• Cyber-security: The Joint Information Services Committee (JISC) has warned FE colleges and universities to ensure that their defensive cyber security measures are in place and up to date because of the heightened threat of cyber-attacks emanating from groups in Russia. Amongst known Russian groups currently being monitored for cyber-attacks are Turla, Wizard Spider, Mummy Spider, TA505, LockBit and REvil. No cyber-attacks are known to have taken place yet. Colleges have been referred to JISC advice on cyber security measures and advice from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Most cyber-attacks on the education sector in the past have been ransomware attacks, with the sector being amongst the top five sectors subjected to these attacks, each one of which is estimated on average to cost the institutions affected around £620,000. JISC says that college IT systems are vulnerable not only from external cyber-attacks, but also through staff and students unwittingly introducing malware to college systems through, for example, logging on remotely from home from infected laptops or other devices, the use of infected data sticks, and the use of college email addresses or college computers for personal non-college related activity or to respond to email phishing scams. A copy of a report published last year by the NSCS on the increasing number of ransomware attacks on the UK education sector can be found here. NCSC guidance on how to mitigate the effect if a ransomware or other cyber-attack has been found to have taken place can be found here.

Colleges have also been alerted to the potential risks of using Kaspersky anti-virus software. Kaspersky is a Russian firm owned by Eugene Kaspersky, who is said to be a personal friend of President Putin and who has refused to condemn Russia’s military actions in Ukraine. It has been alleged that Kaspersky software could be capable of providing a ‘back door’ for mass cyber-attack and that Russia’s Federal Security Service (the former KGB) could be provided with real-time intelligence harvested from customers’ computers. The domain of the Russian Ministry of Defence is known to be hosted by Kaspersky’s infrastructure and the United States has now ordered that Kaspersky software be removed from all Federal computers. The UK government has not taken this step yet.

• Ukrainian students in the UK: Under current government guidance, if a student is aged 18 or over and their course is at degree level, they are allowed to stay in the UK for up to 5 years. For courses below degree level, students can stay in the UK for two years. The Home Office has now announced that Ukrainian students will not have to return home if their visas run out. The Home Office has also announced visa concessions for the family members of Ukrainian students to come to the UK. 2020/21 data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) shows that there were 870 Ukrainians studying in UK universities. The number of Ukrainian students in FE colleges is unknown but the Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed that colleges can use their 16-19 bursary fund and Adult Education Budget (AEB) allocations to support any Ukrainian FE students they may have who are facing financial hardship. On 1 March, the Association of Colleges (AoC) published an update for colleges providing advice on this and other relevant matters.

The Department for Education has finally published its initial response to Philip Augar’s review of Post-18 Education and Funding, almost two years after it was launched.

It is worth noting, however, that this is an “interim” response and the final conclusion will not be set out until the next Comprehensive Spending Review.

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Interesting analysis from David Kernohan Associate Editor at WONKHE. Did the increase in students placed during the 2021 cycle do anything for widening access? David Kernohan keeps it in proportion. So yes in conclusion. Driving up numbers overall will necessarily expand access, but from where we currently sit there is some danger we are creating a kind of binary divide.

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