blog Archives - LearnTrek

MFA for Alternative Provision: Closing the School Cyber-Gap

by Mia Brown | Feb 4, 2026 | Blog

The Nation Cyber Security Centre warned us that MFA-targeted attacks were coming. The 2025 data proves they are here.

The Funding Gap in School Security

All parts of the education sector investigated by NCSC were found to have a higher percentage of cyber attacks than the 43% level experienced by businesses across all sectors. Although Primary Schools and Secondary Schools were the lowest of the education sector, they nevertheless reported 44% Primary and 60% Secondary attacks or breaches in the last year (as of mid 2025). The most common form of cyberattacks was phishing, impersonation and viruses/spyware/malware. All forms of these attacks cause risk of interfering with children’s education and Alternative Provision support.

External sources of support can help to lessen the number of breaches. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), for example, is an extra layer of security for educational institutions to keep their information safe. The National Standards for Non School Alternative Provision will mark a change for alternative provisions and how they are expected to work. Section 3 of the standards focuses on admissions, support and guidance, requiring private information to be well protected in line with GDPR.

While larger schools and academies have the safety net of larger trust-wide budgets, expertise as well as access to government funded schemes and support; Alternative Provisions often operate on the front lines with fewer resources. This creates a ‘security gap’ that cyberattackers are eager to exploit. At Learntrek, we don’t believe your students’ data should be less secure just because your setting is smaller. We’ve designed our platform to bridge that gap – giving you the same ‘lock-and-key’ protection used by major institutions, but tailored specifically for the unique workflow of an AP.

What is MFA?

A verification method of multiple security methods and options. Passwords, passwordless MFA and a code provided by an app or biometric authenticator being the most common.

We Can Help

At Learntrek we offer MFA free of charge in our software as we don’t believe security should be an add-on. Data is securely hosted by Amazon Web Services, and we provide a range of cyber security measures including cyber security scanning alongside MFA. Registered with the UK Government’s Cyber Essentials programme, we make it as clear as possible that we value security of the students and staff first. Our databases allow a restricted line of access to specific individuals, and cybersecurity is a core part of Learntrek handling sensitive information.

Empowering Your Team

It can be overwhelming to keep up with the constant security updates required to battle modern cyberattacks. That is why we don’t just provide the software; we provide the knowledge. We offer comprehensive staff training (via support videos, training calls, or face-to-face sessions) to help your team understand and navigate your security system with confidence.

Moving Beyond the Spreadsheet

Whether you are currently using cloud backups or a simple Excel spreadsheet, we know that tackling admin and security can feel like a mountain to climb – especially with smaller teams.

Learntrek is designed to be flexible and customizable, adapting to the specific security measures your institution needs to remain compliant. While MFA usage is increasing across the education sector, we want to ensure Alternative Provisions are not left behind. By handling vulnerability management seamlessly, we allow you to focus on the needs of your students rather than anxieties about technical compliance.

Secure Your Provision Today

Cybersecurity shouldn’t be a luxury reserved for the biggest budgets. It is about protecting the personal data of the young people in your care.

Ready to see how Learntrek can protect your setting? If you have questions or would like to see a demo of our MFA and security features in action? Complete our contact form. A member of our team will get back to you within 24 hours.

Stay in the loop! Follow our journey and discussions over on LinkedIn

Co-producing solutions: Reflections on a LearnTrek journey

by Dr Catherine Brennan | Jun 25, 2025 | Blog

My journey towards LearnTrek began in 2017. I was Senior Executive Officer at a small education charity which had at its heart an independent special school for children with social, emotional and mental health needs.

One of my responsibilities was as DSL for the school and I was experiencing some anxiety about whether my systems for reporting and recording were robust enough to manage the volume and level of safeguarding concerns which arose for us multiple times daily. I was using a spreadsheet which was cross-referenced with paper files and I knew that this was neither fully efficient nor fully safe.

The Birth of an Idea

I was chatting about this one day with my friend, who is a web developer. In the way
I’ve discovered web developers tend to, he became interested in my problem and in
finding a solution to it. As we spoke we discovered quickly that we were attempting to
communicate between two very different world views.

I needed to understand and embrace the endless possibilities of a web-based solution. He needed to decipher my passionate advocacy of children who had not thrived in other settings; he needed to convert what must have seemed to him to be heartfelt incoherence into the building blocks of a system which would be effective in day-to-day work with vulnerable and marginalised children.

Neither of us realised at the time the journey this would take us on, nor that it would eventually include so many partners in education, support and care organisations across the UK.

The Journey of Co-Creation

The process we embarked upon that day very soon included my colleagues in SLT at
the school. Our students faced complex barriers to full inclusion and what were basic
requirements for mainstream students represented a triumph for the children we worked
with. What we needed was a way of recording and measuring our students’ progress over
time in a way which was meaningful given their needs and individual starting points.

The collaboration between value-driven professionals in SEND and a programmer at the top of
his game wasn’t always an easy one; there were frustrations and misunderstandings on both
sides; these were overcome only by commitment to the importance of the project and the
strength of relationships between us – humour and empathy were key!

From Safeguarding to Comprehensive Data

The safeguarding area of the portal (now known as LearnTrek) continues to be a powerful
tool in recording, analysing, reporting and actioning safeguarding concerns. Collaboration
with school colleagues also saw the establishment of attendance, behaviour and curriculum
elements; all of which allow settings to record and report on even the tiniest increments of
progress.

In the years since these small beginnings, our developer and his team have worked with
many providers developing the software incrementally. Each partner provider brings new
insight to the work and new puzzles to solve; always driven by the desire to produce great
outcomes alongside children/service users.

A Shared Vision for Inclusion

Recently, I have accepted a role with the organisation my developer friend co-founded to provide the software to other settings. As I settle in I find myself reflecting on the genesis and evolution of the software; I realise that there are parallels between the origin story of the LearnTrek portal and the creative approaches of the providers who use it.

The field of Alternative Provision is packed with practitioners who trust in the power of coming alongside children in authentic and enduring relationships of mutual recognition and respect; of the importance of creativity in finding solutions and in the belief that with the right support children can become agents in fulfilling their own potential. I look forward to being more closely involved in the process.