Our Level 3 courses have been designed in partnership with employers in the IT sector to ensure they provide you with the right skills to secure jobs in digital professions. These courses are available through our Adult Skills for Work programme and funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority.

The course content is provided and delivered by our digital skills partner Readynez. 

The courses outlined below are 3 month part or full time study programmes. 

*Additional eligibility criteria applies

NCFE Level 3 Certificate in Cyber Security Practices

This qualification is for learners who want to start or continue their career in Cyber Security by increasing their knowledge, skills and understanding of cyber security practices. 

What does the course cover?

The foundations of Cyber Security

• Understand Cyber Security Principles
• Threat Intelligence in cyber security

How to avoid attacks

• Cyber security testing, vulnerabilities and controls

How to respond to attacks

• Cyber security incident response

The legal and personal aspect

• Understand legislation and ethical conduct within cyber security
• Professional skills and behaviours for cyber security

Do I need to sit any exams to pass the course?

There are no exams. You will be assessed by competency and knowledge-based questions throughout the course by submitting a portfolio of evidence for each unit. This could include research, assignments and presentations. The assessments are based on real life situations that you could be faced with. You must pass all units to complete the course.

How much will it cost?

The course is fully funded by West Midlands Combined Authority as long as you meet the following requirements:

• Aged 19+ and are either:
  • Unemployed
  • Employed
• Live in Birmingham, Black Country, Coventry or Solihull
• Must meet UK residency criteria

How long will it take to complete the course?

The total course time is 220 hours, or 30 days. Of this, 150 hours, or 20 days, are guided learning.

What equipment will I need?

• A desktop PC or laptop
• Web browser application
• Cyber security related software
• Internet connectivity
• Access to storage space on your PC/Laptop

NCFE Level 3 in Coding Practices

This qualification is for learners who want to start or continue a career as a Software Developer.

Increase knowledge, skills and understanding of coding and development of software solutions in a Cloud world.

What does the course cover?

Code Yourself! An introduction to Programming

• Understand the purpose and use of coding standards, coding principles and practices and coding design processes

Learn to Program: The Fundamentals

• Write and debug interpreted and compiled code distinguishing the different coding solutions

Test your code

• Fix bugs using appropriate techniques and reflect on how bugs can be prevented
• Understand the stages of the software development lifecycle, software methodologies and how working as a team contributes to effective software delivery

Put your code into action

• Understand deployment, configuration management and version control systems

The world of Cloud Computing

Do I need to sit any exams to pass the course?

There are no exams. You will be assessed by competency and knowledge-based questions throughout the course by submitting a portfolio of evidence for each unit. This could include research, assignments and presentations. The assessments are based on real life situations that you could be faced with. You must pass all units to complete the course.

How much will it cost?

The course is fully funded by West Midlands Combined Authority as long as you meet the following requirements:

• Aged 19+ and are either:
  • Unemployed
  • Employed
• Live in Birmingham, Black Country, Coventry or Solihull
• Must meet UK residency criteria

How long will it take to complete the course?

The total course time is 220 hours of which, 150 hours are guided learning.

What equipment will I need?

• A desktop PC or laptop
• Web browser software/applications
• Cyber security related software
• Internet connectivity
• Access to a storage medium by the company you work for or on your own PC/Laptop