The Department for Education has published its latest Assessment of the Education Technology Market in England and one small change says a great deal about the direction of travel for schools.
Cyber security is no longer treated as a standalone IT topic.
Instead, it now sits alongside Artificial Intelligence, cloud infrastructure, accessibility and interoperability as one of the technologies that underpins the entire education technology ecosystem.
The report defines Cybersecurity and Data Privacy as:
“Essential technologies for securing sensitive student data, managing access, and ensuring GDPR compliance, which is a critical priority for Trust leaders.”
That is a significant shift in thinking.
For years, cyber security has often been viewed as something separate from the technology schools buy. A firewall over here. Antivirus over there. Multi-factor authentication when time and budget allows.
The DfE’s latest research suggests that mindset is changing.
Technology decisions are now security decisions
Whether a school is investing in:
- AI-powered lesson planning
- Assessment platforms
- Management Information Systems (MIS)
- Learning platforms
- Assistive technologies
- Cloud services
Cyber security should be considered from the very beginning.
Questions such as:
- Where is the data stored?
- Who has access?
- How is access controlled?
- Does it integrate securely with Microsoft 365?
- Does it meet GDPR requirements?
- How will accounts be protected?
- What happens if the supplier suffers a cyber incident?
…are no longer optional.
Schools face more than technical challenges
Interestingly, the report concludes that many of the barriers to successful technology adoption are not technical at all.
Schools highlighted:
- Limited strategic capability
- Lack of time
- Complex procurement
- Limited confidence in evaluating products
- Difficulty measuring long-term impact
In other words, schools aren’t struggling because there isn’t enough technology.
They’re struggling because choosing the right technology has become increasingly difficult.
That is something we see regularly.
Many schools have dozens of suppliers, overlapping products and limited time to properly evaluate security, compliance and value for money.
Security needs to be built in, not bolted on
The report also notes that schools are increasingly looking for evidence that products deliver real value.
The same should apply to cyber security.
Rather than asking:
“Does this product have security?”
Schools should be asking:
- Can the supplier demonstrate good security practices?
- Does it support multi-factor authentication?
- How are vulnerabilities managed?
- Is sensitive information encrypted?
- Can we monitor suspicious activity?
- How quickly can the supplier respond to incidents?
These questions help reduce risk before technology reaches the classroom.
The opportunity
Artificial Intelligence will continue to dominate headlines.
But one of the biggest messages from this report is much quieter.
Cyber security is becoming part of every education technology decision.
That’s good news for schools.
Building security into technology choices from the outset is almost always easier, cheaper and less disruptive than trying to fix problems after deployment.
At Black Swan Cyber Security Solutions, we’ve long believed cyber security shouldn’t be an afterthought or an annual compliance exercise. It should simply be part of buying and using technology well.
The DfE’s latest report suggests that approach is becoming the new normal.
source: Department for Education, Assessment of the Education Technology Market in England (June 2026).
Also worth reading: 7 cyber security questions to ask before buying EdTech
