School remains closed after cyberattack

IT systems at Higham Lane School in Nuneaton were taken down by an attack over the weekend

A cyberattack on Higham Lane School in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, over the weekend has forced the secondary school to close at least until the end of the week.

The nature of the attack has not been disclosed, but it rendered the school’s entire IT system non-functional, including telephone, email, Google Classroom, school management systems and Microsoft SharePoint.

Students and staff have been asked not to use any of the school’s IT systems while the incident is being investigated and facilities remain closed.

In an update on its website, Higham Lane School said: “Good progress is being made in the investigation and in the safe restoration of systems, with continued support from external specialists,. However, at this stage, the school will not be able to safely welcome pupils back on site this week as we had initially hoped.”

It added that it is working with the Central England Academy Trust, of which it is a part, with a plan for a phased return from Monday 12th January.

Until then, students are advised to revise independently for GCSE and A Level exams, or to consolidate their knowledge using their notes and online resources.

Schools are often seen as soft targets by cyberattackers, as the impact of any attack is felt instantly, school systems hold reams of sensitive data, and security is often the responsibility of a small IT team.

In 2024, a government study found that 71% of secondary schools, 86% of further education collages and 97% of higher education institutions had experienced a cyberattack in the previous 12 months.

In 2024, A major cyberattack disrupted operations at 10 schools across Lancashire.

Last summer, a ransomware attack hit 11 schools in Shropshire, with pupils unable to submit coursework for weeks and leaving printers disabled.

In May 2025, a cyberattack on Edinburgh Council disrupted students’ exam revision over the weekend, despite being identified and shut down.

Commenting on the latest incident, Adam Boynton, senior security strategy manager at Jamf said:

“When students must stay at home, it means someone needs to look after them. Parents are then forced to take time off from their jobs or pay for extra childcare, which can be expensive for some.”

With most attacks starting with phishing or credential theft, he advised “Making sure operating systems and software remains up to date, enforcing multi-factor authentication, and implementing threat prevention software that will combat cyber threats.”