Overview

The CISCO course is a two year course which is split into 4 Semesters, which roughly equates to 1 semester every 18 weeks (70 hrs). So the first semester each year will run from September to mid-January. The second semester from mid-January to May. The reason for finishing at the end of May is to fit around the AS/A2 level students who will start their exam leave at that stage. Any time after the external exams have been completed will allow students to complete Practical exams or start looking at curriculum for the next Semesters.

Each Semester is split into two main areas, THEORY and PRACTICAL.

The Theory lesson involve learning topics set out in chapters structured by CISCO themselves. The course notes are found on the School Intranet at the following URL address.

CISCO Semester 1 start

After reading the on-line curriculum on each chapter and attending tutorial sessions, you are required to take an on-line test. A pass mark of 70% is required before you are to progress to the next chapter. If the pass mark is not achieved first time then you will have to resit the exam again.

At the end of each Semester, a Final Semester exam is taken which will cover all the chapters, and again a pass mark of 70% is required. However, if this is not achieved first time, then the pass mark increases by 5% each time you retake the exam.

You are also required to sit a Pratical Exam and an Oral Exam in which you either attain a Pass or a Fail grade. Again, these can be retaken.

During each part of the course you are required to keep an Engineering Journal. This Journal will also contain your class notes, homeworks, praticals, class activities, your own revision notes and personal reflections, mis-conception and strategies you've applied during the course. The necessity of this Journal is to prove to future employee's and the School that you have attended, passed and reflected on all aspect of the course.

Once you have Graduated from a Semester, then you progress to the next Semester.

The main topics in each Semester are as follows

Semester One

• Basic Computer Hardware
• Seven Layer Model of Network Communication
• Basic Network Design

Semester Two

• Routers
• TCP/IP
• Internet Operating System (IOS)

Semester Three

• Switches
• Gateways
• Network Management
• LAN design

Semester Four

• Basic Computer Hardware
• Seven Layer Model of Network Communication
• Basic Network Design

To get the cover sheets for your Engineering Journal click on the link in the side menu bar, and add your name to the front coversheet.