Ofqual is reminding schools and colleges of the importance of cyber security after a poll highlighted the risks associated with poor cyber hygiene.
The prompt comes as a Teacher Tapp survey found 1 in 3 secondary teachers did not have cyber security training, in the last academic year.
Ofqual's Executive Director of General Qualifications Amanda Swann said:
Losing coursework that is the result of many hours of hard work is every student's nightmare. Even more distressing is losing a whole class or year group's coursework because of weak cyber security on a school or college IT system.
Many schools and colleges take cyber security seriously, but this poll highlights that there is more to be done. I would encourage schools and colleges to visit the National Cyber Security Centre's school resource guide to learn how to defend against cyber attacks.
The poll, which surveyed teachers across England, also found that:
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34% of schools and colleges in England experienced a cyber incident during the last academic year
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most commonly, 23% of schools and colleges in England experienced a cyber security incident due to a phishing attack
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the north-west was hit hardest, with 40% of schools which responded having had a cyber incident, compared with 28% in the east of England
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20% could not recover immediately, with 4% taking more than half a term to recover
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9% of headteachers said the attack was critically damaging
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1 in 3 teachers have not had cyber security training this year - of the two-thirds who have had training, 66% said it was useful.
Teachers who had experienced a cyber incident were asked how it affected them, their colleagues and students.
One teacher said:
[It happened] last summer before results days. From then on, all teaching staff were unable to access anything, so could not prepare for the year.
When back in school, we could not use the desktops and there were not enough laptops.
This went on for weeks and was utter chaos.
Another teacher said:
[It] caused a dip in belief about the security of our systems and led to difficult conversations with parents.
For practical tips designed for schools on how to defend against cyber attacks, visit the National Cyber Security Centre school resources page.
