What a student does
Twelve weeks of real research into scams that are reaching real people, about five hours a week, remotely. Not shadowing, not a course. The work is investigating, checking claims against evidence, and writing clearly, so it is open to students who are not technical and not only to computer science students.
- Weeks 1 to 4: guided work with prepared checklists and a named reviewer, learning to hand off work someone else can act on.
- Weeks 5 to 8: working independently inside one area, recording what is uncertain rather than guessing.
- Weeks 9 to 12: one piece of their own, carried through editing to publication.
What they leave with
- A published piece on cybersecurityreach.org carrying their own name, that they can send to an employer or an admissions officer.
- A written reference describing what they actually did, whatever the outcome.
- A mentor conversation with someone already working in the field.
What they can do afterwards
Stated as things they can do, because that is what an interview asks about.
- Take a suspicious message or website and produce an evidence file another person can act on without asking follow-up questions.
- Check a claim against more than one source and say plainly what is established, what is likely, and what is unknown.
- Handle other people's information safely, and recognise what must never be published.
- Write for an ordinary reader without losing the substance.
- Take editorial review on their work and improve it.
Honest about the publication
We guarantee every student finishes with a completed piece and a reference. We do not guarantee that every piece is published, because publishing work that is not ready would make the credit worthless. We choose each student's assignment to fit what they have shown they can do, so publication is the normal outcome, and we edit with them until it is ready.
Students under 18
Younger students are welcome. Because they are, we work to a few rules and we would ask the school to hold us to them.
- We need written consent from a parent or guardian, or the school confirming it holds that consent.
- No unobserved one-to-one contact between an adult and a student under 18. Mentor conversations happen with a second adult present, through the school, or in a small group.
- All contact runs through channels the school or guardian can see. No personal phone numbers and no private messaging.
- We collect as little personal information as the programme needs, and we publish nothing about a student beyond the name the guardian has agreed to.
What the school does
- Tell students it exists. That is the main thing we need.
- Confirm guardian consent for students under 18.
- Tell us if a student stops attending, so we do not keep a place open.
There is no agreement to sign, no cost, and no minimum number of students.
What we do not offer
- No payment. We are volunteer-run and cannot pay a stipend.
- No guaranteed job or onward internship. We can give a reference and a byline.
- No certificate. A published piece with their name on it is worth considerably more.
Places are limited on purpose
We take four to six students at a time, because every piece of a student's work gets read and answered by a person. We would rather run a small programme properly than a large one badly. If a cohort is full we will tell you when the next one opens.
Starting
Students apply at cybersecurityreach.org/volunteer. If you would like to talk it through first, write to info@cybersecurityreach.org and tell us roughly how many students and what year they are in.