The popularity of the 2017 CyberFirst Girls competition, and the outstanding abilities demonstrated by all of the participants, proved to us that the UK has a huge pool of talent, ready and willing to take on the challenges of our digital future.
So, in 2018 we’ll be offering the young women of the United Kingdom another chance to explore the world of cyber security. It is our hope that this competition will help to ensure women are better represented in the cyber workforce of tomorrow.
A look at CyberFirst Girls 2017
The 2017 competition attracted an amazing 2,171 teams of girls aged between 13 and 15. These 8,000 participants, from schools all across the UK, were whittled down to just 10 elite teams, through a series of online challenges and puzzles. The top 100 rankings for the online competition can be found here.
The competition finale saw the 37 girls who made up the top teams meet at a central London location, where they faced a final cyber challenge. In 2017, Lancaster Girls Grammar eventually held the number one slot. But, in 2018, it could be your school that’s victorious.
Registration for the 2018 competition will be open in the Autumn.
The ten percent
The maps below show the national spread of initial applicants (left), and finalist teams (right), for CyberFirst Girls Competition 2017. These maps make it clear that talent is present throughout the country. But this wealth of ability and enthusiasm is not reflected in the cyber workforce, only 10% of which is female. We would like to see that change for the better.
The event clearly demonstrated that the shortage of female cyber security professionals is not due to a lack of interest. We hope that the CyberFirst Girls Competition 2018 will be even bigger and better, and that in years to come we’ll see many of the participants enjoying challenging and rewarding roles within the industry.
More details on how to take part will be posted on the NCSC website in the Autumn.
David C
Cyber Skills & Growth
Source: National Cyber Security Centre
