Royal Holloway or York for cyber security?

Hi

I'm stuck choosing between two offers, one for Computer Science with Cyber Security at the University of York (AAB) and the other for Computer Science (Information Security) at Royal Holloway (BBB).

Both courses are 5 years involving an integrated master and year in industry.

I'm really interested in cyber security, particularly cryptography and I'm not sure which would be better for opportunities later on.

I'd like some advice, preferably from students currently doing their degrees in this field or from people already working within industry.

Honestly, if you're interested in Cryptography you should be considering a mathematics heavy degree first and foremost.

In tech, it doesn't matter where you get your degree. I will say Royal Holloway have been academically involved in Cyber Security a bit longer and were one of the "OG" unis to get their degrees NCSC accreditation. And then there's London which will always be great to have placement opportunities.

Infosec is a growth sector in tech, but it's a pretty diverse sector in terms of roles. Be aware, if you are doing "white hat" infosec work, some roles can be a bit drier than you might think. For example, people think pen-testing sounds super cool, but in reality, you don't spend all day hacking in most roles. Yo do a bit of that, but it's within very tight parameters, and you'll spend most of your day writing up reports and having meetings about your findings.

Cryptography is a fascinating area at the moment due to things like the explosion of IoT and the threats from quantum computing. Most of the roles in the UK are generally in either academia, banking/finance or in massive multinational tech companies.

Just for reference, I studied Comp Sci, and am starting a Cyber Security grad scheme in 2022.

Both are quite good options, I wouldn't stress about it. The Holloway course is NCSC accredited, so it could benefit your CV when looking for positions.
I would focus more on the modules being offered and the placement year support available. I'll be honest, the integrated masters is not needed, but if you want, go for it.