A big thank you to Gavin Wood, CEO at CyberLab, for taking the time to meet with our West Suffolk College Cyber Security T-Level students this week.
Gavin delivered an honest and insightful session focused on career pathways in digital support and cyber security. By retracing his own professional journey – including the challenges, pivotal decisions and lessons learned – he gave students valuable, real-world context that simply cannot be replicated in a lesson.
Importantly, the session highlighted the breadth of progression routes available within the sector – from junior digital support roles, IT technician positions, IT apprenticeships, degree pathways and specialist cyber security careers. Helping students understand that there is no single route into a cyber security career. This was incredibly powerful, particularly at 16-18 year olds on a T-Level course where progression planning is critical.
Sessions like this do more than inspire. They actively develop students’ professional behaviours — networking, questioning, communication and understanding employer expectations within the cyber sector.
We are also grateful to Kristian Royal for supporting the event and contributing to the discussion.
Strong employer engagement like this is essential in preparing our learners for progression into industry, apprenticeships and higher study.
