UK schools are recovering from cyber incidents more quickly, according to new Ofqual figures released on 1 October in line with Cyber Security Awareness Month. The share of schools experiencing a cyber incident has fallen from 34% in 2023-24 to 29% in 2024-25 and 27% in 2025-26. Among schools that experienced incidents, two-thirds (66%) could recover immediately, up from 55% the previous year, while the proportion suffering critical damage fell to 7%.
However, cyber resilience remains uneven. The data shows that 46% of respondents identified their IT team as primarily responsible for cybersecurity, 40% pointed to all staff, and only 9% attributed responsibility to senior leadership, indicating persistent silos.
Although more than half (55%) of secondary schools reported taking actions to protect against cyber-attacks, a significant portion have yet to implement measures such as a formal cybersecurity policy, risk assessments, or robust backup and recovery procedures. Education sector executives emphasised the importance of faster recovery alongside prevention.
Jamf’s Mat Pullen, a former teacher and lecturer, highlighted that many schools still need to assess risks and implement an internet safety framework with content filtering and threat prevention. The Ofqual study surveyed 2,162 schools and 3,775 teachers.