Cambridge OCR · RQF Level 3
Cambridge OCR Level 3 Alternative Academic Qualification Cambridge Advanced National in Cyber Security and Networks (Extended Certificate)
You don’t just earn this. You learn to use it, one-to-one, on your own real work.
- LevelRQF Level 3
- Guided learning360 hours
- Units in this qualification7
Awarded by Cambridge OCR · on the Ofqual register
Start here
See how this course maps onto your role
Ten quick questions, one per Future Fluency, asked against this qualification rather than a generic one.
About 5 minutes · No card · Nothing to commit to
What you’ll learn
What each unit actually teaches you to do
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, and every one you earn is yours to keep.
Designing and communicating secure global computing systemsReal 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 investigationReal 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 securityReal 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 networksReal 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 responseReal 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 cyberattacksReal 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
The honest bit
You’ve started things before
Most courses were built for a room full of people who aren’t you. A cohort moves on whether or not your week allowed it, and by the third week the thing you’re behind on becomes the reason you stop opening it.
There’s no cohort here, and no timetable to fall behind. Before anything starts, Zavmo asks when you’re sharpest and how long you can realistically sit down for, then builds the sessions around those answers. A bad fortnight changes your pace. It doesn’t put you behind.
And you only pay once you start learning. Searching and planning are free, and you can cancel any time — so the cost of finding out is an afternoon, not a year.
Your passport
Every credit is a stamp you keep
Level 3 credits are regulated. 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’ve earned and what’s next.
Each stamp is a real unit registered against this qualification.
Who’d teach you this
The Evidence Evaluator
Assessor
Helps you show what you can actually do, gathering the evidence that proves it as you learn.
Meet all twelve tutorsWhere this connects
Where these credits take you
A qualification is never a dead end here. See the jobs its credits open, the national occupational standards its units map to, and the future skills they quietly build.
Where this can lead
Associate Penetration Tester
Your journey starts here, learning the fundamentals of ethical hacking. With dedication and continuous learning, you can carve out a truly impactful and rewarding career, helping organisations stay one step ahead of the bad guys. It won't always be easy, but it will certainly be interesting.
See the whole journey →Showing 6 roles, drawn from 93 job records mapped to this qualification.
Skills it covers
What the job actually needs. These are the standards the units are built against, in the words employers and awarding bodies already use for the work itself.
How you’ll actually learn this
One-to-one, on your own real work
A qualification is usually something done to you: sit the class, sit the exam, hope it sticks. Here it’s the opposite. You learn it one-to-one with a companion, on your own real work, and you keep going until you can use it, not just recall it.
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.
- Remember
- Understand
- Apply
- Analyse
- Evaluate
- Create
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.
One to one, not one to many
No two people run this the same way
A course is written once and handed to everyone. This is assembled around you, and keeps changing as it learns you. Five things it reads, and what each one changes.
- Your actual work Every unit is taught against a live piece of your own work, not a worked example from a textbook.
- What you already know The first conversation finds your starting point, so you skip what you can already do and spend the time on what you cannot.
- The conditions you learn under Not a learning-styles quiz. The evidence does not support those. The dimensions the research does back, read once and used to shape the plan.
- How far you got last time It picks up mid-thought. The tutor knows what you said, what you struggled with, and what it asked you to try.
- Which tutor suits the moment Twelve of them, each for a different kind of thinking. The one who walks you through a first idea is not the one who stress-tests it.
See how you learn, free. Eight questions, no sign-up. A directional taster; the diagnostic inside Zavmo goes deeper and keeps adapting.
Why it sticks
Most courses stop at remembering
There’s a well-known ladder of how deeply you learn something, called Bloom’s Taxonomy. Most courses get you up the first two rungs: you remember some facts, you pass a test, you forget it. Real skill lives at the top. Judging, deciding, creating. And this isn’t a generic ladder: every rung has a named Zavmo tutor who walks you up it.
- 6CreateThe Creative Catalyst
- 5EvaluateThe Evidence Evaluator
- 4AnalyseThe Analyst
- 3ApplyThe Coach
- 2UnderstandThe Connector
- 1RememberThe Builder
Where most courses leave you Where Zavmo takes you
The value
Why the companion is worth £70 a month
You’re not paying for the units. They’re regulated, and the same wherever you earn them. You’re paying for the one thing that decides whether you actually get there: a companion that makes them stick, on your real work.
That is one-to-one on this qualification, every day, on the work you already do, for £70 a month. Your first module is free, so you can see the teaching before you pay for any of it. Billed monthly, cancel any time and billing stops.
Earned on your own work, taught to the top.
Everything you just read, learned one-to-one on the job you already do. Your first module is free, so you can see the teaching before you pay for any of it.
Build my plan, freeNo 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.