Curriculum Information

Document Version

QAA Benchmarks

Educational Aim

Learning Outcomes

Course Structure

Level 4 Modules

Teaching and Assessment

Learning and Teaching Methods

Employer Engagement

VISITING SPEAKERS

Visiting speakers, workshop leaders and production directors are key to the delivery of the Higher National Diploma and Certificate. Each College and USW offers a programme of visiting guests from industry who work with students and offer insight into professional working practices. 

INDUSTRY VISITS

These will form part of the learning experience that the students have, the strong links held by the college and the university in the sector will facilitate this.

VOLUNTEERING

This will be encouraged to support graduate skills and attributes. 

FIELDWORK

For specific modules students create work on location in response to environments or applied contexts. 

FIELDTRIPS

For specific modules students create work on location in response to environments or applied contexts. 

WORK PLACEMENTS OR INTERNSHIPS

USW provides support for students who wish to engage on work placements.  This is open to students engaged on this programme. 

WORK-BASED LEARNING

Work - related learning takes place within various modules across the course which would be employer led, inclusive and challenge based.

SANDWICH YEARS

Full year placements: with tutor / college support can be an option for the students but does not form an assessed part of the programme.

EMPLOYER FORUMS

Employers are invited to come into colleges to discuss work placement opportunities with staff and students. During these meetings employers are invited to use the time as an opportunity to comment on effectiveness of these placements and their relevance for future employability. 

Means of Assessment

At Level 4 and 5 the students will commence the course in September with a full induction delivered by the colleges as well as an Induction event at USW which will be organised by the USW Link Officer to coincide with activities such as Fresher’s’ Week. The course induction is an overview of the course, its requirements, and the support systems available and supports students to understand expectations, engagement and progression. Students will receive an induction to H.E. within F.E. and the support services available to them as USW students including well-being, academic support and financial hardship. Students will be informed about extenuating circumstances (EC) process and other USW regulations that can support their academic journey. In addition, they will receive an overview on the role of the Course Leader (Designated Contact), Individual Supervisor, and USW Link Officer.  

Students will be provided with a Course Handbook which reinforces in writing the information received during induction, including an overview of the assessment schedule, assignment briefs, timetable, contact details of the module leaders and links to relevant USW regulations and procedures.  

Students study six 20 credit modules at Level 4 and these consist of the following:  

• Computer Systems and Architecture   

• Cyber Security Tools and Techniques   

• Information Systems   

• Network Technologies in Practice   

• Programming for Cyber Security  

• Professional Practice and Employability  

These modules will be an ‘introduction’ to cyber security in practice, Immersive learning has been incorporated into the ‘Professional Practice and Employability’ module.   

Level 4 will provide them with a broad overview of theoretical knowledge and applied skills and abilities, before having the option of progressing to Level 5.  

At level 5 The skills and abilities developed earlier will be expanded upon, providing greater focus.  This is achieved by studying the following five modules: 

• Network Configuration 

• Internet Application Security 

• Information Assurance and compliance 

• Cyber Security Group Practitioner Project 

• Security Systems Concepts 

Each of these modules is 20 credits with the exception of the Cyber Security Group Practitioner Project of 40 credits. 

These modules maintain the theme of using practical, open tasks and challenges to allow students to develop a deep understanding of the concepts covered coupled with practical skills and an appreciation of the influence of the context.  Assessments remain varied with a combination which includes practical written work, portfolio and oral presentation. 

Learning Support

INDUCTION

Students follow an induction process which covers all the induction checklist criteria, this is tracked and students sign off to determine they are aware and all aspects have been covered.   

The key thing at induction is to make sure that they feel comfortable with what is ahead and that they have all the required information about the course and module format, the timetable and an overview of the content.   

The below is a snippet taken from the Higher Education SharePoint detailing the requirements of induction and the key areas that are covered:   

The are several further ways that HE students are supported once on their programme of study with us. Each campus has a Higher Education Progression Officer (HEPO).?The Progression Officers are available to offer support to higher education students. The areas they cover include:

• Academic referral support

• Guidance with time management to support success

• Learner welfare referral support (Example –Fancy a Cuppa Campaign - below)

• Learner financial support advice and guidance

• Next steps advice and support

Learner advice and support following induction is further supported, via various HE campaigns that run throughout the academic year on all campuses.

Our students also have access to USW facilities, such as Study Skills, student union and Library/Learning resources.

PERSONAL ACADEMIC COACH

All students are allocated a Personal Tutor and receive 1 hour of pastoral support each week. 

OFFICE HOURS

Open door policy allows students to approach tutors non-taught hours. The course team are generally available throughout the week during standard office hours, either in the workshop areas or in their office, in case of any enquiries or emergencies. Provision is also made for online tutorials where attendance on campus is not possible.

TUTORIALS

Tutorials take the form of a one-to-one or group discussion with a tutor. These can be face to face or online. Each module has a component of tutorial, but the emphasis on this format will change depending on the module. Tutorials focus on supervision support and academic development. 

SEMINARS

A combination of lectures and seminars are conducted as standard practice to introduce a new module and enable group discussion during the course of development of a projects and assignment work. Seminars also occur to support discussion of learning materials and address study skills such as research, essay writing, essay structuring, Harvard referencing, and critical writing. 

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Longer running modules require students to submit early assignments before a final summative assignment. Shorter modules will be formatively assessed through tutorials with a final summative assessment. This provides students with a valuable opportunity for guidance in preparation of the completion of their assignment.

PROGRESS MEETINGS

Progress sessions are conducted during tutorial time via 1 to 1 sessions. 

RESEARCH SUPERVISION

Students’ research progress is supervised throughout modules. Modules begin with an overall introduction to learning materials and appropriate guidance for research is given. Thereafter students engage in independent research, and this is supervised through regular tutorials and informal discussion. 

ONLINE RESOURCES

HE Learner Specific  Connect page: 

All students on initial engagement with the College undertake a formal induction which includes an introduction to library services, study skills support (including the VLE for HE Partner organisations) and Office 365.

The College has a vibrant Canvas online community for students, within which Blackboard and Office 365 are embedded for HE students, the Canvas community is not just a repository for course materials/resources, but as an interactive and vibrant online facility to enhance learner experiences, facilitating reinforcement of learning, announcements and direction to dynamic supportive materials.

It is a dedicated community providing access to resources off-campus (virtual base-room).

All course resources, learning materials, course handbook and module content are available on CANVAS. Here, there are also further resource links to relevant information within each module page. There are course Instagram and Facebook pages that highlight activity and any information about networking events. Students are informed about the use of a number of online journals to support their studies, as well as being directed to links for products and other information that may be required.  

ADVICE ZONE

Once enrolled students become USW students as and as such are able to access the resources that this affords. In addition to this the colleges also have a wide range of advice/support related resources these are highlighted below:

There are a number of free and professional support services including information, advice and guidance on:

• Learning Support

• Student Finance

• Counselling

• Welfare & Wellbeing (example below)

• Careers Online support with regard to this:

Help is also available free of charge to students to support with personal, legal, financial and academic problems via student services.

Both colleges have student wellbeing counsellors available by appointment, with emergency appointments available daily and work with Careers Wales Gwent to help students make informed decisions about their education and future career. Students can make appointments to see trained careers advisors based at the Colleges. The advisors help students decide how to progress after their course, whether onto university or into employment. They can also help with preparing a CV or interview skills.

DISABILITY

Those students with conditions such as dyslexia are advised to approach the study skills support to gain further assistance such as note-takers, and technology designed to assist. Students can also make use of the disability & dyslexia appointments and gain general access to disability support to discuss support requirements, answer queries or discuss funding for support. 

IT/LIBRARY

Both colleges offer multiple campus location which are available to all student but the main delivery of the proposed courses will be the Blaenau Gwent Learning Zone in Ebbw Vale land Nantgarw. 

On each campus there are fully stocked Learning Resource Centre’s (LRC’s). Each of the learning centres provide a centre for information and guidance, while acting as support bases for student centred learning. Resources are updated continually in consultation with subject tutors and via reading lists from the partner universities. When and if this course is validated the reading lists will be worked through with the Head Librarian and any resources that are required will be purchased. Students on this programme will be able to access any of the College LRC’s that they wish.

Students can access both the College’s VLE Canvas and the University VLE to access learning materials and assessments to support their learning. 

LRC’s offer open access PC’s and a laptop trolley with laptops that are available for students to borrow should this be required. Wi-Fi access is also available. The LRC houses a quiet study area where silent study is required to encourage independent self-initiated reflection on performance.

College Campus LRC’s – 8.30am – 4.30pm

Includes two late nights a week (open until 8pm) dependant on learner demand and timetables

Example of LRC offering 

In addition to the above support, Learning Advisors who are based in the LRC’s are on hand to support students through their knowledge of the available resources as well as advising students how to access university resources.

Learning advisors are scheduled to provide information literacy sessions to groups of students during induction. These include topics such as plagiarism, referencing, research skills, and essay writing and presentation skills. All of these sessions are also uploaded onto the learning resources section on Canvas for students to access in their own time if required.

Each of the College Campuses house a HE Hub facility; this is a designated space specifically for higher education students. The space facilitates, group work areas, ICT facilities, independent reflection space. Within the Hub space’s there are also learner welfare and personal progression support services offered which relate to current College support campaigns. 

Students also have access to USW facilities, such as study skills, advice zone, library resources and the student union.  These facilities can be access across the USW Campus in Newport Cardiff and Pontypridd.  https://library.southwales.ac.uk/ 

Course Exit Points

Progression Route

Entry Requirements

Admission to the course is typically through the following qualifications:

Entry criteria detail typical offers but USW considers all applications on an individual basis which means that we could make offers based on qualifications, personal profile and experience. Combinations of qualifications are acceptable and other qualifications not listed may also be acceptable. 

Typical A-Level Offer 

DD to include Mathematics or a Science subject 

Typical Welsh BACC Offer: 

Grade D and D at A Level 

Typical BTEC Offer 

BTEC Extended Diploma: Pass Pass Pass 

or BTEC Diploma: Pass Pass 

Additional Requirements 

GCSEs: The University normally requires a minimum 3 GCSEs including Mathematics and English at Grade C/Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent but consideration is given to individual circumstances.

Inclusive Curriculum Statement

The University of South Wales operates a policy of inclusive learning, teaching and assessment to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to fulfil their educational potential. Course teams will have considered ways of designing out any potentially disadvantageous element of courses during the course design process. However some specific needs may remain, details about how to apply to have your needs assessed can be found at: http://unilife.southwales.ac.uk/pages/3040-disability-and-dyslexia-service/

Addendum for Delivery at a Partner Institution

N/A