More than one in four secondaries have been rocked by cyber-attacks in the last 12 months, but incidents have dropped and more schools are recovering faster. A Teacher Tapp poll commissioned by Ofqual showed 27 per cent of secondary schools and colleges were impacted by the incidents in 2025-26, down a fifth in two years. However, the exams regulator has now warned the issue “isn’t just an IT problem” after the survey found teachers in just one in ten schools said leaders were responsible for cyber security. “It’s encouraging to see schools recovering faster, but a cyber breach can still cause real uncertainty for students if coursework or marks are lost, and staff confidence can be affected long after systems are back online,” Ofqual executive director Amanda Swann said. The exams regulator stressed there was “more to be done” to protect schools from the attacks in 2023-24, after it found 34 per cent of secondaries had been targeted. The figure fell to 29 per cent 12 months later, before dropping again last year to 27 per cent. Schools recover faster Sixty-six per cent recovered immediately, according to the poll of almost 2,200 schools, up from 55 per cent in 2024-25. Critical damage from the attacks fell to 7 per cent, down from nine per cent two years ago. Ofqual is encouraging schools and colleges to build on the progress by introducing more robust measures so staff know what to do if systems are attacked. Fifty-five per cent of secondaries surveyed have taken action to protect against cyber-attacks by implementing a policy, undertaking risk assessments and setting up back-up and recovery procedures. But the figures show there is a lack of consensus over who’s responsible for keeping systems safe. Forty-six per cent of teacher reported that responsibility fell to their IT teams and 40 per cent said all staff, while only 9 per cent pointed to senior leadership. Swann added: “Cyber security isn’t just an IT problem; it’s a leadership responsibility. “Regular backups and a clear response plan can make a huge difference when things go wrong.”