What School Leaders Need to Know About the DfE's New Cyber Security Hub

Cyber attacks on schools are no longer a distant threat. The Department for Education (DfE) has just launched a dedicated Cyber Security Hub to help schools navigate this growing danger, and as a school leader, it's worth understanding exactly what it offers and why it matters.  If you were at our conference in February you were lucky enough to see a preview of the tool!

Why This Hub Exists

The education sector is one of the most targeted industries for cyber attacks in the UK. The Government's Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025 found that 60% of secondary schools and 44% of primary schools reported a cyber incident in the past year alone. Despite this, schools have consistently been flagged as having weaker defences than other similarly targeted sectors.

When an attack does happen, whether ransomware, phishing, or a data breach, the consequences are serious: disruption to teaching and learning, loss of sensitive pupil and staff data, financial cost, and lasting damage to a school's reputation. Many school leaders have found themselves underprepared, facing a complex and confusing landscape with no clear single source of guidance.

The DfE's new Cyber Security Hub is designed to change that.

What the Hub Actually Offers

The Cyber Security Hub is a free, online service providing practical, accessible guidance for schools. It is built around the reality that most school leaders are not cyber security experts, and shouldn't need to be. Key features include:

Clear, practical guidance. Rather than dense technical documentation, the hub translates cyber security into plain English steps that school leaders and their teams can act on.

A cyber support plan template. One of the most valuable resources is a ready-made framework to help you build your own cyber support plan — setting out what to do proactively to reduce risk, and what to do reactively if an incident occurs.

Incident-specific support. If your school is dealing with or has experienced a specific type of attack, the hub provides tailored information to help you respond appropriately.

Resources for staff and governors. Because cyber security is no longer just an IT issue, it is a whole-school concern, the hub supports awareness-building across your team, from the leadership level down.

What This Means for You as a School Leader

The NCSC's 2025 annual review made clear that cyber security has become a boardroom priority, not just an IT department one. As a headteacher or school leader, this means the responsibility sits, at least in part, with you.

You don't need to become a technical expert, but you do need to understand the risk landscape, ensure the right policies and plans are in place, and make sure your staff know what to look out for. The hub is built to support exactly that.

A few immediate steps worth taking:

• Visit the hub and use the cyber support plan template to assess where your school currently stands.
• Review your governance arrangements - does someone at leadership or governor level have oversight of cyber security?
• Check your backup procedures: the DfE recommends a 3-2-1 backup strategy (three copies, two different media, one off-site) to ensure data can be recovered after an attack.
• Make staff training routine:  all staff with network access should receive basic cyber security training annually, covering phishing, password security, and safe data handling.

The Bigger Picture: DfE Standards and Incoming Legislation

The Cyber Security Hub sits within a broader and increasingly urgent policy context. The DfE updated its digital and technology standards in January 2025, setting out minimum requirements for cyber security across schools and colleges. Schools are expected to be working towards these standards, with a 2030 compliance deadline on the horizon.

Beyond that, the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is expected to introduce mandatory incident reporting requirements, meaning schools will need to formally report ransomware attacks and data breaches to regulators. This makes having a documented cyber response plan not just good practice, but likely a legal requirement within the next few years.

The Bottom Line

Cyber attacks on schools are increasing in frequency and sophistication. The DfE's Cyber Security Hub does not solve the problem on its own, but it does give school leaders a clear, accessible starting point, one that has been shaped with schools' real needs in mind.

The most important thing is not to treat cyber security as someone else's responsibility. The hub is free, practical, and available now. Using it is one of the most straightforward steps you can take to protect your school, your staff, and your pupils.

For more information, visit the DfE's Cyber Security Hub via the Department for Education's official guidance pages. : DfE Cyber Security Hub