Department for Education: Cybersecurity

(asked on 31st March 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the comments made by the Director of GCHQ on 31 March 2022 on the standard of the UK's cybersecurity, whether he has made a recent assessment of the cybersecurity and resilience to cyber attack of (a) his Department, (b) Ofqual and Ofsted and (c) the (i) executive agencies, (ii) the executive non-departmental public bodies, (iii) advisory non-departmental public bodies and (iv) other public bodies for which he is responsible; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Michelle Donelan Portrait
Michelle Donelan
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
This question was answered on 22nd April 2022

The department follows standard government security assessments to review and monitor cyber security and resilience. Departmental health security checks are carried out annually to track actions and progress.

We do not directly assess the cyber security resilience of agencies and arm’s length bodies (ALBs). The department’s agencies and ALBs are responsible for maintaining their IT systems and cyber security, and are supported by the Cyber Security Division to provide advice, guidance and support to adhere to and maintain good cyber security standards. The Cyber Security Division has a dedicated team who are responsible for the ongoing relationship with the department’s agencies and ALBs, and for providing regular targeted communications to raise awareness for any identified emerging threats and provide guidance to address and mitigate.

The department also works closely with partners such as Jisc to ensure that the same guidance, standards and support are available for higher and further education establishments.

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