. Pontypridd itself does not offer a lot but the campus itself is in quite a nice area south of the town. my cousin actually studied forensics there and is now a forensic scientist with a police force in the south east of England. depending on what your likely grades are the course and uni may be worth looking into as i think computing may be one of its strongest courses.

Reply 7

Mad Vlad

Original post by Maffyman

USW is one of the top universities for Computer Forensics and Security degrees in the UK.

Reply 8

Mad Vlad

Original post by UpInTheMorning

This is largely *******s.

Reply 9

UpInTheMorning

Original post by Mad Vlad

This is largely *******s.

It's not really though.

I bet that South Wales doesn't teach the details of, say, the RSA encryption algorithm, but you would have a very good chance of encountering it in the route I proposed above.

Reply 10

Mad Vlad

Original post by UpInTheMorning

Do I need to know the inner workings of the RSA algorithm? No. I just need to know the basic concepts of PKI and key exchange. I really do not rate bog standard CS as a prerequisite to security specialism.

Reply 11

Maffyman

Thanks for all the information guys! Really appreciated! I live quite close to USW which does help it become a favourable choice.

I have also looked at Swansea and Cardiff, where I would have to do Computer Science (with security) unlike the Computer Security course at USW.

Thanks for all the advice!

Reply 12

swanseajack1

Original post by Maffyman

Thanks for all the information guys! Really appreciated! I live quite close to USW which does help it become a favourable choice.

I have also looked at Swansea and Cardiff, where I would have t0 do Computer Science (with security) unlike the Computer Security course at USW.

Thanks for all the advice!

look into uwe as well not far away