BSc (Hons) Digital Forensics including Foundation Year

BSc (Hons) How to apply Apply through UCAS Book an Open Day Chat to us

UCAS Code

FG4F

Start Date

September 2027

Location

Newport

Campus Code

UCAS Points

International students: £17,600*

Course Overview

Learn the skills and knowledge needed to work in Digital Forensic Units (DFUs) and Incident Response teams on this state-of -the-art course, gaining specialist skills and knowledge as you develop the practical and professional skills desired by employers in digital forensics, law enforcement and the wider corporate and cyber security sectors.

This course is designed for those with a keen interest in digital crime, cyber security, criminal investigation, law enforcement and incident response in the criminal and civil industry sectors.

Accreditations

We're accredited by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT

Why study this course?

Real-world experience

Work with police forces, visit a crime scene and work on real cases to put your learning to the test outside the classroom.

Industry partnerships

We work with police forces, private companies and experts in the field to bring you the latest developments in digital forensics.

Bringing learning to life

Test your skills to the limits in our dedicated digital forensic labs, utilising industry-standard tools and software.

What you'll study

In your Foundation Year, you’ll explore real-world challenges in computing, develop programming and data skills, and build confidence, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities for future study and impact.

This module helps you develop academic, personal and professional skills for university study. You’ll reflect on your progress, build confidence, and create an evidence-based portfolio to support your future learning.

This module introduces core programming concepts and software development practices, helping you plan, write, test, and refine code while building problem-solving skills and confidence using modern development environments and methodologies.

This module introduces information systems and databases, showing you how to collect, organise, and protect data. Through real-world examples, you will discover how data powers smart, secure, and responsible decisions that drive real change.

You’ll work in teams with other Foundation Year students to tackle real-world challenges, developing solutions through research, curiosity, collaboration, and responsible problem-solving while building skills that will support your future studies.

We regularly review our courses to keep pace with changing skills and employer needs. If a review leads to significant changes, we’ll contact you to explain what’s changing for the coming year.

Teaching and Assessment

This is a practical, industry-focused Digital Forensics course designed to develop the skills employers are looking for in today’s cybercrime and digital investigation professionals. You’ll learn through a combination of lectures, hands-on workshops, specialist lab sessions and independent study, applying your knowledge to realistic investigative scenarios from the start of your degree.

You’ll learn by doing, through real-world activities that help you understand how learning works at university. You’ll be encouraged to ask questions, explore new ideas and work with others, as well as independently. Teaching builds confidence, critical thinking and reflection, supported by digital tools. Regular feedback helps you track progress, plan next steps and build resilience and a strong sense of belonging as you prepare for higher-level study.

You’ll be assessed in different ways, including short tasks, coursework, presentations, and group work. Early assessments are designed to support your learning and help you understand what is expected at university. Most assessments are coursework-based and help you develop key skills such as research, academic writing, teamwork, and communication. You’ll also reflect on your progress and use university systems and digital tools. Clear, timely feedback will help you understand how to improve and support your next steps.

To improve your career prospects, we encourage you to spend up to a year working in the industry at one of a variety of organisations and Digital Forensic Units in the UK, through USW Placements. This can often lead to employment opportunities with your placement company. The Cyber department at the University of South Wales has excellent relationships with industry and law enforcement, offering placements within the digital forensic units of South Wales Police, Gwent Police, and various private sector companies responsible for handling cyber-attacks.

We take great pride in our dedicated digital facilities. Our mission is to make sure you graduate ready for the world of work, so we have created dedicated, high-tech specialist digital forensics labs equipped with industry-leading certified licensed software and tools. Our Secure Operations Centre (SOC) is modelled on those used by law enforcement agencies and corporate businesses. Our crime scene house lets you practice working within realistic crime scenes.

We provide expert witness training, and you’ll get the chance to defend your reports in our moot court.

Course Leader

Rachael Medhurst

Rachael Medhurst specialises in Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) and is the Course Leader for the BSc and MSc Digital Forensics course. She draws upon her experience as a former Digital Forensic Investigator, conducting casework for police forces across the UK. Rachael is currently completing a PhD focused on DFIR processes within the healthcare sector. Her research includes areas such as AI-generated content investigations, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) forensics, vehicle systems forensics, and policing training and awareness.

If you have any questions about the course or digital forensics, please get in touch.

Career Prospects

Digital Forensics primes you for many in-demand roles within law enforcement agencies, digital forensic laboratories, corporate security teams, cybercrime investigation units, incident response organisations, government agencies, and private security and consulting firms.

Your future career

Our Digital Forensic graduates go on to a variety of careers. Our sandwich year option empowers you to complete a year working in industry between years two and three of your studies. Many graduates find they are offered permanent jobs by their placement employers, so complete their studies and go straight into work. Potential career paths include:

Digital forensics investigator
Cyber threat analyst
Malware analyst
Law enforcement
Military / government intelligence
Incident Response Analyst

Students and a lecturer sat in front of computer screens, working.

"We’ve had guest speakers from leading organisations like Tarian, who shared valuable insights and advice. These interactions have inspired me to explore placements and prepare for future roles."

Jessica Jones, Digital Forensics student

Learn more

Salary expectations

A Digital Forensics degree can open opportunities across digital forensics and the wider computing sector. Computing careers offer strong earning potential:

Median wage
UK: £53.7k per annum
Wales: £43.4k per annum

Total jobs in 2025
UK: 1.76m
Wales: 44,279

Source: Lightcast Labour Market Data 2026

Industry partners

We’ve worked hard to develop and maintain close connections with police departments as well as with private companies. Through these partnerships, we can offer guest lectures, guest seminars, and lunch-and-learn sessions. Thanks to these close relationships we can provide work experience in year one and year-long work placements between study years two and three. We are also able to use them for real-world resources and cases, so your learning goes far beyond the classroom.

Build your own career

Your career doesn’t have to mean working for someone else. If you want to freelance, start a business or develop an idea, USW Enterprise can help with one-to-one mentoring, practical workshops and funding opportunities through the USW Enterprise Startup Fund.

You’ll also have access to Startup Stiwdio spaces in our Cardiff, Newport and Treforest campuses. After graduating, you can get free membership for up to three years, giving you workspace and a network of other founders.

Whether you choose employment, freelancing or starting a business, we’ll help you build the skills, confidence and connections to move forward.

USW Enterprise

Entry Requirements

Additional

The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSE’s including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.

Contextual offers

We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.

USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.

How to apply Contextual admissions policy Ask us a question

48 UCAS points or above

Typical qualification requirements

A Level:
DD

BTEC:
BTEC Extended Diploma Pass Pass Pass

Access to HE:
Pass the Access to HE Diploma and obtain a minimum of 48 UCAS tariff points

T Level:
Pass (D or E)

International applications welcomed:

We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.

International students Pre-Sessional English

English language requirements

International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 4 overall and a minimum of 4 in each component or equivalent.

Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.

If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.

If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.

Fees and Funding

Fees and funding Scholarships and bursaries Cost of living support

Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).

*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.

Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy. We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.

As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.

International Full-Time Fee £ 17,600

per year

Fees and funding Scholarships and bursaries Cost of living support

Cyber University of the Year at the National Cyber Awards, four years running (2019-22), and finalists again in 2025.

Top university in Wales and 24th out of 123 universities in the UK.

Guardian University Guide 2027

Three USW students walking outside of Cardiff Campus - Atrium

10 subjects ranked in the Guardian University Guide 2027 Top 10, including two at #1.

Three students studying in a pod in the library at Cardiff campus

Top in Wales for new business startups for the 6th consecutive year, and 7th in the UK. (HEBCIS)

Explore our facilities

Step into the future of digital security with a range of hands-on experiences.

National Cyber Security Academy

With two entire floors dedicated to cyber security, this hive of activity is the perfect place to develop your digital skills. Our Secure Operations Centre (SOC) reflects current industry centres and contains all the high-spec infrastructure and technology you’ll need to fight cyber-crime.

How to apply

All applications for full-time undergraduate courses or foundation degrees should be made via UCAS. Take the next step: Apply through UCAS

You can apply to us directly for all part-time undergraduate courses, if you’re seeking advanced entry or you’re an international student. To apply directly, please choose the application form below for your preferred start date and mode of study (full-time or part-time).

Digital Forensics including Foundation Year
- Full-time, 4 years
- September
- Newport
Apply direct

If you already have a relevant qualification or experience related to the course you're applying for, you may be eligible to start at a later stage of the course. For example, students from partner colleges can ‘top up’ their qualifications to a degree by joining us in Year Two or Year Three of a course. This process is known as ‘advanced entry’, you can apply directly to the University for 'advanced entry' using the application forms provided above.

Applicants accepted through advanced entry may study a different combination of modules to those advertised, as they will be joining a course already in progress. You will be contacted and advised about these modules once your application has been processed and an offer made.

International applicants can apply to us directly. If the University has an in-country team in your region, your application will be assigned to them for assistance.

Student Stories

"One of the best aspects of the course is the cyber labs. They’re exclusive to our course, giving us private access to state-of-the-art tools and resources whenever we need them."

Jessica Jones Digital Forensics student

View student profile

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Digital Forensics including Foundation Year