Ofqual, the government body that regulates examinations and qualifications in England, has urged schools and colleges to take cyber security more seriously.

The watchdog found that a third of teachers in secondary schools did not receive cyber security training in the last academic year.

The survey, which polled teachers across England, also revealed that 34 per cent of schools and colleges experienced a cyber incident during the last academic year.

Approximately a quarter of schools and colleges reported a cyber security incident due to a phishing attack.

Four per cent of those surveyed said it took more than half a term to recover from a cyber attack, while almost ten per cent of headteachers described the attack as critically damaging.

“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,” said Ofqual’s Executive Director of General Qualifications, Amanda Swann.

“Many schools and colleges take cyber security seriously, but this survey 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.”

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