If you're considering applying for the 'Cyber Student of the Year' award at this year's National Cyber Awards, this helpful guide will give you useful hints and tips to write the best application possible.
Should I apply?
If you’re wondering whether you should apply, the answer is yes! This award is open to all students, from secondary school to MSc, and you don’t need to wait for a nomination because self-nominations are welcome.
There’s no fee to apply, and you do not need permission from your university. Whether you’re looking for recognition of your hard work, hoping to expand your opportunities, or just want to challenge yourself, this award can be a great stepping stone.
If you win or make the finalists list, you’ll gain recognition of your achievements, open doors to future opportunities, and become part of a community of driven individuals. Even if you don’t win, it’s good practice demonstrating experience and ability, a crucial skill for future employment and professional registration applications.
If you also fit into another category, you can self-nominate for multiple awards, but you will need to fill out a new form for each award.
The Basics – how to apply
You apply online on the National Cyber Awards website.
You’re allowed to use AI but make sure you’re doing so responsibly. Everything you submit must be truthful and it’s your responsibility to read and ensure it is. You should also let your voice come through.
Make sure you’re responding specifically to the questions and talking about what makes you unique. Remember, everyone applying is a student, so talk about where you’ve gone above and beyond.
You need evidence- this could be certifications, statements from supervisors, project documentation or anything else. If you don’t have evidence available, note why.
The Questions
You’ll answer three main questions, and upload evidence for each where possible. This is in addition to basic things like your name and where you’re a student.
Below we’ll give some tips on the kinds of things to talk about and the kinds of evidence you might need. This isn’t a comprehensive list – if you’ve done things we don’t mention, you should absolutely still include those.
- How has this student demonstrated exceptional dedication, achievement, and leadership in the field of cybersecurity?
When answering this question, be sure to highlight specific examples.
Think about projects you’ve led or worked on, such as:
- Cyber security awareness campaigns
- Industry projects or problem solving for a company while on work experience
- Leading teams in hackathons or CTF (Capture the Flag) competitions
- Group projects in class
Or about ways you’ve contributed to student life, such as:
- Mentoring peers or offering study support
- Starting a cyber security club or society
- Acting as an ambassador for cyber security
Or ways you’ve made cyber security better where you study, such as:
- Advocating for better cyber security hygiene among other students
- Found a vulnerability in a system
- Educated operational staff on cyber security risks
Or academic achievements, such as:
- Very high grades, especially highest in your cohort
- Achievements beyond your expected academic level, like taking an A-Level early
- Achievements above and beyond the expectations of your course, like industry certifications
- Please provide examples of specific projects, research, or contributions your student has made to advance cybersecurity knowledge or practice?
In this section, you need to talk about real world impact or new knowledge. You don’t need to be solely responsible, but you need to talk about how you contributed.
For research, that could mean:
- Working as a research assistant at your university
- Contributing to crowdsourced research
- Bug bounties or permitted ethical hacking
- Threat intelligence, including OSINT, research during a work placement
- Participation in problem solving forums
- A dissertation covering a novel research area
For practice, that could mean:
- Helping set up a new cyber security initiative
- Improving an existing initiative through feedback or trials
- Improving processes during a work placement
- Solving a real-world problem as part of a university/business partnership
- Proposing a project, solution or initiative that was then taken up
- How has your student demonstrated a drive for continual improvement and learning and/or potentially shared their knowledge with others, whether through peer support, outreach, or educational initiatives?
For this section, you should talk about some times where you’ve improved, learned or helped others do the same. This will be more personal, so think about times you have found things challenging, times you’ve failed the first time and used that as a learning experience and times where you have learned beyond the curriculum of your qualification.
This section may be harder to find evidence for, and that’s okay. Make sure your answer is comprehensive enough that a judge can believe you where evidence is not available. You could also consider unconventional evidence, like a learning plan you prepared for yourself or a reflective practice report from a time where you challenged yourself.
Judges Insight
Some judges have shared what they’re looking for this year – we don’t know yet if they’ll all be judging the Student prize but you'll see some clear themes.
Mike Fell, a Cyber Director in the health sector, is hoping for applicants that are “doing things differently and sharing experience with others”, a sentiment Charlotte Clayson, a partner at Trowers&Hamins echoes – she's looking to see people “pushing the boundaries of what is achievable, making innovative solutions a reality”. Jonathan Davies of KPMG sums it up simply- demonstrate “something that has made an impact”.
Emma Philpott, CEO of IASME, also wants to see people “doing things differently”, and also highlights the importance of “contribut[ing] to the wider sector [to] help other people or companies in the sector”. Nikki Webb, Director of Custodian365, agrees on the importance of giving back, she wants to see “a genuine commitment to making a difference”.
So, innovation and community spirit are important – but it’s not just what you’ve done. Nikki Webb also highlights that the best entries “showcase the “why” and “how” behind it”, and Simon Rycroft of Cyber Risk Management Group wants nominees to demonstrate “true understanding of the cyber challenges facing UK PLC (and our society more widely)”. (UK PLC is a nickname for the UK economy – PLC stands for Public Limited Company, one of the ways businesses can be incorporated.)
So – demonstrate that you’re innovating and doing new, unconventional things while also supporting the sector and society more broadly and that you understand the problems you’re solving and how you’re solving them. Great tips not only for this award but for any time you need to promote yourself.