Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department provides to school trusts to safeguard against cyber attacks and to protect children's personal data.

The department provides guidance to help schools build their cyber resilience in our Cyber Security Standards, which address the core principles of cyber governance, processes and strategy.

We have also introduced a free interactive assessment tool, Plan Your Technology, to help schools understand if they meet our Cyber Security Standards and support schools to achieve them. We have incorporated the cyber security standards into Keeping Children Safe in Education and the Academy Trust Handbook. The department also has a small, dedicated sector cyber security team to support schools. This team provides appropriate advice and guidance via regular targeted and broad communications and more specific incident signposting when required.

The department’s Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) added cover for cyber incidents from 2022. With over 60% of schools RPA members, in the event of a cyber incident they have access to a 24/7 Incident Response Service.

We also work closely with the National Cyber Crime Security Centre (NCSC), who offer cyber security tools and guidance for schools, including free Protective Domain Name Service.