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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →School governors and trustees should seek evidence that leaders understand cyber risks, protect essential systems and can restore services after an incident. The governing body oversees strategy and risk; school leaders and competent IT support choose and implement technical controls. This checklist adapts official guidance for board discussions—it is not an official National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) checklist.
The Department for Education (DfE) says schools and colleges should work towards its cyber security expectations by 2030. Use the questions below alongside the DfE cyber security core standard, rather than treating a board discussion as proof of compliance.
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Who is responsible for cyber security in a school?
Cyber security is a governance and continuity issue: schools depend on digital services for teaching and administration, and hold sensitive information about pupils, parents and staff. Governors and trustees provide strategic oversight and challenge; leaders are responsible for managing risk and arranging suitable IT support. Technical implementation should be handled by leaders and competent specialists, not delegated to the board as a technical task.
Ask leaders to make responsibility and escalation clear, including which outside organisations support the school. The NCSC and DfE governor questions, published and reviewed on 15 July 2020, are useful prompts, but the NCSC explicitly says: “These questions are not intended as a checklist.” Read them alongside the current DfE standard.
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- Who is the senior leader accountable for digital technology and cyber risk?
- Who coordinates IT day to day?
- Which local authority or trust teams, managed service providers, cloud services, connectivity providers and software suppliers support the school?
- Where are responsibilities, dependencies and incident escalation routes documented?
- How often does the governing body review cyber risk, and is it included in the school’s risk register?
DfE’s maintained schools governance guide, checked 4 October 2026, says all schools and colleges should work towards six core digital and technology standards by 2030: filtering and monitoring, cyber security, broadband internet, network switching, wireless network, and digital leadership and governance. The guide also says at least one governor should complete cyber security training.
What systems and information are most important?
Leaders need to identify the services and data whose loss, disruption or exposure would cause the greatest harm. There is no single critical-systems list that fits every school: priorities depend on the school’s operations, information and supplier arrangements. The NCSC/DfE governor material gives a management information system as an example because it may contain medical, safeguarding and parent contact information.
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- Which digital services are essential to teaching, safeguarding, attendance, administration, payroll, communications and site operations?
- Which records are most sensitive, and what would happen if they were unavailable or disclosed?
- What third-party services or dependencies are needed to keep those functions running?
- Has the school completed a cyber risk assessment within the last year, and has it reviewed that assessment this term?
- Which unresolved risks, supplier issues or dependencies require board attention?
The DfE core standard calls for an annual cyber risk assessment and a review each term. Ask for the assessment’s main findings, named risk owners and actions—not just confirmation that a document exists.
What controls and staff practices should governors ask about?
Use the DfE core standard to check whether leaders have appropriate arrangements for accounts, technology, staff awareness and incident reporting. These questions are for assurance; a single control does not guarantee security.
- Accounts and access: Are accounts approved, limited to the access each person needs, reviewed, and removed promptly when staff leave or change roles?
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Is MFA used where appropriate, especially for important accounts? The DfE Cyber Security Hub checklist calls out MFA and clear responsibilities.
- Devices and systems: Are school devices and software supported, licensed, protected and updated on time? Who tracks exceptions or systems that cannot be updated?
- Awareness and reporting: Do staff—and pupils where relevant—know how to report suspicious messages or suspected incidents, and do they know whom to contact?
- Training: Is there a cyber awareness plan and relevant staff training? Has at least one governor completed cyber security training?
The DfE’s Cyber Security Hub checklist, last reviewed 16 July 2026, includes actions on MFA, backups, incident response planning, awareness, standards and responsibilities. Ask leaders to explain how each relevant action is covered and what remains outstanding.
How should schools back up data and prepare to recover?
A backup is useful only if the school can restore the information and services it needs. Governors do not need to prescribe a storage device or vendor; the reviewed official guidance does not mandate a particular product or backup architecture. Ask leaders and IT support to explain how the arrangements fit the school’s systems and assessed risks.
- Which systems and data are backed up, how often, and who checks that the process is working?
- How are backups separated or protected from the systems they are meant to recover?
- When was a restoration last tested, what was restored, and were any problems found?
- Is there a written incident response plan linked to business continuity and disaster recovery arrangements?
- How will essential teaching, safeguarding, administration and communications continue if a key service is unavailable?
The NCSC governor material recommends a backup and restoration plan and practising restoration. The DfE core standard calls for incident response and business continuity arrangements. Request evidence of a recent recovery exercise and the resulting actions, not merely a backup schedule.
What should a school do after a cyber attack?
Governors should expect leaders to follow the school’s incident response plan, coordinate with IT support and suppliers, protect essential operations, and make any required external reports. The board’s role is to understand who is leading the response, how it will be kept informed, and whether recovery and continuity arrangements are working.
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- Use the response plan: Staff should know how to report a suspected incident and leaders should know who takes charge. Technical investigation and containment should be coordinated by competent IT support.
- Coordinate support: Leaders should know how to contact relevant IT providers and suppliers, and how to escalate if a service they depend on is affected.
- Protect essential functions: Use the school’s continuity arrangements to maintain priority services while systems are unavailable or being restored.
- Inform decision-makers: Establish when and how senior leaders, governors or trustees will receive updates, and who can make urgent decisions.
- Assess reporting needs: The plan should identify who considers and coordinates any required reporting to relevant external bodies. The appropriate steps depend on the incident.
- Recover and learn: Restore services using tested procedures, record what happened, and track improvements through to completion.
Before an incident, ask leaders to show the response plan, the contact and escalation route, and how a recent exercise or review changed the arrangements. NCSC/DfE governor questions date from 2020, so use them as a discussion aid rather than a replacement for current DfE standards.
How can governors assess whether their school meets the DfE standard?
Ask leaders to map the school’s arrangements and evidence against the full, current DfE cyber security core standard. A short board checklist can highlight gaps, but it cannot establish compliance on its own.
- Request the latest cyber risk assessment, its termly review, and the actions arising from both.
- Ask for the school’s list of critical systems and data, with their owners and key supplier dependencies.
- Review evidence for account access, MFA where appropriate, supported and updated technology, awareness and reporting routes.
- Request backup and restoration evidence, the incident response plan, and links to business continuity arrangements.
- Confirm who owns each outstanding action and when leaders will report progress to the governing body.
The DfE Cyber Security Hub’s Meet the Cyber Security Standards page, last reviewed 16 July 2026, summarizes the standards and the 2030 direction. Use the live standard for the full requirements, since summaries and board questions are not a substitute for it.
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