NCSC Annual Review 2024
Page 13 of 16
Chapter 03: Developing the UK's cyber ecosystem
The NCSC is future-proofing the UK’s national security by building a self-sustaining ecosystem of cyber talent.
The NCSC plays a key role in strengthening the UK’s cyber security ecosystem, which now contributes around £11.9 billion per year to the economy.
We harness the power of government, industry and academia to cultivate a fertile ground for excellence that supports the ecosystem at every level. From inspiring school pupils and providing opportunities in higher education, to funding research and bringing together innovative tech startups, we are future-proofing the UK’s national security by developing a sustainable cyber ecosystem that now employs almost 61,000 people.
To sustain this ecosystem, we need to ensure skilled people, quality products and trusted services are on hand to help organisations stay resilient and develop their digital offerings. The NCSC works closely with partners to define standards, assure products and services, and to grow the pipeline of talent that the cyber security sector needs to thrive.
CyberFirst Girls Competition 2023/24
The CyberFirst Girls Competition aims to inspire girls aged 12-13 to explore the world of cyber and technology, helping to address the lack of diversity in the UK cyber workforce, where women currently make up just 17%. Since its inception in 2017, over 69,000 girls have taken part in CyberFirst Girls Competitions. The 2023/24 competition attracted more teams and schools than any other year, with 3,608 teams participating from over 750 schools, a 28.6% increase from last year.
84%
of all schools participating were state schools
CyberFirst Regional Ecosystem
The CyberFirst Regional Ecosystem has experienced remarkable growth this year, which now includes 173 recognised schools and colleges, 140 CyberFirst Ambassadors, and over 35,000 engaged students. This growth has been driven by the regional and home nation partners offering in-school and extra curricula courses to schools within their region. All courses emphasise the ethics and legalities of ‘messing around’ with computers and the internet, and offer practical, hands-on learning and applied teamwork.
The partnerships approach is a model that delivers real impact, providing national and local employers with a trusted framework where they can engage with local schools and students in some of the most deprived parts of the country, releasing untapped potential and helping to keep the most talented young people within their local communities.
CyberFirst Ambassadors
The CyberFirst Ambassador network was launched this year, and there are now over 100 CyberFirst Ambassadors signed-up from within academia and across a variety of businesses, from small startups to large-scale multinationals. The ambassadors are a key part of the ecosystem, and support the CyberFirst programme by:
- forging trusted relationships between schools and industry
- delivering CyberFirst activities in schools and colleges
- representing the regional and home nation partnerships, the NCSC and the CyberFirst brand
- being involved in assessment panels for CyberFirst schools and colleges
- encouraging schools and colleges that are not yet part of CyberFirst to apply
The social value of CyberFirst initiatives
Like many organisations, social value is an ongoing priority for the NCSC. This year, the NCSC commissioned (for the first time) a study to examine the social value of the CyberFirst programme. The study revealed that for £1 invested in CyberFirst there was a £4.06 social return on investment (SROI), which equated to £31m of evidenced social value.
The Regional Ecosystem work has a particularly high SROI, and showed a £6.52 SROI against every £1 invested. This indicates how the ongoing commitment from industry, academia and government enables CyberFirst to continue to provide opportunities to empower and develop talented students.
| Work strand | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Girls competition | 8,000 | 4,500 | 11,800 | 11,816 | 6,572 | 5,251 | 8,714 | 12,595 | ||
| Courses applications | 1,347 | 2,191 | 2,742 | 3,600 | 4,284 | 2,892 | 2,539 | 436 | ||
| Courses attendees | 1,150 | 1,000 | 1,770 | 1,970 | 1,080 | 800 | 400 | |||
| Bursary | 18 | 91 | 178 | 218 | 241 | 166 | 176 | 81 | 111 | 121 |
| Schools / colleges | 28 | 45 | 97 | 173 | ||||||
| Students engaged via CyberFirst Schools | 35,401 | |||||||||
| Ambassadors | 200 | |||||||||
| Total | 18 | 91 | 9,525 | 8,059 | 15,783 | 17,352 | 13,030 | 9,349 | 12,261 | 49,324 |
| Cumulative engagement growth | 109 | 9,634 | 17,693 | 33,476 | 50,828 | 63,858 | 73,207 | 85,468 | 134,792 |
CyberFirst year on year cumulative engagement and growth table
CyberFirst Bursary
The CyberFirst Bursary scheme continues to support the next generation of cyber talent, offering undergraduates a £4,000 per year bursary and a paid cyber security placement each summer to help kickstart their career in cyber. This year, a total of 111 students enrolled in the CyberFirst bursary scheme. Of these, 37% were female and 20% came from ethnic minority backgrounds.
The bursary programme has a total of 1,280 students, supported by over 240 industry, academic and government institutions. Graduates finish the course with invaluable work experience, new skills, a better understanding of their career options and the confidence to succeed in the world of cyber.
CyberFirst Champion scheme
A CyberFirst Champion is an alum of the CyberFirst Bursary Programme, working in a company and acting as the point of contact for current bursary students. The scheme has expanded from 30 to 41 members, serving as a vital link between current and former students, and CyberFirst members. Last year, the NCSC also introduced ‘Cluster Events’, a series of regionally organised gatherings providing a unique platform for networking among the alumni community. Attendees participate in lightning talks and engage with guest speakers from across government and industry.
88%
of the 742 graduates are now employed in cyber security roles
CyberFirst Hackathon
In close collaboration with the National Cyber Force (NCF), the NCSC co-delivered the inaugural CyberFirst Hackathon. The event marked a significant stride in the novel ways the NCSC and the NCF are collaborating across government to nurture the UK's cyber talent. Hosted at Lancaster University, this event brought together 40 NCSC CyberFirst university students to tackle real-world cyber challenges in a collaborative environment. By focusing on wearable tech, internet of things, and data insights, the hackathon bridged academia, industry, and government to create opportunities for hands-on learning and innovation.
The hackathon initiative not only enhances participants' technical skills, but also provides a gateway to future employment within the NCSC and NCF, and is a testament to the collective commitment to cultivate a robust UK cyber ecosystem that supports national security and technological advancement.
Cyber Security Body of Knowledge (CyBOK)
Since 2017, the NCSC have sponsored Cyber Security Body of Knowledge (CyBOK), a free resource that codifies the foundational knowledge in cyber security for education and professional training, born out of a desire to bridge a well-recognised skills gap within the cyber security sector.
CyBOK is also supported by the UK Cyber Security Council, who set the professional standards adopted by the NCSC’s Industry Assurance Schemes. Since 2021, we’ve been using CyBOK as the basis for describing the course content of the NCSC-certified undergraduate and postgraduate cyber security degrees programme, and for NCSC-certified training.
Higher education
Since its launch in 2020, the programme for Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Education (ACE-CSE) has recognised UK universities with gold and silver awards for showing their commitment to delivering exceptional cyber security education on campus and beyond. This year saw Greenwich University added to the list of recognised institutions across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The ACE-CSE programme builds on the NCSC’s Certified Degree Programme, which certified eight new degree courses, bringing the total to 85. NCSC-certified courses help universities to attract high quality students from around the world, and prospective students to make informed choices when considering the hundreds of institutions that now offer cyber security content.
16
Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Education
21
Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research
85
Certified degrees (61 postgraduate, 18 undergraduate and 6 degree apprenticeships)
NCSC For Startups
The NCSC For Startups programme provides young businesses with insights, support and access to help them shape their cyber security products and services. The programme has supported startups at different stages of maturity, from those developing a minimum viable product (MVP) to businesses with established solutions looking to develop, adapt and pilot their products. All supported projects are aligned to specific technology or cyber challenges that are set by the NCSC.
Created to engage corporations, consultants, investors and national security agencies, NCSC For Startups helps businesses to take breakthrough technologies to market faster than would be possible in a purely commercial model.
To date, the programme has helped more than 70 tech companies and raised over £526m in investment, whilst creating over 1,700 new jobs delivering security and growth for the UK.
The NCSC For Startups alumni community
The NCSC For Startups alumni community has grown over the 8 years of the programme to include over 60 startup members, as well as government and industry partners from the cyber security sector.
The alumni community includes a powerful network of entrepreneurs who have faced similar business challenges. Members share valuable insights with each other on key issues, from securing investment and international growth to achieving successful company exits.
The community also provides access to the wider cyber ecosystem, giving startups the opportunity to engage and collaborate with industry, academia and government partners, bringing their unique perspective and innovative approaches to difficult cyber security challenges.
Industry 100
The NCSC’s Industry 100 (i100) initiative brings together public and private sector talent to challenge thinking, test innovative ideas and enable greater understanding of cyber security. i100 encourages a variety of companies (with unique insights and capability in cyber security) to loan staff to the NCSC to help us defend the UK. The secondees are given security clearance that enables them to work alongside the NCSC’s staff, including on sensitive projects and investigations.
This year, an additional 45 new participants joined the scheme, growing the community to 132. Highlights from i100 this year included:
- technical advice to modernise cyber security best practice for data infrastructure and managed service providers (MSPs)
- expert support in the NCSC's open source research, and in the development of critical guidance around industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT)
- endorsement from delegates from Japan and India at CYBERUK 2024, citing i100 as a stand-out example of the UK’s world-leading approach to public-private partnership in cyber security
CYBERUK 2024
CYBERUK, the UK government’s flagship cyber security conference, was held in Birmingham for the first time. Worth over £15.3 billion, the West Midlands has the fastest-growing tech sector in the UK, with specialist university research centres, innovative startups, world-class R&D infrastructure, and a cluster of major cyber security enterprises. This success story mirrors the essence of CYBERUK, where innovation converges with tradition.
CYBERUK 2024 examined how future technology represents significant opportunity, from employing AI in pioneering healthcare research, to using quantum computers to solve problems like climate change and food security. The 150 speakers across 45 sessions included Harry Coker (National Cyber Director for The White House), Sir Roly Keating (CEO, The British Library) and Heather Adkins (VP Security Engineering, Google).
- £2m boost to the local economy
- 2,380 in-person delegates from 55 countries
- 150 speakers across 45 sessions
- Nearly two thirds of attendees on average would consider using NCSC products and services following CYBERUK 2024 (24% increase from 2023)
- 93% rated the event as good/excellent
- 87% felt more informed on how to build a cyber security ecosystem that can manage the threats and opportunities of the future
90%
of over 130 participating companies stated that CYBERUK met or exceeded their expectations