How you’d get this certificate
- Zavmo teaches you. You learn the units one-to-one with an AI tutor, on your own work.
- You register with an approved centre. That is a college, training provider or employer Cambridge OCR has approved to offer this qualification. Zavmo is not an approved centre, so you register with them, not with us.
- The centre assesses, and Cambridge OCR awards. A qualified assessor at the centre judges your evidence, and the certificate comes from Cambridge OCR.
This Level 3 extended certificate offers an alternative academic pathway focused on cyber security and networks. It covers digital forensic investigation, secure local area network implementation, and penetration testing. The qualification develops knowledge of network fundamentals and cyber security principles.
These are the units Cambridge OCR registers against this qualification. It is a catalogue, not a syllabus. Which of them you take depends on the combination the qualification requires, and that is set by the awarding body rather than by us. Every unit here is regulated. Zavmo teaches towards them on your own work.
Zavmo is not an awarding body, is not an approved centre, and is not affiliated with Cambridge OCR. It does the teaching and the mapping. Cambridge OCR sets this qualification and awards it, and a qualified human assessor makes the assessment decision.
What each unit actually teaches you to do
Designing and communicating secure global computing systems Real unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the fundamentals of secure global computing systems
- Plan and scope secure global computing systems projects effectively
- Design secure global computing systems that meet specific requirements
- Simulate and test secure global computing systems to identify vulnerabilities
- Communicate and review secure global computing systems designs and implementations
Digital forensic investigation Real unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the fundamentals of digital forensics
- Plan digital forensic investigations effectively
- Collect, preserve, and analyse digital evidence using appropriate techniques
- Report digital forensic investigation findings in a clear and concise manner
- Review digital forensic investigations to identify areas for improvement
Fundamentals of cyber security Real unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Describe the current cyber security landscape, including common threats and vulnerabilities
- Identify common cyber security vulnerabilities in systems and networks
- Analyse the potential impact of cyber security events on organisations
- Describe common cyber security mitigations, including firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and anti-malware software
- Explain the importance of cyber security policies, procedures, and event handling
- Outline common job roles and responsibilities within the cyber security field
Fundamentals of networks Real unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand different network types, models, topologies and services
- Understand network layers, protocols and addressing schemes
- Identify and describe wired network components and their functions
- Understand the principles of mobile and wireless networks
- Analyse network performance and identify potential bottlenecks
- Understand the concepts and applications of cloud networks
Implementing secure local area networks (LANs) Real unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the purpose and components of local area networks (LANs)
- Design secure local area networks (LANs) that meet specific requirements
- Implement and secure local area networks (LANs) using appropriate technologies
- Test local area networks (LANs) to ensure functionality and security
- Review and maintain local area network (LAN) performance and security to address vulnerabilities
Penetration testing and incident response Real unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the introduction to penetration testing methodologies
- Plan penetration testing activities in accordance with industry best practise
- Implement penetration testing scoping plans to achieve defined objectives
- Understand incident response planning and its importance
- Develop cyber security incident response capability within an organisation
- Review penetration testing and incident response capability to improve effectiveness
Preventing cyberattacks Real unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Explain cyber security aims and threats, including confidentiality, integrity, and availability
- Identify risks to networks and data, including vulnerabilities and potential attack vectors
- Audit existing cyberattack prevention measures to identify weaknesses
- Improve cyberattack prevention measures based on audit findings
- Design access control policies to restrict unauthorised access to systems and data
- Design written user policies to promote secure behaviour
- Review designed cyberattack prevention measures to ensure effectiveness and compliance
Free, by email
Is this the right qualification for you?
One email to help you decide: the facts, what it teaches, the jobs it leads to and where to start free. With a link back here. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.
Juliette Denny, Zavmo's founder, writes about learning and work on LinkedIn. Follow Juliette's Learning Tribe
Study the units online with a personal AI tutor, for £70 a month. Your first Future Fluency module is free.
The national standards these units are built against
What the job actually needs, in the words employers and awarding bodies already use for the work itself.
- Standard
Protect against cyber security threats
The jobs these credits are mapped to
A qualification is never a dead end here. Each of these is a job record this qualification is a mapped route into.
- 1 record
- 1 record
- 1 record
- 1 record
- 1 record
- 1 record
Showing 6 roles, drawn from 69 job records mapped to this qualification. Near-identical records are folded together, and each row says how many it stands for.
Where this can lead
Associate Penetration Tester
This work builds a foundation in ethical hacking. It can lead to a senior penetration tester role or a move into red team work.
See the whole journeyOne email to help you decide: the facts, what it teaches, the jobs it leads to and where to start free. With a link back here. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.
The credits, and who awards them
Level 3 credits are regulated, and they are awarded by Cambridge OCR rather than by Zavmo. They don’t vanish when a subscription ends or a website closes. They travel to any employer, and Zavmo keeps the map of what you have covered and what is next.
What you would be collecting
Designing and communicating secure global computing systemsDigital forensic investigationFundamentals of cyber securityFundamentals of networksImplementing secure local area networks (LANs)Penetration testing and incident responsePreventing cyberattacks
Each one is a real unit registered against this qualification.
How you’d practise it
You don’t watch this. You do it.
You are not assessed on remembering this. You are assessed on applying it, analysing it, evaluating it and producing something. So that is what the practice is: projects, role play and your own live cases, with a tutor in the room.
The Navigator · your what-if tutor Illustration - Bring your own plan Create
For “Implementing secure local area networks (LANs)” you bring the plan you are actually working on, not a case study. Zavmo pulls on the assumptions in it until the weak one shows.
- Map a live decision Analyse
“Designing and communicating secure global computing systems” runs on a decision you are facing now. Zavmo maps it with you and shows what the second-order effect looks like before you find out the slow way.
How you would learn this
One to one, on the work you already do
A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.
A lesson from Designing and communicating secure global computing systems, one of this qualification's own units.
Applied to your work in any of these jobs
This unit covers the design and communication of secure global computing systems, including planning, scoping, and testing. Learners will address security challenges, simulate systems to identify vulnerabilities, and communicate designs effectively within an organisational context.
- 1 Remember
- 2 Understand
- 3 Apply
- 4 Analyse
- 5 Evaluate
- 6 Create
It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time. Teaching towards this qualification begins when you subscribe.
Built for Cambridge OCR Level 3 Alternative Academic Qualification Cambridge Advanced National in Cyber Security and Networks (Extended Certificate)
7 units in this credential, in the order it lists them, awarded by Cambridge OCR.
- Designing and communicating secure global computing systems
- Digital forensic investigation
- Fundamentals of cyber security
- Fundamentals of networks
- Implementing secure local area networks (LANs)
- Penetration testing and incident response
and 1 more in the full unit list below.
Free tools
Want a read on where you stand?
Three free tools, no account needed. Each one ends with a role, a level and a way in.
Learned on your own work, taught one-to-one.
Everything you just read, learned one-to-one on the job you already do. Your free first module is Future Fluency, so you can see how the teaching works before you pay for anything.
Start my free AI Fluency moduleNo card. See how this qualification maps onto your role and meet the tutors who’d teach it, free. The learning begins when you subscribe. It’s £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.
The title, level, credits, guided learning hours and unit learning outcomes on this page are taken from the Ofqual Register of Regulated Qualifications. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Where this data comes from.