Prime Highlights :
- QinetiQ delivers NCSC CyberFirst Advanced cyber security course to 200 plus UK students.
- Week long programme builds technical skills, career awareness for 16 and 17 year olds.
Key Facts :
- Training spans 11 venues, including QinetiQ’s Malvern site and universities across the UK.
- Final day features national Capture the Flag competition via Hack The Box.
Background :
QinetiQ has trained more than 200 students nationwide through the National Cyber Security Centre’s CyberFirst Advanced course, aiming to build technical skills and draw young people into cyber and technology careers.
Aimed at 16 and 17 year olds with a leaning toward cyber security, the week-long programme sharpens practical ability while showing participants the breadth of careers open to them in the field.
Students work through encryption technologies, digital forensics, and cyber investigation techniques, hearing from industry specialists along the way. They also tackle real-world tasks in Open Source Intelligence gathering and penetration testing.
The course wraps up with a national Capture the Flag competition, where student teams put their skills to the test through Hack The Box, a global leader in AI cybersecurity readiness.
Sessions run across 11 venues nationwide, including QinetiQ’s Malvern site, a specialist cyber and intelligence hub, plus universities spanning England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
QinetiQ Chief Executive James Willis said rising demand for cyber expertise makes programmes like CyberFirst vital for building a diverse talent pipeline and shoring up the UK’s cyber resilience going forward. He pointed to the firm’s own experience defending partners against global threats as proof of why reaching young people early matters.
Chris Ensor, NCSC Deputy Director for National Resilience Capabilities, welcomed QinetiQ’s role in running the course alongside 10 NCSC Academic Centres of Excellence for Education, calling it a step toward wider access to cyber education, with the TechFirst programme set to extend that reach further.
QinetiQ said it remains focused on equipping young people with cyber, AI, and quantum skills, building career pathways through continued work with academia and government.
