A prestigious award recognising excellence and innovation in delivering high-quality cybersecurity education worldwide has been won by the MSc Cyber Security distance learning (DL) programme, offered through the University of London, with academic direction from Royal Holloway, University of London’s Information Security Group (ISG).
The Roger Mills Award is awarded annually by the University of London, recognising outstanding contributions to digital learning, teaching, pedagogy, and assessment, particularly within distance education and e-learning. Winners are invited to present their innovative approaches at the CODE Annual Research in Distance Education conference, taking place at Senate House, London from 13-14 March 2025.
The MSc Cyber Security DL programme was launched in October 2022 in collaboration with Coursera. A key factor in its success is its innovative pedagogy, with an emphasis on experiential learning through virtualized environments and real-world case studies. It has adaptive learning methodologies that personalise content delivery based on student feedback, ensuring it aligns with both students' needs and market demands, making it an effective model for online education.
The programme also integrates industry collaborations and expert-led webinars, to enable students to gain insights from leading professionals in cybersecurity, bridging the gap between academic learning and real world, practical industry application.
Director of the MSc Cyber Security DL programme Dr Fauzia Idrees, commented,
“It is truly an honour to win the 2025 Roger Mills Award. From the outset, our fully online programme has sought to introduce significant pedagogical innovations and use cutting-edge technologies to enhance the learning experience for our students. It stands out for its seamless integration of theoretical foundations, practical skills, and industry-aligned approaches to cybersecurity education.”
Head of Information Security Group at Royal Holloway, Professor Lizzie Coles-Kemp added.
"We’re immensely proud that the MSc Cyber Security DL programme’s impact has been recognised by this award for contributing beyond its enrolled students to the broader cybersecurity education landscape. Through implementing scalable and transferable digital learning strategies, we hope it serves as a model for other institutions aiming to enhance their distance learning offerings. In particular, its emphasis on accessibility and inclusivity ensures that a diverse student body, including working professionals and individuals from underrepresented regions, can develop the necessary skills to excel in cybersecurity."
The award named in memory of Roger Mills, celebrates a former Fellow of the Centre for Online and Distance Education and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Open University UK. Throughout his career, Roger Mills was a passionate advocate for innovation in learning and teaching, making significant contributions to distance education and academic policy development. The award continues his legacy by recognising initiatives that bring substantial value, impact, and transferability to the field of online education
