School IT platform taken offline before exams

The Education Authority confirmed on 3 April 2026 that the central school IT service known as C2k was the target of a cyber attack and was taken offline while managers worked to contain the problem. (eani.org.uk) The outage came days before GCSEs and A‑level exams and forced pupils and teachers out of online revision resources and some administrative systems; the authority said a compulsory password reset has been issued and apologised for the disruption. (bbc.co.uk) (belfastlive.co.uk) C2k is the Education Authority’s centrally managed IT service that supplies internet connectivity, school‑managed devices, curriculum software and the administrative systems schools use for attendance and exam entries; the service is operated for the Education Authority by a third‑party supplier, Capita. (eani.org.uk 1) (eani.org.uk 2) Officials said the immediate containment steps included taking affected systems offline (disconnecting them from normal use to stop further activity) and initiating a mass password reset (forcing all users to change their login credentials to new passwords); Capita is carrying out tests and a full investigation, and the Education Authority said it is engaging the UK data regulator while it examines whether any personal information was accessed. (eani.org.uk) (belfasttelegraph.co.uk) The Education Authority said restoration work is prioritising services needed by exam‑year pupils — for example access to coursework and exam‑entry systems — and that attendance, testing and routine school communications have been affected while technicians verify systems are safe to restore. (belfastlive.co.uk) (eani.org.uk) The investigation remains at an early stage with no definitive timeline for full service restoration given; the authority is publishing updates on its website and social channels as containment, testing and any required regulatory notifications continue. (eani.org.uk) (belfastlive.co.uk)