Your Starting Point Assessment
Before we decide where to go tomorrow, we need to understand where we are today. Your starting point matters more than any destination.
New to a subject? That is a perfectly good place to begin. Not knowing is not a weakness — it gives us an honest starting point. There is no need to impress anyone or guess an answer.
Scroll down for further information ↓
First, choose a learning area. Then tell us about your education, describe your relevant work experience and assess what you know today. There is no destination to choose yet. Tell us which cybersecurity and emerging-technology topics you want to understand well enough to discuss confidently with experts. AI and Quantum offer many exciting specialist fields, and our coverage will keep growing.
Find your starting point
Why we take your starting point seriously
Starting too far back can waste your time. Starting too far ahead can make learning unnecessarily difficult. We want to understand where you are today, without judgement. Every response is relevant, including “I don’t know”.
How we process your answers
We collect your education and work experience as valuable context. The pilot combines knowledge questions (60%) with your self-assessment (40%) in a separate indicative score. The initial level is still assigned using the knowledge questions; education, work experience and informal learning provide context but are not yet part of the numerical level calculation. We will refine the weighting through pilot feedback. No single response proves expertise.
Self Assessment
Nobody knows your learning experience better than you. Be realistic and, when unsure, slightly understate rather than overstate your knowledge. You can review and adjust your starting point.
QUECWA uses five learning levels, from Foundation through Expert. You can consider your current knowledge separately in AI, Quantum Computing, PQC and QKD. Our aim is a useful starting assessment, not a competition for the highest score.
On this page, your selections and assessment results are saved locally in this browser. They are not confirmed as synchronised with your QUECWA Learner account. Please avoid entering confidential workplace information.
Step one · Choose a learning area
Select AI, Quantum Computing, PQC or QKD. Each area has its own starting-point review. The selected learning area remains identified while you answer its questions. You may explore more than one area, and you do not have to complete every topic.
PQC currently has a short diagnostic. QKD questions are still being developed; QKD does not yet award a level.
Selected learning area:
Step two · Educational experience
Education takes many forms: formal study, industry qualifications and informal learning through professional groups, self-study and discussion. All are valuable.
These questions are optional. Every kind of learning counts. Your responses on this page are stored in this browser on this device.
Selected learning area:
Step three · Work experience in your selected learning area
Cybersecurity spans practical work from network monitoring and coding to project leadership and senior management. Theory and hands-on experience are different, and both matter. Most people cannot experiment on live organisational systems — theoretical knowledge is entirely legitimate.
Choose the closest description, not the most impressive. Practical experience is valuable, but is not a prerequisite for learning.
Selected learning area:
Self Assessment · Your selected learning area
Nobody knows your experience better than you. Rate your knowledge honestly. A low rating is a useful starting point, not a poor result.
Choose the level that best reflects what you can explain or apply today. Understating your knowledge is fine. You can assess each of the four learning areas separately.
Current knowledge by topic — choose a description for each topic in your selected learning area. This is your self-assessment, not a test result.
Selected learning area:
Specialist topics that interest you
Which specialist topics would you most like to understand and discuss confidently with experts? Select your level of interest. These pioneering fields are evolving, and QUECWA will keep expanding the available topics.
Your preferences help us recommend relevant learning. They do not award an outcome or establish competence.
Selected learning area:
Knowledge Test
What do you know today? The starting assessment uses multiple-choice questions. As our five levels develop, higher-level assessment will increasingly involve discussion and professional judgement. It is not a pass-or-fail test: your starting point is neither good nor bad. Choose “I don’t know” whenever appropriate.
You do not have to complete every learning area. This is your knowledge test, not a pass-or-fail examination. After submitting, visit My Review to see your initial starting level. That original baseline stays recorded as you progress.
Learning area: Quantum Computing
View My Review to see your recorded starting level.
A completed article means you have marked it as studied; it does not certify competence. Video tracking and the Level 1 assessment are not yet available. This browser-only record is not a member account.