By Brad, BSc(Hons) Cyber Security and Digital Forensics student.
Our student, Brad, shares how his contextual offer from UWE Bristol gave him the chance to attend a Summer School before joining university. He tells us how this experience helped to learn more about student life and calmed his nerves about starting his course. Keep reading to find out more about Brad’s story.
Brad’s story
Hi, my name’s Brad and I study Cyber Security and Digital Forensics at UWE Bristol. I’ve been passionate about IT since I was ten years old. From that young age, I started reading articles about how to be secure online and the hacking ecosystem.
When I was in Sixth Form, we learned about elements of cyber security like data leaks, password security, ransomware and digital crime, which I was interested in. I always wanted to follow my interest in IT and Digital Security, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do after Sixth Form to achieve this.
I didn’t think I’d get the grades to get into the universities I wanted to go to, but I knew I didn’t want to go to college. After researching universities, I decided to apply to UWE Bristol, which is in a great city and not too far from home.
After reviewing my application, UWE Bristol gave me a contextual offer, which meant I needed lower grades to get onto my course. This meant I didn’t need to do a foundation year, which would have involved an extra year of study and taken me longer to get to where I wanted to be.
My summer school experience
Through my contextual offer, I was automatically enrolled onto the Access to UWE Bristol programme. As part of this, I was invited to a three-day Summer School for contextual offer holders. We stayed in student accommodation on Frenchay Campus and got involved in activities to get ready for university.
The Summer School enabled me to get a head start and see the campus, food outlets and accommodation before my course started. This helped me to get to know the campus while it was quiet, before all the other students arrived, to prepare me for the start of term.
The Summer School gave me an introduction to university life and opened my eyes to what it’s like to live and study at UWE Bristol. I enjoyed my time during the summer school, and it offered plenty of useful learning opportunities.
We even had a chance to meet up as a group afterwards when university started. The team who organised the Summer School arranged a meet up event for everyone. They wanted to see us again to find out how the Summer School went, so the support was present throughout.
“I was worried about falling behind in my studies, but the Summer School really helped my anxiety with this.”
Adjusting to university studies
On my Cyber Security and Digital Forensics course, I’m enjoying the hands-on activities, such as coding worksheets, and structured learning as part of my modules.
I’ve achieved good grades so far, and I’m even ahead on my Digital Forensics module. As a big course, there are a lot of students in my lectures so I can always ask someone for help. I can also book in short meetings with my lecturers for support if I need to.
“After the Summer School, the transition to university was easier than I thought it would be.”
My future plans
During my degree, I want to complete a placement year and complete an internship in the IT department to help other students with their IT problems. This practical experience will look great on my CV and will give me an advantage to job hunting after I graduate.
As a result of receiving a contextual offer at UWE Bristol, I’ve been able to follow my childhood passion to study Cyber Security and Digital Forensics for my future career.
Find out more about contextual offers at UWE Bristol.