Senior Beginners is a four-week hybrid programme for adults coming to cybersecurity for the first time. It teaches the same six pillars as the flagship programme — cybersecurity, cyber hygiene, cyber awareness, open source, project management, and public speaking — but with the fundamentals taught from first principles. No prior coding required.
Who it is for
The programme is open to:
- university students from any discipline,
- working professionals considering a move into cybersecurity,
- career changers from teaching, journalism, public administration, small business, the arts and elsewhere,
- experienced practitioners in adjacent fields who want a structured foundation in defensive security.
It is not an accelerated programme. Applicants who already write code, run systems, or have a security background should apply to the Cybersecurity Summer School directly.
What you will learn
The same six pillars as the flagship — see Curriculum — with extended foundations in week 1 (how networks and operating systems actually work, command-line basics, reading a piece of code) before moving into the security material proper.
How the four weeks are arranged
| Week | Focus |
|---|---|
| Week 1 (27 Jul – 2 Aug) | Foundations · Cybersecurity primer · Cyber hygiene |
| Week 2 (3 – 9 Aug) | Cyber awareness · Open source — tools and ecosystem |
| Week 3 (10 – 16 Aug) | Project management · Public speaking, on a security brief |
| Week 4 (17 – 22 Aug) | Five-day capstone hackathon · Closing colloquium |
What you bring
- A laptop able to run a current Linux virtual machine.
- Curiosity, time, and the willingness to start from the beginning.
- A short piece of preparatory reading, sent to you before the programme.
Outcomes
Past participants in the foundation track have gone on to junior SOC roles, postgraduate study in security or policy, internal security roles in their existing employer, and — in two cases — into the senior programme the following year as returning participants.