Ethical Hacking News
English schools have seen a decrease in reported cyber incidents, with 66% of schools recovering "immediately" from an incident. However, ongoing concerns regarding cybersecurity and the need for shared responsibility among staff remain. The survey highlights the importance of effective cybersecurity measures and training for teachers to ensure the continued safety and security of students and staff.
The number of reported cyber incidents in English schools has decreased, with 27% of schools experiencing an incident during the 2025/26 academic year. The most commonly reported type of incident was phishing, followed by data protection breaches, hacking, and ransomware. 66% of schools reported recovering from an incident immediately, up from 55% the previous academic year. There is a lack of confidence in cybersecurity among teachers, with around a third having received no training or being unsure if they had received it. The results of the Ofqual survey are more favorable than the government's Cyber Security Breaches Survey, but there is still work to be done in addressing cyber threats.
In recent years, the United Kingdom's education sector has faced numerous challenges, including the threat of cyberattacks. However, according to a survey conducted by the exams regulator Ofqual, English schools are making progress in addressing these issues. The survey, which involved 3,775 secondary teachers in England, found that the number of reported cyber incidents has decreased, with 27% of schools experiencing an incident during the 2025/26 academic year, down from 29% in the previous year and 34% in 2023/24.
Phishing was the most commonly reported type of incident, followed by data protection breaches, hacking, and ransomware. Ransomware was the most prevalent type of ransomware, affecting 2% of respondents. The most frequently compromised information was staff data, with student data being affected in 13% of incidents and student work being affected in just 1%.
In terms of recovery times, the survey found that 66% of schools reported recovering from an incident "immediately," up from 55% the previous academic year. A further 12% reported recovering within half a term, while 1% took longer than half a term to recover. The proportion of reported incidents that caused "critical damage" also decreased, from 10% to 7%.
Despite these improvements, the survey also highlighted ongoing concerns regarding cybersecurity. Teachers were divided over who bears primary responsibility for cybersecurity, with 46% pointing to the IT team and 40% saying it was shared among all staff. Just 9% identified senior leadership as responsible. Mat Pullen, director of education at Jamf, noted that while reducing incidents is important, so is recovering quickly. He emphasized the need for cybersecurity to be a shared responsibility among IT, teachers, and senior leadership.
The survey also found that around a third of teachers had received no cybersecurity training during the past year or were unsure whether they had received it. A similar proportion reported that the training they did receive was not useful. Among those who received training, 65% reported making no changes as a result.
In comparison to other UK education institutions, the results of the Ofqual survey are more favorable than the government's Cyber Security Breaches Survey, which found that 49% of primary schools, 73% of secondary schools, 88% of further education colleges, and 98% of higher education institutions had identified a breach or attempted attack during the previous 12 months.
The increasing frequency of cyberattacks on schools is a concern, with successful attacks often forcing schools to close while systems are restored. In June, several schools across England and Wales shut temporarily while technicians investigated a malware scare. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) reported last year that students were responsible for more than half of cyberattacks attributed to a known actor in the UK education sector.
The survey's findings suggest that English schools are making progress in addressing cyber threats, but there is still much work to be done. The need for ongoing training and improvement in cybersecurity measures is clear, particularly among teachers who are often the frontline in responding to incidents.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Improvements-in-Cybersecurity-Measures-Among-English-Schools-Despite-Ongoing-Concerns-ehn.shtml
https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/10/01/englands-schools-are-getting-better-at-mopping-up-cyber-incidents/5300465
Published: Thu Oct 1 07:49:24 2026 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
