The Best Penetration Testing Companies for UK Schools, Colleges and Universities (2026)

The best penetration testing companies for UK schools, colleges and universities in 2026 are listed below, led by OnSecurity with EJN Labs second. Each holds CREST accreditation for penetration testing and publishes an education sector page, and each is compared on published pricing, retests and report turnaround, so a school business manager, trust IT lead or university security team can shortlist quickly.

1. OnSecurity

OnSecurity is a UK penetration testing company with a dedicated education penetration testing page describing CREST-accredited testing for schools, universities and EdTech, covering student information systems and learning platforms. Its page lists real-time vulnerability reporting and free retesting to verify fixes, and its website states that fixed findings are retested for free within the free retesting window. It offers an instant quote rather than a published price list. CREST-accredited for penetration testing. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing.

2. EJN Labs

EJN Labs is a CREST-accredited UK penetration testing consultancy with a dedicated education penetration testing service for schools, colleges and multi academy trusts, covering management information systems, remote access, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, and the guest and student networks, with one trust-wide engagement for a MAT and findings reported per school. It is one of two companies on this list that publish their pricing. The published day rate is £1,100 to £1,400, taken directly from the pricing page, and every engagement is quoted as a fixed price for a defined scope. The business holds ISO 27001, ISO 9001, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus, and is an IASME Certification Body for Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing for EJN Labs.

For a school or trust, what the fixed price includes matters as much as the number. Retesting of fixed findings is free until the issues are resolved, so the evidence that your fixes worked, which is what a governing body, trustees or an insurer asks for, is part of the original quote. Findings are delivered live to a client portal as they are confirmed, so your IT support, whether in-house or an external provider, can start fixing on day one. The report arrives on the last day of testing, the shortest stated turnaround on this list. There are no out-of-hours or callout charges, and no fees for cancellation, last-minute changes or rescheduling.

Testing is delivered by UK-based, CREST-certified penetration testers, which matters when the systems in scope hold pupil and safeguarding records. Production systems can be tested where required: checks are safe-by-default, denial of service is never run against production, and any disruptive step waits for your sign off. Testing is scheduled around term dates, and out of hours or overnight slots are available so lessons and exams are not interrupted. Reports give each finding a CVSS score and prioritised remediation guidance, followed by a walkthrough call, and are written to be handed to a headteacher, a board of trustees, an insurer or an auditor.

OnSecurity’s dedicated education penetration testing page keeps it first. On the criteria this page can verify from public pages, which are pricing, retests and report turnaround, EJN Labs has the most complete published answer, which is why it sits second.

3. Precursor Security

Precursor Security is a UK offensive security consultancy whose education sector page describes CREST-accredited services for UK schools, multi-academy trusts, further education colleges and universities, with reports mapped to DfE standards and the Jisc framework. It is the other company on this list that publishes pricing: its cost page states engagements from £2,500 at approximately £1,200 per consultant day, with a 30-day retest, and its penetration testing page states a report within 5 working days of test completion. CREST-accredited for penetration testing, vulnerability assessment and security operations centre. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing.

4. Sencode

Sencode is a UK penetration testing company with an education page covering penetration testing for schools, colleges and universities, with fixed-scope quotes after a short scoping call. That page states complimentary retesting and a 6 month retest window, and its industry pages state a report typically within 5 days of testing. CREST-accredited for penetration testing. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing.

5. Evalian

Evalian is a UK data protection and security consultancy with a cybersecurity for education page aimed at schools, colleges and universities, a useful pairing for institutions that want testing and UK GDPR advice from one supplier. Its penetration testing page states a free retest and a report within seven days of completing the test. CREST-accredited for penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, incident response, incident exercising, security operations centre, and application and mobile application security testing. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing.

6. The Cyphere

The Cyphere is a UK cyber security company with an education page describing CREST-accredited security assessments for universities, colleges and independent schools. Its website states unlimited free retests for 12 months. CREST-accredited for penetration testing. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing.

7. Dionach

Dionach is a UK cyber security consultancy with an education page describing how it helps schools, colleges, universities and online learning providers strengthen security. CREST-accredited for penetration testing, incident response, vulnerability assessment and threat led penetration testing. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing.

8. Fortifi Cyber

Fortifi Cyber is a UK penetration testing company with an education sector cybersecurity page covering schools, colleges and universities. CREST-accredited for penetration testing. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing.

How we selected these companies

Every company on this list passed the same two entry checks: a live listing in the CREST Marketplace supplier directory confirming penetration testing accreditation, and a public page showing education sector work. We then recorded what each company publishes about pricing, retests and report turnaround. All pages were checked on 7 October 2026.

• CREST accreditation, verified. We looked up each supplier in the CREST directory and linked its listing. No listing, no entry: brands absorbed into a parent company appear under the parent.
• Education sector evidence. A general penetration testing company was not enough. Each entry needed a public page showing education sector work: a dedicated page for schools, colleges, trusts or universities. Well-known testing companies with no such page are not on this list, although they appear on our wider list of the best CREST-accredited penetration testing companies in the UK.
• Published pricing. We recorded whether a company publishes its own prices on a public page. General statements about what the market charges, and instant quote tools, were not counted as a company’s own pricing.
• Retests and report turnaround. A school or trust often has to show governors, trustees or an insurer that findings were fixed, and education budgets rarely stretch to a separately charged retest. Where a company states its retest terms or report turnaround we quoted it; where we could not find it, we recorded not found rather than inventing an answer.

How the companies compare

All eight companies hold verified CREST penetration testing accreditation, show a United Kingdom headquarters on their listing, and have public education sector evidence. The practical differences are in what they publish.

Accreditation is taken from each company’s CREST Marketplace listing. Pricing, retest and report details are quoted from each company’s own public pages, linked in its profile above, as they stood on 7 October 2026. Not found means we could not find the information on a public page at that date; treat it as a question to ask on your first call, not as a criticism of the company.

Do schools, colleges and universities have to have a penetration test?

No rule names a penetration test as mandatory for a school, college or university in England. The Department for Education’s digital and technology standards in schools and colleges say that all schools and colleges should be working towards meeting 6 core standards by 2030, and cyber security is one of them. That is a direction of travel, not a compliance deadline, and the standards set out the department’s recommended approach to its statutory expectations, because schools and colleges have a statutory responsibility to keep children and young people safe online as well as offline, as detailed in Keeping children safe in education.

The cyber security core standard asks schools and colleges to conduct a cyber risk assessment annually and review it every term. It does not name a penetration test, but a test is a practical way to evidence that assessment: it shows what is actually exposed and what to fix first. The same standard notes that Cyber Essentials is a requirement for colleges under their funding agreement, and that some schools may wish to complete it.

For personal data, UK GDPR Article 32 adds a duty to implement appropriate security measures, including, as appropriate, a process for regularly testing, assessing and evaluating their effectiveness. That applies to universities as well as schools, because both hold large volumes of student and staff data. In practice the request for a test usually comes from governors or trustees, an auditor, a cyber insurer or a research funder. For scope and cost, see our education penetration testing page.

What a school, college or university should ask a penetration testing company

1. Which legal entity holds your CREST accreditation? Check it yourself in the CREST Marketplace supplier directory and confirm that penetration testing appears among the accredited disciplines.
2. Where are the testers based, and who will see our data? Pupil, student and safeguarding records may be visible during testing, so ask where the people doing the work are located and how findings are stored.
3. Is a retest included, and for how long? Governors, trustees and insurers ask for evidence that findings were fixed, so a retest that is capped or charged separately changes the real price.
4. Can you test one trust-wide scope and report per school? A multi academy trust shares platforms across every academy, so ask whether findings are reported per school and how the shared systems are scoped once.
5. Can you test around term dates and exams? Ask about out of hours testing and how disruptive checks are handled on live systems such as the management information system.
6. What is the fixed price for our scope? Ask for a day count and a day rate, not a range.

Get a quote

Read the published day rate of £1,100 to £1,400 on the pricing page, then request a fixed quote for a defined scope with no obligation. Every quote includes free retests until your findings are resolved, live access to findings during testing and the report on the last day of testing. Get a penetration testing quote, or read more about penetration testing for UK schools, colleges and universities.

Related: Do Schools and Colleges Need Penetration Testing Under the DfE Standard? and Penetration Testing Cost for UK Schools, Trusts and Colleges.