After completing his GCSEs and A Levels at Strangford Integrated College, Matthew decided SERC would be his next step. He says, "I think the idea of earning whilst learning makes a lot more sense to me rather than basing my career prospects purely off theory and no practical experience, so an HLA always appealed to me. I came to an open evening at the college and met some of the lecturers, who were really down to earth. Combine that good impression with me wanting to get into the cyber security industry through an HLA and it made sense to study at the college."
"I’ve had a good time so far on the course, it's a lot less stress than I think I would have at the likes of university, while still gaining a good qualification, and my local Bangor campus is handy for me to travel to as well."
"On the HLA we have learnt about lots of different topics like computer hardware and software, computational mathematics, incident response, programming, network infrastructure, web development, cloud security and network security. Using the skills I learned from the programming and web development modules, I developed a website for the company I'm doing my apprenticeship with to try and build a more modern and user-friendly web environment for customers."
"My apprenticeship is with Emos Infineer – they handle cashless catering in schools and companies within the UK. I work alongside the helpdesk team, in which we talk actively with customers from various schools and colleges, answering any questions and fixing any technical problems which involve a heavy usage of databases and networking."
"After my upcoming final year on the course, I'm considering the top-up degree available at the college to push myself a little further and hopefully remain at the company I currently work for. I'm also potentially looking down the line at maybe my own computer building business as a long-term goal."
Matthew concludes, "I would recommend SERC to anyone considering further or higher education because it’s a good environment and it sets you up for the real world of work. If you keep an open mind and commit to learning the course contents, then you will really enjoy yourself on this course; you’re able to have a good laugh with your lecturers whilst learning at the same time which I think is great. If you're seriously interested in computing, it’s a great course to get yourself onto."
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