Updated Keeping Children Safe In Education Requirements: September 2022

The DfE’s set of statutory guidance and requirements, Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), must be followed by all English schools when carrying out duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

The responsibilities for schools, including Governing bodies have increased this academic year plus schools are required to protect and educate students, and staff in their use of technology.

KCSiE Summary of Online Safety Changes

DfE Broadband and Internet Standards for Schools

The DfE set minimum standards in March 2022 as guidelines for schools when choosing the right digital infrastructure and technology.

All schools should use a full fibre connection for their broadband service or upgrade to fibre at the earliest opportunity.

• Primary schools should have a minimum 100Mbps download speed and a minimum 30Mbps upload speed
• Secondary and all-through schools should have a minimum 1Gbps connection
• An additional resilient backup connection, of a different type to your main internet connection should be installed
• A firewall is required as part of the school’s internet and network system.

Summary of DfE Broadband and Internet Standards for Schools 

The DfE published new Cyber Security Standards for Schools in October 2022 after a surge in security breaches.

If schools have not recently reviewed their security, it should be a priority to review it including each device on your network. Below are just a few of the new standards. Please refer to the full DfE Cyber Security Standards for Schools and Colleges here.

Key Points In The New Standards

• Protect all devices on every network with a properly configured boundary or software firewall
• Limit only accounts that require access to perform their role to have authenticated access to data and services
• Protect accounts with access to personal or sensitive operational data and functions by multi-factor authentication
• Use anti-malware software to protect all devices on the network, including cloud-based networks
• Record network devices with their security features enabled, correctly configured and ensure they are kept up-to-date
• Our award-winning, hosted Fortinet security service protects from the most advanced threats giving full visibility and control of your firewalls as if they were on-site. Contact us to find out more: 01133 222 333 (#3)

Summary of DfE Cyber Security Standards for Schools and Colleges here.

Read the full DfE Cyber Security Standards for Schools and Colleges here.