Since 1997, Cisco Networking Academy has been one of the world's largest and longest-running IT skills and career-building programs. Delivered through a global network of educational partners — schools, universities, non-profits, and professional training centres — it combines free and low-cost online courses, hands-on labs, and instructor-led teaching to prepare students for real jobs in networking, cybersecurity, and technology. Millions of learners across more than 180 countries have taken a Cisco Networking Academy course, making it one of the most recognised paths into the tech industry worldwide.
We're proud to share that EdITC has been an official Cisco Networking Academy since September 2025. This means our students in Nicosia now have direct access to Cisco's official curriculum, learning platform, and certification pathways — delivered locally, with the same standards used by Cisco academies around the world.
What Is Cisco Networking Academy?
Cisco Networking Academy (often shortened to "NetAcad") is Cisco's global education initiative, built to close the IT skills gap and open doors to careers in networking and cybersecurity. Rather than just teaching theory, the program is built around practical, hands-on learning — using simulation tools, virtual labs, and real equipment so students leave with skills employers actually look for.
Courses range from complete-beginner introductions to IT and the internet, all the way up to advanced, professional-level networking and security certifications. Because the curriculum is developed and maintained by Cisco, students everywhere — including here at EdITC — learn from the same up-to-date material used at academies across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and beyond.
Courses Available Through Cisco Networking Academy
Here are some of the flagship courses within the Cisco Networking Academy portfolio:
CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) — The foundational networking course and certification, covering how networks operate: IP addressing, routing and switching, network security fundamentals, automation, and programmability. CCNA is widely regarded as the industry-standard entry point for a career in networking, and is often a prerequisite for more advanced IT roles.
CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional) — A professional-level pathway for those who already hold networking fundamentals and want to specialise further, covering enterprise-level routing, switching, and infrastructure design at a deeper, more advanced level than CCNA.
CyberOps Associate — Focused on cybersecurity operations, this course prepares students to monitor, detect, and respond to security incidents — the kind of work done every day in a Security Operations Centre (SOC). It's a strong starting point for anyone aiming for a career as a security analyst.
Ethical Hacker — A course built around offensive security: learning how attackers think and operate so that students can find and fix vulnerabilities before malicious actors do. It's a practical, in-demand introduction to penetration testing and ethical hacking as a discipline.
Alongside these, the wider Cisco Networking Academy catalogue also includes courses in Python programming, cybersecurity essentials, network security, IoT, and other introductory and specialised IT topics — giving students multiple entry points depending on their starting level and career goals.
Why It Matters for Our Students
Being an official Cisco Networking Academy is more than a badge — it means our students train on Cisco's own curriculum, use the same learning platform as academies worldwide, and work toward certifications that are recognised by employers internationally. Whether someone is starting their first course in networking or working toward a professional certification like CCNP, they're building skills mapped directly to what the IT industry is hiring for.
Since joining the Cisco Networking Academy network in September 2025, EdITC has been able to bring this global curriculum to learners in Cyprus, combined with the in-person, instructor-led support our students already know us for.
If you're interested in starting your journey with CCNA, exploring cybersecurity through CyberOps or Ethical Hacker, or advancing your networking career with CCNP, get in touch with us to find out more about upcoming course dates and how to enrol.