Children's addresses leaked in school cyber-attack

The Billericay School said it was targeted during the half-term holiday

The names, addresses and medical notes of children may have been accessed by criminals during a cyber-attack, a school said.

The Billericay School in Essex suffered a "significant critical incident" when its systems were compromised during the half-term holiday.

Head teacher Patrick Berry said contact details of parents and carers could also have been obtained, in a letter to parents on Monday.

"At the present time we cannot be sure what specific data has been accessed or exported," Mr Berry wrote.

He apologised for the incident and stressed: "[We] are doing all we can to strengthen our defences against cyber-crime".

Mr Berry said the school would reopen to all pupils on Tuesday after it was shut to several year groups on Monday.

The head teacher said he was working with Action Fraud to investigate the cyber-attack.

There were 347 cyber incidents reported in the education and childcare sector in 2023, a BBC report revealed. It represented a 55% increase on 2022.

Government data suggested most schools and colleges have identified a cyber-security breach in the past year.

Some told the BBC it led to temporary closures and weeks of disruption.