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Our mission

Closing the gap between what schools believe about security and what actually happens.

Confidence is easy to assume and hard to prove. We help districts see exactly where they stand, control by control, and close the distance.

2018 founded by educationalists
3 continents served
30,000 schools across the group
How we do it

We build the software that verifies the hard work IT Directors are doing to secure their districts.

Eight years of auditing cybersecurity of schools of all shapes and sizes, across three continents, built into software that shows districts where they stand, evidences the controls behind it, and hands the work back to the team in a form they can act on, so they own and reduce their risk with confidence.

Our story so far

2018

Secure Schools was founded by Jill Foster, former Principal and school group CEO, and Paul Alberry, cybersecurity compliance specialist, to tackle the growing challenge of cybersecurity in schools.

The Secure Schools platform on show, accelerated by the NCSC Cyber Accelerator
2019

Selected for the UK National Cyber Security Centre Start-up Accelerator programme supporting cyber companies bringing better, faster and cheaper security products to market.

The NCSC for Startups cohort
2019

After graduating from the programme, the Secure Schools platform launched: the first of its kind to give schools the tools and training to run a cybersecurity programme.

Jill Foster and Paul Alberry at Secure Schools
2020

Amid the pandemic, as the education sector saw an unprecedented rise in cyber-attacks, we focused on providing free cybersecurity resources to schools, and grew the team.

2022

The acquisition provided the resources and capabilities to scale, with the team remaining aboard.

Secure Schools and Wonde teams together
2023

The team quadrupled, a new and improved platform launched, and the brand was relaunched at the Bett show in London.

The rebrand launch at Bett in London
2023

Secure Schools expanded to support schools across Australia and New Zealand.

2026

Secure Schools opened its US office in Austin, Texas, to support K-12 districts across America.

The team at ISTELive in Philadelphia
2026

Eight years of school audits, turned into a control-by-control assurance platform, shaped by 50 founding US districts through the Advisory Partner Program.

How we work

Cordial rigor

Friendly to work with, exacting about evidence. Plain English, never fear-led, and never a control marked done before it is proven.

Schools only

Everything we build starts from how districts actually run: calendars, budgets, boards and all.

Humans in the loop

AI does the legwork; our experts stay part of the verification. Trust is earned by evidence.

Independently certified
ISO 27001 certified AICPA SOC 2
Designed in the United States. Data stays in the United States.

Help us build the next chapter.

The Advisory Partner Program is our founding cohort of US districts. They get early access and preferential pricing, and in return help shape what Assured becomes.

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