Academic

The academic side.

School, college, certifications, and the technical skills I've built along the way — in programming, cybersecurity, and everything in between.

2022 – 2024

Robert Sutton School

Left school with a strong set of GCSEs and a clear direction. I ran Code Club throughout my time there — teaching younger students to code, running workshops on web development and Python, and mentoring 10+ students through their first projects.

Computer Science was the standout subject. It confirmed what I already suspected — this was the direction.

GCSE Results

English Literature9

English Language8

PE7

Maths6

Computer Science6

RE6

2024 – 2026

Burton & South Derbyshire College

Two years on a Level 3 Programming & App Development course — the OCR Extended Diploma. Started with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, then moved deeper into Python, AI, and automation.

In 2026 I stacked nine Cisco certifications to back up my skills with real credentials. Covering everything from networking basics to ethical hacking and cyber threat management.

Predicted DDD — the highest grade achievable on the diploma.

College Stats

CollegeBSDC

CourseL3 Programming & App Dev

Duration2 years

PredictedDDD

Cisco Certs9

DiplomaOCR L3 Extended IT

Sept 2026

Staffordshire University

Starting a Cyber Security BSc in September 2026, running through to 2029. The foundation is already there — nine certs, two years of hands-on programming, and a real understanding of how systems and threats work. The degree formalises it.

Tech I work with

Skills & tools

Languages

JavaScript

TypeScript

HTML / CSS

Python

SQL

Frameworks & Tools

Next.js

React

Tailwind CSS

Node.js

Vercel

Supabase

Git

Figma

Cyber Security

Network Defense

Threat Detection

Endpoint Security

Ethical Hacking

OSINT

Creative & Brand

Brand Identity

UI Design

Video Editing

Content Strategy

Cisco Networking Academy

View Certificate ↗

Hands-on

Cyber Projects

🖥️Ongoing

Home Lab

Built a personal home lab running Proxmox as the hypervisor with multiple VMs — including a pfSense firewall, a vulnerable Windows machine, and a Kali Linux attack box. Used for practising network segmentation, firewall rules, and controlled attack simulations in a safe environment.

ProxmoxpfSenseKali LinuxNetworkingVirtualisation

🚩Active

CTF Challenges

Regularly working through Capture the Flag challenges on TryHackMe and Hack The Box. Covering web exploitation, privilege escalation, reverse engineering, and forensics. Applying the theory from Cisco certs to real attack/defence scenarios.

TryHackMeHack The BoxWeb ExploitationPrivilege Escalation

📡Practice

Network Traffic Analysis

Using Wireshark to capture and analyse network traffic on the home lab. Identified common attack patterns — ARP spoofing, port scans, suspicious DNS queries — and practised writing detection rules.

WiresharkPacket AnalysisIDSThreat Detection

🐍Ongoing

Scripting & Automation

Written Python scripts for security tasks: port scanners, brute-force simulators, log parsers, and basic automation of repetitive recon tasks. Ties directly into the programming side of my course.

PythonAutomationReconScripting

See the code on GitHub

Scripts, projects, and experiments — everything I build gets pushed here.

github.com/joerolfe ↗