Students from Duchess's Community High School in Alnwick compete in national cyber security competition

Year 8 girls from DCHS competed in the CyberFirst competition for the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a contest designed to encourage and inspire girls to explore technology and a career in cyber security.

The competition helps address the lack of diversity in the UK cyber workforce, which is made up of only 17% women.

The school’s club, dedicated to getting more girls involved in IT, worked every break and lunchtime as they competed against other schools in a series of challenges, intricate puzzles, and unravelling cyber security mysteries.

Speaking about the competition, teacher Jacob Adams said: “I am so so proud of what this group has achieved, they have worked relentlessly on their entry and dedicated so much time and effort into this competition that I think they are in with a real chance in.”

Co-heads Alan Rogers and James Wilson stated: “We are thrilled that these girls have been given this platform to showcase their talent.

“We await to hear whether they are going to progress - we will have everything crossed for them.”

The content for each competition category stayed consistent with the computer science syllabus from the National Curriculum. However, some advanced cyber topics were included that aren’t covered in traditional education to stretch lateral thinking and knowledge.

The winners were announced on the NCSC website but the high school is awaiting to hear if they are in with the chance of winning the award for ‘Top Scoring state newcomer’, which is given to the highest scoring state school entering the competition for the first time.