By Abrarkhan Pathan
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Abrarkhan Pathan
Cyber Security BSc (Hons)/FdSc
Clearing to national cyber challenge
Deciding to go to university late on, Abrarkhan applied to study cyber security at University College Birmingham through Clearing and it's been a real journey so far.
In his second year, he was part of a team that made the regional finals of the Cyber Leaders Challenge, a national competition for university students, and is about to start a one-year paid placement as a test analyst with retailer NEXT at its headquarters in Leicester.
In the cyber challenge, Abrarkhan and the team had to analyse 15 detailed scenario reports, including government advisories, security research insights, media coverage and preliminary incident analyses in preparation for presenting their strategic recommendations to the judging panel.
Abrarkhan, who wants to go into either cloud computing or DevOps, said he went for cyber security at university because of all the opportunities it offered graduates.
“I chose it because I was really good at IT in college and secondary school and thought, what better way to use this than to go for a career path that is the future?" he said.
“Jobs in the field are in high demand due to the rapid increase in technology, which is susceptible to more threats every day.
“I made the decision to start university late, but with Clearing, I was fortunate to be able to take up the cyber security course at UCB.
“The best bits about my degree are that it is very versatile and there are many different avenues I could explore for my career.”