Secure Schools
Secure Schools is a UK-based cybersecurity SaaS platform purpose-built for schools and multi-academy trusts, offering tiered subscriptions covering policy templates, training, phishing simulations, and vulnerability scanning across the UK, Australia, the US, New Zealand, and South Africa.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersNewmarket, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Secure Schools does
Secure Schools is a UK-based SaaS cybersecurity platform purpose-built for schools and multi-academy trusts. Founded in 2018 by Jill Foster and Paul Alberry, the company offers a tiered subscription product (Foundations, Access, Assisted, Certified, Verified) that bundles policy templates aligned to DfE, ESFA, and RPA requirements, staff and pupil training, phishing simulations, vulnerability scanning, and a Cyber Score benchmarking framework. The platform is designed to address the specific compliance and procurement needs of the UK schools sector rather than compete as a generalist cybersecurity vendor.
The company was acquired in 2022 by Wonde, part of Beyond Holdings Limited, which provides broader school-data infrastructure, capital, and an international footprint spanning 60 countries. Secure Schools itself operates across the UK, Australia, the United States, New Zealand, and South Africa, holding accreditations including ISO 27001, CREST, Cyber Essentials, IASME, and NCSC for Startups graduate status. It counts thousands of schools as customers and has expanded its headcount to 28 employees.
The business model is a freemium-led, tiered SaaS subscription: the Foundations tier is free and serves as a top-of-funnel entry point, with paid tiers progressively adding automation, vulnerability scanning, certification support, and bespoke managed services. Go-to-market combines direct sales into multi-academy trusts, partnerships with sector bodies such as the Confederation of School Trusts, ANME, LASBM, and ECRC, and channel distribution through MSPs and service providers.
Secure Schools firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Secure Schools
- Legal name
- Secure Schools Ltd
- Website
- https://secureschools.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Secure Schools is a UK-based cybersecurity SaaS platform purpose-built for schools and multi-academy trusts, offering tiered subscriptions covering policy templates, training, phishing simulations, and vulnerability scanning across the UK, Australia, the US, New Zealand, and South Africa.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Secure Schools industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Education Cybersecurity Software
- NAICS
- Security Systems Services (except Locksmiths) (561621), Educational Support Services (611710)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- School IT Infrastructure & Cybersecurity for K–12 (Network, Identity, SSO) (EDAJAMAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Cybersecurity Infrastructure for Campuses (Firewalls, SIEM tooling, Endpoint Mgmt) (EDAEAHAH), Device, Network & Endpoint Security for Schools (MDM/Filtering) (EDAFALAJ), Cybersecurity Support Services (Phishing Response, Account Compromise Triage) (EDALAMAL), Cybersecurity Learning Platforms (EDAFANAF)
Keywords
Where Secure Schools is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Newmarket
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Secure Schools business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription (Tiered Packages): Tiered subscription model with Foundations (free), Access, Assisted, Certified, and Verified packages. Each tier provides increasing levels of cybersecurity tools and services. Subscriptions are annual with up to 15% discount for annual billing vs monthly.
- Professional Services (Audits & Testing): Additional revenue from assessor-led audits, external/internal vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, tabletop exercises, and one-to-one consultations. Discounted rates available exclusively with Verified tier.
- Cyber Essentials Certification: Certification services for Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus, provided as a separate service or bundled with Verified package.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Annual | Free-forever introductory tier with basic cybersecurity tools |
| Subscription | Annual | Establishes a cybersecurity baseline with core tools |
| Subscription | Annual | Improves cybersecurity awareness with guided support |
| Subscription | Annual | Reinforces cyber-resilience with comprehensive tools and certification support |
| Subscription | Annual | Maximum protection with bespoke services and discounted testing |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Secure Schools product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Secure Schools is a cloud-based SaaS platform that provides cybersecurity governance, risk, compliance, and assurance solutions purpose-built for schools and academy trusts. The platform bundles phishing simulation, awareness training, policy templates, vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and Cyber Essentials certification support into tiered subscription packages (Foundations, Access, Assisted, Certified, Verified).
Product overview
Secure Schools is a unified platform-plus-modules cybersecurity solution purpose-built for the education sector. The core Secure Schools Platform provides governance, risk, compliance and assurance capabilities, delivered through tiered subscription packages: Foundations (free), Access, Assisted, Certified, and Verified. The platform integrates multiple modules including Cyber Score benchmarking, Policy Builder, Phishing Simulation, Awareness Training, School Board Training, Cybersecurity Testing (penetration testing and vulnerability assessments), Cybersecurity Services (audits and bespoke consulting), and Cyber Essentials Certification. Schools progress from foundational tools and templates to comprehensive risk reduction, culminating in third-party certification and bespoke security services at the Verified tier.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Secure Schools Platform A comprehensive one-stop cybersecurity platform for schools and academy trusts providing governance, risk, compliance, and assurance tooling, with phishing simulation, policy templates, awareness training, vulnerability assessment, and audit modules.
- Foundations Free-forever subscription package providing schools with basic cybersecurity tools including cyber score benchmarking and policy document templates.
- Access Paid subscription package that establishes a cybersecurity baseline for schools with phishing simulations, policy templates, awareness training, and self-evaluation audit tools.
- Assisted Paid subscription package that improves cybersecurity awareness with comprehensive staff training, phishing simulations, board/governor training, and enhanced policy support.
- Certified Paid subscription package that reinforces cyber-resilience with comprehensive cybersecurity services including Cyber Essentials certification support.
- Verified Premium subscription package providing maximum protection with assessor-led audits and discounted rates on bespoke penetration testing and tabletop exercises.
- Cybersecurity Testing Professional service offering external and internal vulnerability assessments and penetration testing to identify significant vulnerabilities in school IT systems.
- Cybersecurity Services Professional services including assessor-led cybersecurity audits and bespoke consulting engagements such as penetration testing and tabletop exercises for schools and trusts.
- Cyber Essentials Certification Standalone certification service through which Secure Schools serves as the UK's leading Cyber Essentials provider for education, guiding schools through the certification process.
Quantifiable outcome
- 82k+ to 85k+ cybersecurity courses delivered to school staff
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Secure Schools
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Secure Schools technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature9 records
Secure Schools partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Confederation of School TrustscoreFor academic year 2023 to 2024, Secure Schools is the cyber security partner of the Data Leaders Community within the Confederation of School Trusts. This partnership provides cybersecurity support and resources to trust leaders and data professionals.
- The Association of Network Managers in Education (ANME)coreSecure Schools sponsors the cyber security discussion group on the ANME members' forum, providing expert content and resources to education IT professionals.
- Lancashire Association of School Business Managers (LASBM)coreSecure Schools is an approved partner of LASBM, providing cybersecurity services to members through events and the members' forum.
- The Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre (ECRC)minorSecure Schools is registered as a Cyber Essentials accreditor with the ECRC, supporting regional cyber resilience efforts.
- Service Providers and MSPsminorPartnership programme for service providers, managed service providers, and local authorities to add Secure Schools cybersecurity services to their portfolio with support, resources, and guidance.
Scale indicators12 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Secure Schools competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Phished: Phished is a phishing simulation and security awareness platform that competes directly with Secure Schools' phishing simulation and training modules, particularly in the European mid-market.
- Curricula: Curricula is a security awareness training platform known for engaging, story-based content. It competes directly with Secure Schools' awareness training suite, focused on educating employees to recognize cyber threats.
- Cofense: Cofense specializes in phishing detection and simulation, directly competing with Secure Schools' phishing simulation engine. While not education-specific, it targets similar phishing-awareness outcomes for end-user organizations.
- InfoSec Institute (Cengage): InfoSec Institute provides cybersecurity training and certification preparation, overlapping with Secure Schools' awareness training and certification support offerings, with a broader professional learner audience.
- Terranova Security: Terranova Security provides security awareness training and phishing simulation, including content tailored for the education sector. It directly overlaps with Secure Schools' awareness training and phishing modules.
- Proofpoint: Proofpoint offers security awareness training and phishing simulation solutions that compete directly with Secure Schools' core modules. Its broader enterprise platform serves large organizations including education sector customers.
- KnowBe4: KnowBe4 is a leading security awareness training and phishing simulation platform. It directly competes with Secure Schools' awareness training and phishing simulation modules, though at a broader enterprise level rather than education-specialized.
Broad incumbents
- CrowdStrike: CrowdStrike is a leading endpoint and cybersecurity vendor with growing presence in education. Its Falcon platform includes awareness and threat protection capabilities that partially overlap with Secure Schools' offerings.
- Sophos: Sophos is a broad cybersecurity vendor with an established education vertical. It overlaps with Secure Schools on endpoint/network security, phishing protection, and managed security services, though as part of a much broader portfolio.
Emerging players
- CyberNut: CyberNut is an emerging cybersecurity awareness platform purpose-built for K-12 schools. It directly competes with Secure Schools' education-vertical focus on staff training and phishing simulation.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Secure Schools social profiles
Digital presenceSecure Schools compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Secure Schools financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Secure Schools leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Secure Schools subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Secure Schools funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Secure Schools M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Secure Schools
What does Secure Schools do?
Secure Schools is a cloud-based SaaS platform that provides cybersecurity governance, risk, compliance, and assurance solutions purpose-built for schools and academy trusts. The platform bundles phishing simulation, awareness training, policy templates, vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and Cyber Essentials certification support into tiered subscription packages (Foundations, Access, Assisted, Certified, Verified).
Is Secure Schools a public or private company?
Secure Schools is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Secure Schools founded?
Secure Schools was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Secure Schools based?
Secure Schools is headquartered in Newmarket, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Secure Schools make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. SaaS Subscription (Tiered Packages) is the primary driver. The others are professional Services (Audits & Testing) and cyber Essentials Certification.
Who are Secure Schools's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Phished, Curricula, Cofense, InfoSec Institute (Cengage), Terranova Security, Proofpoint and KnowBe4. Broad incumbents are CrowdStrike and Sophos. CyberNut is listed as an emerging player.
Does Secure Schools have an API?
No public API is recorded for Secure Schools.
What industry is Secure Schools in?
Secure Schools's product category is Education Cybersecurity Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAJAMAM, School IT Infrastructure & Cybersecurity for K–12 (Network, Identity, SSO), with a secondary code of EDAEAHAH, Cybersecurity Infrastructure for Campuses (Firewalls, SIEM tooling, Endpoint Mgmt). Its NAICS code is 561621 and its SIC code is 7372.