Computing Higher National Certificate - HNC

The HNC in Computing offers the option of a range of general and specialist study units to suit each student’s choice of programme and future progression plans of which there are three pathways to choose from:

- Cyber security
Designed to provide you with a range of skills, knowledge and experiences to prepare you for a career in this evolving industry. As security and privacy issues are becoming increasing threats, you'll be on the front-line ready to deal with a wide range of risks and challenges. It will provide an opportunity to gain knowledge of security, the associated risks and how it has an impact on business continuity.by examining security measures involving access authorisation and regulation of use. It will introduce how to detect threats and vulnerabilities in physical and IT security, and how to manage risks relating to organisational security.

It provides a programme of study that covers the understanding and practical skills required in the digital forensics, cybersecurity and cyber defence sectors

- Software engineer
Designed to provide you with understanding software development projects from the very beginning, the software development lifecycle, and understanding the required functionality and features of the system or software. You will have the opportunity to understand user and client requirements, plan what needs to be developed and how such as choosing frameworks, tools and languages. This will allow for the development that follows key scientific and engineering principles, as well as the established processes for development. The world of programming and software engineering is vast and includes many occupational pathways to pursue

- Network engineering
Designed to provide you with wider background knowledge of computer networking essentials, how they operate, protocols, standards, security considerations. It will provide an opportunity to explore a range of networking technologies to deliver a fundamental knowledge of Local Area Networking (LAN), Wide Area Networking (WAN) and their evolution to form large-scale networks. the protocol methodologies related to IP data networks. and the prototypes associated with a range of networking technologies Computer networks are the driving force behind the evolution of computer systems and allow users to access data, hardware, and services regardless of their location.

Gloucestershire College offers you an expert tutorial system, providing support to develop your professional and personal educational abilities. Also, the necessary qualities and attitudes required to attend to and adapt with the demands of this growing and emerging technology market.

What will I study?
• Programming



• Networking



• Professional practice



• Database design and development



• Security



• Planning a computing project



• Software development lifecycles



And 2 optional depending on chosen pathway which may include:
• Network management



• Network Security



• Forensics



• Internet of Things



• Cloud Computing



• Emerging Technologies



• Application development



(This list is not exhaustive)