What is the Cyber Leaders Challenge?

The UK Cyber Leaders Challenge aims to identify & nurture future cyber leaders with the potential to have a significant impact within the UK cyber community.

We have three pillars that direct how we operate:

• INSPIRE | We are supporting diversity in cyber through promoting the competition to individuals from a broad range of courses & backgrounds.

• EMPOWER | Through practice-based learning, students develop multidisciplinary skills in strategic thinking, policy development and technical understanding alongside strong communication, collaboration and leadership.

• CONNECT | We facilitate career opportunities for future cyber leaders to discover routes into the profession through networking with representatives from across the government and industry cyber security community.

During the UK Cyber Leaders Challenge (UK CLC), teams of four students (with support from an academic mentor) take on the role of advisors to senior decision makers responding to a national cyber emergency scenario.

The core competition is run from January to March, with supporting activities throughout the year. We split the UK CLC year into 5 stages:

Applications & Career Days (Sept – Dec)

As the new academic year begins, we open applications for the competition and share the story of the Cyber Leaders Challenge far & wide.

We have resources for anyone to find out about the competition & get involved. We run Career Day events to launch the new competition year with the CLC Alumni Community. And we host information webinars to help prospective competitors learn about the competition in order to submit their application.

All students are encouraged to form teams, participate and discover the variety of possible careers in cyber, regardless of their degree topic or background. The competition challenges student teams to consider multiple viewpoints in preparing their response to the cyber incident so multidisciplinary teams are encouraged!

Downselection & Preparation (Jan)

In early January, we will announce the teams competing in the Regional Qualifiers and release Scenario Stage 1. This gives teams around one month to prepare for the Regional Qualifiers.

Over the coming weeks our team shares details of what to expect at the events to celebrate the teams competing and help you make the most of it. In late January, there will be online skill development workshops, run with our sponsors, to help you prepare.

Regional Qualifiers (Early Feb)

The competition gets underway! At each one-day Regional Qualifier (in-person & online), teams have 10-minutes to present their response to the scenario to a panel of judges from industry & government, followed by 10-minutes of questions. To help with teams’ professional development, there’s a further 10-minutes for them to receive direct feedback from the judges.

Alongside the competition, students are able to take part in career development activities from a wide range of industry & government supporters. These include keynote speakers, interactive workshops, panel discussions, careers fairs and plenty of networking opportunities that, we hope, leads them to a future career in cyber.

National Finals (Mid Mar)

The competition heats up. This is a two-day event at the iconic BT Tower in London for the top 17 teams from the Regional Qualifiers.

The three competition rounds (Quarter Final, Semi-Final, Grand Final) follow the same structure as the Regional Qualifiers. However, the scenario evolves and the time pressure increases with each subsequent round.

In Grand Final, the top 3 teams only receiving 15-minutes to form their response to the latest scenario update. They have the unique opportunity to present in the auditorium at the BT Tower in front of the other teams and a panel of VIP Judges.

Prizes are awarded to all of the top 3 teams, with additional awards for teams that demonstrate excellence in areas such as Best Briefing, Best Teamwork and Most Engaged.

Alongside the competition, there are more career development activities and two drinks receptions at the top of the BT Tower!

Ongoing Engagement (Apr - Aug)

To build & maintain the community, we are providing support to past competitors and supporters throughout the year.

This includes more career development workshops, monthly email updates with the latest career opportunities with competition supporters and a Careers Day in the Autumn.

The continued success of the competition is about helping students to find a role in cyber, a mission which our UK CLC team are driven to help students achieve.

The UK Cyber Leaders Challenge is supported by a variety of organisations & individuals across government, industry and academia. We are delighted to be awarded a CyberFirst Partnership by the UK National Cyber Security Centre.

And we are honoured to work with the range of cyber professionals that offer their time to judge in the competition, run additional activities, connect with the student teams, share the competition and otherwise champion the UK Cyber Leaders Challenge mission.

Sounds good? Find out how you can get involved with or support the competition below.