DfE Standards Updated To Include IT Support Standards For Schools

[PrimaryNetMan]

IT support standards for schools has has been added to the DfE Meeting digital and technology standards

 

IT support standards for schools and colleges

[Steve101]

Quote

 

IT support should develop clear and accessible written guidance for common systems and procedures, such as: 

logging in 

resetting passwords 

solving common problems 

raising support requests 

This should be written in plain English, kept up to date and published in an easily accessible place, such as your intranet. 

IT support should maintain technical documentation for your systems and network to support your business continuity and disaster recovery plans. 

They should also help your SLT digital lead develop and maintain technology-related policies, such as those on data protection, cyber security and acceptable use.

 

Publish guidance on how to log in.. on your intranet, which requires you to log in to access.

 

Since when was Data Protection technology related?

[mavhc]

logging in - use your hands and eyes to move the oval shaped thing with buttons on until the arrow thing is over the username box, use your finger to press down the button, now using your hands and eyes move your fingers to the board full of buttons with letters on, press the letters of your username, in order....

[Andycat]

It's a mish mash. Glad I'm retiring in the next 18 months!

[Brax]

15 minutes ago, mavhc said:

logging in - use your hands and eyes to move the oval shaped thing with buttons on until the arrow thing is over the username box, use your finger to press down the button, now using your hands and eyes move your fingers to the board full of buttons with letters on, press the letters of your username, in order....

Where’s the bow for the arrow thing?

[Hermie]

34 minutes ago, Steve101 said:

 

Publish guidance on how to log in.. on your intranet, which requires you to log in to access.

 

Since when was Data Protection technology related?

One of the data protection principles is Data Security both in transit and its storage. Your average Data Protection Impact Assessment has risks listed on it about data security, data storage, how and who is accessing the data and the tech that is governing access....it's riddled with technology. Yet another huge headache...

[paulkerton]

Quote

Make sure IT support offers clear support channels

IT support should provide clear, reliable ways for staff to get help.  

Staff should avoid making support requests through unofficial channels, such as instant messages. These can easily go unrecorded, increase the workload for IT support staff and make it harder to spot trends or recurring problems. 

Oh, this is comedy gold. 🤣

[kennysarmy]

45 minutes ago, Andycat said:

It's a mish mash. Glad I'm retiring in the next 18 months!

 

I was looking at 3 years, but given the state of funding in schools I am keeping my eyes out for a less stressful part-time job and taking the money sooner rather than later!

[Steve101]

16 minutes ago, Hermie said:

One of the data protection principles is Data Security both in transit and its storage. Your average Data Protection Impact Assessment has risks listed on it about data security, data storage, how and who is accessing the data and the tech that is governing access....it's riddled with technology. Yet another huge headache...

 

Which should all be investigated and lead by the DPO. None of that actually refers to technology specifically by the way.. data storage can mean a piece of paper in a drawer.

Edited November 17, 2025 by Steve101

[Kitkatninja]

Quote

Training for staff may be provided by IT support, other technically qualified staff, third-party providers, or through online resources that staff can access at a convenient time.  

 

Now who has time to do this?

 

Quote

IT support staff should also receive regular training to keep their skills and knowledge up to date.

 

Now this is something positive for IT Support staff.  Hopefully it's not just the mandatory annual H&S, Data protection, and Safeguarding training... 

[msi_school]

This does at least give us a DfE document to tpont to when discussing requirements, I know the network and broadband requirements have been useful back up for for me in the past.

[mthomas08]

Honestly thought all that was pretty much covered, except the 'Digital Leader' should be running the show and not necessarily us.

 

Now.. who is the DL? Anyone..  hellooooo *echo*

[GK1999]

34 minutes ago, mthomas08 said:

Honestly thought all that was pretty much covered, except the 'Digital Leader' should be running the show and not necessarily us.

 

Now.. who is the DL? Anyone..  hellooooo *echo*

Non-technical people making technical decisions... sigh  

[gszech]

My understanding is that the Digital Leader role is assigned to an IT Manager, Head of IT, or Director of IT who also holds a position on the SLT. 

Here is an Ai summary of Meeting digital and technology standards in schools and colleges and DL responsibilities.

 

Standard Category	Responsibility	Description
Digital Leadership & Governance	Appointment and Authority	The role must be assigned to a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to ensure strategic oversight and high-level accountability.
	Strategy Development	Develop and manage a minimum two-year digital technology strategy that aligns with the school’s educational and development plan.
	Accountability for Strategy	Be accountable for the successful delivery of the digital technology strategy based on desired teaching outcomes and organizational requirements.
	Drive Technology Use	Encourage and support the effective and beneficial use of digital technology across the school or college.
	Asset Register Ownership	Own the digital asset register and ensure processes are established for IT support to keep it accurately updated.
	Disaster Recovery Planning	Be responsible for integrating digital technology into the Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plans and ensuring they are tested annually.
IT Support Standards	Agree Service Expectations	Set and formally record clear expectations (Service Level Agreements) for how quickly IT support will respond to and resolve issues.
	Lead Annual Review	Lead a formal annual review of IT support arrangements to assess performance, check capacity, and confirm value for money.
	Assess IT Support Skills	Assess whether internal or external IT support requires specific professional memberships or certifications (e.g., ITIL or Cyber Essentials).
Cyber Security Standards	Accountability for Cyber Risk	Be accountable for and coordinate all activities related to conducting the annual cyber risk assessment and reviewing it every term.
	Cyber Incident Reporting	Ensure all staff and students know how to report a potential incident and assign a person to formally report serious incidents to external bodies like Action Fraud and DfE.
	Cyber Awareness Plan	Plan and implement a cyber awareness program to train students and staff on cyber risks and secure digital behavior.
	Check Data Access	Work with the Data Protection Officer (DPO) to assess and secure staff access and permissions to systems and sensitive data.
Filtering & Monitoring	Procurement and Documentation	Be responsible for procuring filtering and monitoring systems and documenting all decisions on what content is blocked or allowed.
	Oversee Reporting	Oversee reports generated by monitoring systems and ensure staff are appropriately trained to act on reports and concerns.
	Review Provision Annually	Ensure the filtering and monitoring provision is reviewed at least annually with the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and IT support to meet safeguarding needs.
Digital Accessibility	Include in Strategy	Identify which strategies and policies need to be reviewed to formally incorporate the accessibility needs of the school community.
	Procurement Criteria	Ensure new and existing hardware and software are procured with accessibility in mind, supporting all necessary accessibility features and assistive technology.
	Lead Communication Accessibility	Lead the effort to ensure all internal and external digital communications and content are accessible to all users, including those with SEND or EAL.
Cloud Solution Standards	Data Protection Assurance	Seek assurance from cloud solution providers that data handling practices, storage locations, and contracts comply with UK GDPR and data protection legislation.
	Availability Targets	Before entering an agreement, confirm that the cloud solution's published availability targets (e.g., 99.9% uptime) meet the school's operational needs.
Procurement/Finance (Implied across standards)	Budget Oversight	Review all asset and contract registers ahead of the financial planning cycle to inform buying, renewal, and replacement decisions.

 

[JRA]

4 hours ago, mavhc said:

logging in - use your hands and eyes to move the oval shaped thing with buttons on until the arrow thing is over the username box, use your finger to press down the button, now using your hands and eyes move your fingers to the board full of buttons with letters on, press the letters of your username, in order....

 

Instructions unclear, have a mouse in my lower intestine.

Edited November 17, 2025 by JRA

[Koldov]

It's a double edged sword of a document really... It's still fairly grey, generic and therefore open to (mis)interpretation, but I guess it needs to be as it has a lot of ground to cover, trying to be relevant but still all things to all people... I'm sure it's obviously not aimed at us, as there seems to be a lot of, 'help', 'support', 'advise', 'inform' statements...

 

Yes, there might be just enough substance that you could use it to make a case for upgrading:

 

Effective IT support should help you: 

plan upgrades and improvements

 

IT support should work with your SLT digital lead to plan upgrades and identify where improvements are needed. They should: 

identify when technology needs replacing 

advise on the budget implications of upgrades or replacements, in line with your school or college’s financial regulations and procurement policy 

help to evaluate and implement new technology and software 

 

 

IT support should provide services to keep your technology working reliably and securely: 

supporting your SLT digital lead to make sure critical systems are as resilient as possible against cyber attacks

 

But by the same token, I wonder how long it will be before someone in SLT reads this and decides you'll be helping out in ICT lessons from now on:

 

Effective IT support should help you: 

 support staff and students to use technology effectively in your school or college 

 

IT support should also: 

support training, guidance and documentation for staff and students

 

Ultimately could they use it to manage you out (given that half of it is aimed at how to 'make sure your IT support is responsive and meets agreed service expectations'?:

 

Reviewing your IT support arrangements each year will help you to: 

assess how well IT support helps you meet the digital and technology standards 

check your IT support meets your needs and supports your digital strategy 

make sure IT support has the right skills and capacity, reducing risks from gaps in knowledge or support 

confirm that IT support offers value for money

 

review support records to see how well demand is being handled 

check whether support meets the needs of students and staff and that issues are resolved quickly 

 

Your IT support team should have the necessary qualifications and experience to understand the standards and help your school or college meet them. 

Your senior leadership team (SLT) digital lead should assess whether your IT support needs any relevant professional memberships or certifications – for example, an Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) certification for individuals, or Cyber Essentials certification for companies.

 

Does my CompTIA A+ from 2010 count...?

 

Although a bit like the DSL having to take responsibility for filtering/monitoring, the bit about staff training is interesting:

 

Your senior leadership team (SLT) digital lead should: 

take overall responsibility for staff training on digital technology, with IT support contributing as needed 

make sure IT support are regularly briefed and, where appropriate, trained on cyber security and your business continuity plans  

 

I hope the 'IT support contributing as needed' means putting together a Powerpoint and not actually leading an IT training day in the hall...

 

Anyway, we don't have a 'senior leadership team (SLT) digital lead' and nobody has ever mentioned a 'digital technology strategy', in fact I doubt anyone in SLT is even aware of this document, so I'd be interested to see if any of these standards ever come up for discussion... even more so if they decide to cherry pick and not implement the document/standards as a whole.

 

Does anybody know if these are ever going to be measurable standards that inform things like Ofsted ratings, or are they more like guidelines? I see a lot of 'should' and not many 'must' statements (a bit like the Highway Code discussions)... what exactly happens if we don't meet the 6 core standards by 2030...?

[DrBeaker]

"Setting clear expectations for IT support’s responsiveness"

 

This is concerning especially how IT support is generally the most underpaid, understaffed and under-resourced team within most schools.

 

I'm sure 99% of IT folk in school already do and want stuff

1) working as much as possible

2) fixed as quickly as possible

 

 

Yet 1) is often 'no budget' response from SLT etc.

[DrBeaker]

Reading a lot of that I can see a massive gap / dichotomy between the salary for the role (near minimum wage in some roles seen advertised) and the skillset they want.

 

e.g. Most IT teams get naff all training from schools.

 

See the thread about devaluing of IT jobs and IT staff already feel put upon and stretched enough as it is. I can see a massive exodus of IT staff from education if they try half of this.

 

 

[Ditto]

I suspect no additional funding is coming to support the requirements? So, whilst the idea of getting additional training, or improved recognision and maybe a pay increase due to additional responsibilities - well no, I don't see that happening. Whilst none of this, unless someone tells me otherwise, is audited by say Ofsted, I really don't see it changes many heads mindsets. Whether you can leverage meeting the standards, I guess will come down to inviduals and their workspace. With a former governance hat on, the opening line where it says "should meet" as opposed to "must meet" means little will change. I've diaried myself to revisit this thread in 1 years time - it will be insighttful to look back and see what feedback we have.

[sigma]

Any additional pay and recognition will go to the so called “digital lead” on the SLT, and unlikely to be one of us.  Just another level in the reporting structure effectively pushing us downwards is my guess.

[TheHyperTechie]

11 hours ago, Ditto said:

I suspect no additional funding is coming to support the requirements? So, whilst the idea of getting additional training, or improved recognision and maybe a pay increase due to additional responsibilities - well no, I don't see that happening. Whilst none of this, unless someone tells me otherwise, is audited by say Ofsted, I really don't see it changes many heads mindsets. Whether you can leverage meeting the standards, I guess will come down to inviduals and their workspace. With a former governance hat on, the opening line where it says "should meet" as opposed to "must meet" means little will change. I've diaried myself to revisit this thread in 1 years time - it will be insighttful to look back and see what feedback we have.

100% Agree - Oh... but wait, there is funding, but in my opinion (and I think others) it is very poorly allocated. I know a number of schools that have been offered the CtC scheme that already have the latest and greatest kit. Meanwhile some schools are struggling to upgrade theirs due to budget restraints. I understand that it is down to the school to allocate their budget accordingly, but it is difficult to stretch an already thin budget when you’re choosing between essential maintenance, staffing pressures, and keeping the tech even remotely up to date. It feels like the funding model unintentionally widens the gap between well-resourced schools and those that are barely keeping the lights on.

[mthomas08]

9 hours ago, sigma said:

Any additional pay and recognition will go to the so called “digital lead” on the SLT, and unlikely to be one of us.  Just another level in the reporting structure effectively pushing us downwards is my guess.

 

Put your name in the hat.

 

Already had this discussion with my LM and he likes the idea and worded it to say the HT may like it. Just be honest and say.. it will take that person a ton of time to really understand the grasp of IT let alone what they need to do. BUT it does mean if you become the Digital Lead.. you need to put the SLT hat and understand procedures... protocols.... 

DL will need

-to coordinate with IT

-needs of training (based on feedback from IT)

-have the ability to question and understand the answers with IT and liaise back to HT/SLT/Governors

-risk assessments of IT (software/systems)

-liaise with DPO/DLS in the aspects of IT

-question the policies and understand them (there needs to be like 15+ I think last I checked)

-asset tracked (not just hardware)

 

Most of it needs reviewing annually and there is a much much bigger list which I'm working on now for the cyber security policy (DfE 37 pages). 

 

None of this is new though, all came from the DfE Digital Standards changes. There is another thread somewhere and an EduGeek put it in spreadsheet form. Highly recommend everyone use it. On top of that I'm using an online score system free to education.

 

There are reasons we're seeing more higher titles + pay for Trusts, that person needs to lead all this and make sure everything is documented and set out. Just.. some schools are still miles behind.......

 

The thing is, other depts doing things properly.. are asking questions.. like our Exams. There is a list of things we need to do here to safeguard exams.

[Cazab]

On 18/11/2025 at 08:47, HyperTech said:

100% Agree - Oh... but wait, there is funding, but in my opinion (and I think others) it is very poorly allocated. I know a number of schools that have been offered the CtC scheme that already have the latest and greatest kit. Meanwhile some schools are struggling to upgrade theirs due to budget restraints. I understand that it is down to the school to allocate their budget accordingly, but it is difficult to stretch an already thin budget when you’re choosing between essential maintenance, staffing pressures, and keeping the tech even remotely up to date. It feels like the funding model unintentionally widens the gap between well-resourced schools and those that are barely keeping the lights on.

We recently took on a secondary school, building from the 50's and it doesn't look like it's been kept up at all. Original fittings, furniture, built-in cupboards i classrooms, science desks in science block...

Only reason I can think of is a lot of the staff have been there for years and years, all got multiple titles, multiple TLRs and at the top fo the pay scale.. school can't afford to do anythign but pay the staff. OH and the IT was terrible till we injected loads of money 

[Jaan]

Does anybody know if there's an official tracker thank can been ticked or colour coded (traffic light system) so compliance can be tracked and monitored? Asking for a friend SLT member.

[mthomas08]

Someone did a great spreadsheet in another thread copied from the DfE government page.

Plus there is secureschools.com which is free.

 

Then a simple list of all the policies needed. Most available from the DfE gov page.