What's the difference between Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus?

Cyber Essentials is a verified self-assessment against five security controls. Cyber Essentials Plus tests the same controls with a hands-on technical audit by a licensed assessor. You must hold Cyber Essentials before doing Plus.

Do you do the work, or just assess us?

We do the work. Foresight runs the gap analysis, carries out hands-on remediation, prepares the evidence and liaises with the assessor, so you pass first time rather than paying to re-sit a failed audit.

How much does Cyber Essentials cost?

The IASME assessment fee is tiered by size from around £320 + VAT and includes £25,000 cyber liability insurance for eligible UK businesses. Cyber Essentials Plus is scoped to your estate, typically from around £1,380 + VAT.

Education & AI

AI for schools: how can schools use AI safely?

AI can save your staff real hours — but in a school it has to be built around safeguarding. Here’s where AI genuinely helps, and how to use it safely.

AI adoption for schools Call 0161 738 1399

Why Foresight

16 years supporting 56+ primary schools
Microsoft CSP & Copilot specialists
Greater Manchester, since 2006
Honest advice — not licence-selling

Quick answer

Schools can use AI to save staff real time — teachers on lesson planning and resources, office staff on reports and parent queries — but it must be done around safeguarding. Pupil, SEND and safeguarding data should stay out of scope, and because Copilot only shows a user what they can already access, schools need to tidy permissions and put a simple AI usage policy in place first. The best first step is mapping where AI genuinely helps (and who actually needs a paid licence), then rolling it out safely.

Where AI helps

Practical uses in a school

Role	Where AI fits
Teachers	Lesson planning, differentiation and resources — free Copilot Chat
School Business Manager	Reports and policy updates — Microsoft 365 Copilot
Office admin	Repetitive parent queries — an FAQ agent
Safeguarding	Safeguarding, pupil and SEND records — a firm no-go

Doing it safely

Safeguarding first

Copilot only surfaces what a user can already access — which is fine until you realise how much is quietly over-shared in a typical school SharePoint. Before anything rolls out, tidy permissions, apply a simple AI usage policy, complete any DPIA, and keep sensitive records out of scope — aligned with the new AI-in-scope Cyber Essentials rules. We do all of this as part of AI adoption for schools.

Free downloads

Start today with our templates

The same free, ready-to-use templates we use in our audits:

“Day in the Life” AI template

Find exactly where AI will save your team time.

Download →

AI Usage Policy template

A short, practical AI policy to keep your data safe.

Download →

FAQs

Common questions

Can schools use AI safely?

Yes — for the right tasks, with the groundwork done first. Fix over-sharing and permissions, keep safeguarding and SEND data out of scope, and put a simple AI policy in place.

How can teachers use AI?

Mainly for lesson planning, differentiating work and creating resources using free Copilot Chat. It’s a drafting assistant — teachers still check and own the output.

Is Microsoft Copilot safe for schools?

It can be, once permissions are tidied. Copilot only shows a user what they can already access, so the risk is pre-existing over-sharing, which must be fixed before rollout.

What about pupil and safeguarding data?

It stays firmly out of scope. Part of the job is drawing clear lines around the data AI must never touch and making sure your tenant enforces them.

Who can help our school adopt AI?

We can — we’ve supported schools for 16 years. See AI adoption for schools, or book a readiness audit.

Bring AI into your school — safely

Start with a fixed-fee AI Readiness Audit built around safeguarding, pupil data and DfE standards.

AI adoption for schools Call 0161 738 1399