Royal Holloway MSc Information and Cyber Security: Entry and NCSC Status

Royal Holloway’s postgraduate cybersecurity course has been renamed. What this site used to call the MSc Information Security is now listed by the university as the MSc Information and Cyber Security, with a separate two-year version that includes a year in industry. This guide sets out what the university and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) publish, and what we could not confirm.

Table

The key facts

ItemWhat Royal Holloway or the NCSC publishes
Course and lengthMSc Information and Cyber Security: 1 year full time or 2 years part time, at the Egham campus. A version with a Year in Industry runs for 2 years full time
International fee£25,500 a year for the 2027/28 listing (UK £12,500). The Year in Industry version was listed at £29,300 for 2026/27, and the placement year is charged at 20% of the course fee
EntryA 2:2 UK honours degree or equivalent, in any subject, as listed by a graduate-course directory quoting the university; people without it but with appropriate industry experience may be considered
Application dates (2027 listing)Apply by 27 June 2027 for a decision by 16 July, or by 30 July for a decision by 13 August. Final deadlines are 20 August for international applicants and 27 August for home applicants
NCSC status (list reviewed 7 September 2026)The NCSC lists the campus-based MSc Information and Cyber Security with a Year in Industry as fully certified, expiry 30 September 2027. It also lists distance-learning versions. The one-year campus MSc is not listed under its own title

What the NCSC position means for you

The NCSC says a degree that is not on its list does not have certification. The list shows the Year in Industry version, but not the one-year campus course under that name. Royal Holloway says its programmes are certified, so ask the university in writing which version you are applying to and whether it is the one the NCSC lists.

A good fit for career changers, in our reading

Because the listed entry requirement is a 2:2 in any subject, this is more open to non-computing graduates than many certified courses. That is our reading of the published entry line, so confirm it with admissions, and see our guide to cybersecurity degrees without a computer science background.

Visa funds

Egham is in Surrey, outside the 32 London boroughs and the City of London that GOV.UK defines as London, so the outside-London figure applies: £1,171 a month for up to nine months today, rising to £1,203 for applications from 30 November 2026 under Statement of Changes HC 584, as reported by immigration law firms. Use our calculator.

Correction, November 2026

An earlier version of this guide said the course holds uninterrupted NCSC certification longer than any other, that graduates are automatically recognised by named intelligence agencies and employers, that the department ranks first in the UK for research impact, that 96% of graduates secure roles with starting salaries of £38,000 to £55,000, and that a 2:1 is required. We could not support any of these from Royal Holloway or the NCSC, so they were removed. The entry requirement was changed to the 2:2 the university lists.

What we could not confirm

We have not read Royal Holloway’s English-language page, so we give no test scores, and we found no independent graduate outcome figures.

Sources and checks

Figures checked: November 2026. This is general information, not admissions or immigration advice, so confirm fees, entry and certification with the university.

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