A two-year security route with the computer science underneath it, and one honest gap in the published figures.
Level, credits, hours, units and Ofqual number are taken from the OTHM specification and the Ofqual register. Duration, study modes, fees and intake dates are set by London School of Planning and Management (LSPM), the approved centre. The credit total is absent from the awarding body's web listing and is flagged for correction; the specification states it.
This is the one programme in this catalogue whose web listing at OTHM omits the credit value and the hours; those figures appear only in the specification document. It is an Extended Diploma, regulated under 610/5102/0, and the pattern of OTHM's other Extended Diplomas is 240 credits across Levels 4 and 5, but we will not print that figure against this qualification until it comes from the source. The specification document states it; read it before you enrol and ask us to walk through it.
What the data does show is a twelve-unit list with a clear shape. The first half is the computer science a security specialist needs and that short security courses skip: the maths and the operating-systems unit, networks, systems principles, algorithms with data structures, and an introductory IT security unit. The second half is the security specialism proper: Security Testing, Artificial Intelligence, Databases, Digital Forensics, Ethical Hacking and Malware Analysis.
It is aimed at learners starting from Level 3 who want to become security practitioners rather than generalists, and who are prepared to do the mathematics and systems study that makes the later units meaningful. It is a heavier programme than the Qualifi Level 5 Cyber Security diploma in the same sector, which assumes a Level 4 background and has four units.
Same awarding body, same sector, same Level 5 outcome. The Extended Diploma includes the Level 4 stage; the Diploma assumes you already hold it.
Choose this if your highest qualification is at Level 3 and you want one enrolment that ends at year-two equivalence.
Choose this if you already hold a Level 4 qualification in a related subject and only need the Level 5 stage.
6 of the Level 5 unit titles appear in both programmes. Whichever route you take, you finish in the same credit position: 240 credits across Levels 4 and 5. The Extended Diploma reaches it under one registration and one certificate; the Diploma assumes a separate Level 4 award came first.
12 mandatory.
| # | Unit title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Information Technology Security | — |
| 02 | Principles of Computer Systems | — |
| 03 | Algorithms and Data Structures | — |
| 04 | Computer Networks | — |
| 05 | Mathematics for Computer Science | — |
| 06 | Operating Systems | — |
| 07 | Security Testing | — |
| 08 | Artificial Intelligence | — |
| 09 | Databases | — |
| 10 | Digital Forensics | — |
| 11 | Ethical Hacking | — |
| 12 | Malware Analysis | — |
| Total credits | See specification | |
Unit titles and credit values from the OTHM specification. Individual unit credits are not on the awarding body's web listing; the specification lists them.
How LSPM sequences them. LSPM treats the first six units as the foundation stage and does not open any of the six security units until Computer Networks and Operating Systems have both been submitted; ethical hacking and malware analysis without that grounding become recipe-following. Mathematics for Computer Science runs across the whole first stage as a weekly thread rather than a block, because learners with a Level 3 background need time with it.
OTHM's published criteria, quoted as data. London School of Planning and Management (LSPM) checks each applicant against them before registration.
Source: OTHM specification. Entry is a Level 3 qualification, or three A levels, or the mature route at 21 or over. LSPM looks specifically for evidence of comfort with mathematics at Level 3 (a mathematics or computing A level, or an equivalent unit in a Level 3 diploma), and where it is absent we recommend a short preparatory course before starting rather than an offer with a struggle built in.
Practical assignments throughout: implementations and analyses in the foundation stage, then a security test report, a forensic examination of a supplied image, a controlled penetration test against a lab environment LSPM provides, and a malware analysis report on a sample in an isolated environment. All offensive work is confined to LSPM's lab and governed by a signed acceptable-use agreement. See how LSPM teaches and assesses for the marking and verification process.
LSPM's tutors mark and give written feedback. OTHM samples marked work before results are ratified. A referred submission can be reworked after feedback.
OTHM Level 6 Diploma in Information Technology or a security-focused Level 6 route.
Final-year entry to a BSc (Hons) in Cyber Security or Computer Science where the university maps the twelve units; the foundation-stage units help here because they correspond to first-year computer science modules.
Junior security analyst, SOC analyst or penetration-testing trainee roles, usually alongside a vendor certification the employer specifies.
OTHM publishes the credit value in the specification document rather than on the programme's web listing. Rather than type a figure in by hand, which would break the rule that every number on this site is traceable to a published source, we show "see specification" and will send you the document.
Never. All offensive techniques are practised in LSPM's isolated lab against targets LSPM controls, under a signed acceptable-use agreement. Testing systems you do not own or have written permission to test is a criminal offence in the UK.
Because detection, anomaly analysis and increasingly the attacks themselves use machine-learning techniques. The unit is an introduction to the methods with security applications, not a specialist AI course.
Different starting points and depth. Qualifi's is 120 credits at Level 5 in four units for learners with a Level 4 background, and includes a strategic leadership unit. This one starts from Level 3, runs twelve units including six of computer science, and has no management unit. Choose by where you are starting and whether you want to lead or to practise.
No. This is a regulated qualification, not a vendor certification. The content overlaps with what those certifications test, and many learners sit one afterwards, but neither LSPM nor we bundle or guarantee them.
Tell us what you hold now and we will say whether you are likely to meet OTHM's criteria; LSPM confirms eligibility and the next intake.