A cyberattack took place earlier this year affecting GCSE exam papers from two major exam boards, Tes can reveal.

Speaking to Tes today after the release of GCSE results, Ofqual declined to divulge any further details on the impact of the attack.

Exam boards AQA and Pearson confirmed on Wednesday that one of their suppliers was the victim of a cyberattack in February. They said they had contingency plans in place for managing threats, including the replacement of exam papers.

GCSE exam security threat

Ofqual chief regulator Sir Ian Bauckham declined to talk further about the cyberattack today when asked by Tes how many exam papers were affected.

“We worked very hard with the National Cyber Security Centre, and obviously with the Department for Education as well, to make sure that there was no impact at all on students’ exams and on the integrity of the exam series,” he said.

“So we’re at the point of being able to celebrate students’ achievements because they were able to take exams that were unaffected by any impact from the cyber incidents.”

Asked why the attack was not announced at the time and if any stolen exam papers appeared online, Sir Ian said he wanted to focus on the achievements of students, and he could not add anything further about the attack.

And when asked about what measures were being put in place to ensure something similar does not happen again, Sir Ian said: “On cybersecurity generally we are very interested in the cybersecurity arrangements that exam boards have.

“It’s a high priority for us, and we make sure we have a clear return for them, stating that they have the strongest possible cybersecurity measures in place to safeguard sensitive assessment material.”

A statement issued by both AQA and Pearson yesterday said: “We can confirm that one of our suppliers was the victim of a cyberattack in February. As you would expect, awarding organisations maintain detailed contingency plans and have well-established processes in place for managing potential threats, including replacing exam papers.

“We can assure students that the summer exam series went ahead as planned and the integrity of the system was maintained. Students can have full confidence in their results issued this summer.”

‘Full confidence’ in GCSE results

Tes has also asked exam boards how many papers and subjects were affected, and why this was not publicised at the time.

Sir Ian said on Wednesday: “We can assure students that exams were unaffected. Students can have full confidence in their results this year.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “As confirmed today by Ofqual, earlier this year we were advised about a cyberattack involving exam papers.

“This incident was dealt with without disruption to students. We can assure everyone that the integrity of the exam system has not been compromised and the upcoming results will be a true reflection of students’ and teachers’ hard work and dedication.”

A spokesperson for the OCR exam board said: “OCR and Cambridge were unaffected by this cyberattack, and we have no relationship with the supplier concerned.”

The exam board WJEC was not affected by the attack. A spokesperson for the board said: “We can confirm that we have no relationship with this supplier.”

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