All types of schools across the UK are being encouraged to sign up for a free cyber-defence service from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) which helps to block online threats such as malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks.

Following the initial rollout of the Protective Domain Name System (PDNS), the service has now been extended to more educational settings, with multi-academy trusts, academies, independent schools, and school internet service providers now able to sign up.

The service, which is part of a recently-announced partnership with Cloudflare and Accenture, prevents access to websites which are known to be malicious, limiting access to domains hosting malware, ransomware, and spyware.

UK schools continue to face a range of cyber-threats to their systems, with recently-published figures from Ofqual showing more than a third of schools and colleges in England alone experiencing a cyber-incident during the last academic year.

Local authorities, eligible public sector networks from devolved administrations of the UK, and local authorities in England that provide DNS to their maintained schools are already eligible to sign up.

Speaking on the offering, NCSC deputy director for economy and society, Sarah Lyons, said: “With a growing range of cyber threats, it has never been more important to protect our educational environments from online threats.

“The PDNS for Schools service offers a crucial layer of protection, helping schools defend against common online threats, at no cost.

“I encourage all schools to take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen their cyber resilience and ensure a safer digital future for students and staff alike.”

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Stephen Morgan, the Department for Education minister for early education, also commented: “I know how important it is that our schools, colleges and nurseries are protected from online threats, and our work to help these settings improve their cyber security never stops.

“We have worked closely with the National Cyber Security Centre on this service to ensure all schools can now benefit from enhanced cyber resilience at no cost to them and I encourage settings to take advantage of this enhanced protection.”