Find your place in cyber.

How would you respond to a national cyber incident?

For students interested in competing and university staff & PhD students interested in mentoring a team, send us a message (bottom of this page) to request the Information Session recording.

Why compete?

Gain experience.

This is a practice-based exercise. You will be presenting to real cyber professionals, who do this for a living.

Meet employers.

Meet a variety of employers from the public & private sector, who are actively recruitment our competitors.

Discover the legal, political & strategic elements of cyber that are crucial to a successful career.

Explore a new side of cyber.

How to apply.

Eligibility criteria.

• Teams consist of 4 university students with an academic mentor (lecturer, PhD or research student)

• Each student must be enrolled on a taught course at a UK University

• Each student must not be experienced working in cyber, politics or military service

• Students with apprenticeship, internship or Year in Industry experience are still eligible

• Regional Qualifiers will be held in Manchester, Cheltenham & virtually. Teams will find out their location by January 7th

• Finalist teams must attend the National Final at the BT Tower in-person. We will announce a Supporting Access Fund in January to help with travel & accommodation costs

More details in the full Rulebook. Get in touch below if you have any questions.

Application process.

1. Team details.

2. Introduce your team and why you have chosen to apply to the Cyber Leaders Challenge this year. (500 words or 90 second video)

3. How would you describe the relationship between Cyber and Politics in the UK? How do you feel this relationship has changed in recent years? (500 words)

4. In your opinion, how does the sharing of threat intelligence and knowledge between nation states both help and hinder the UK in reaching its goals laid out in the National Cyber Strategy 2022? (500 words)

Applications will be open until 20th December 2024.