#EdTech Meeting the DfE Digital Standards 2030: A Realistic Roadmap for Schools

Meeting the DfE Digital Standards 2030: A Realistic Roadmap for Schools

Let's be honest: when the Department for Education announced that all schools should meet six digital standards by 2030, most of us in education had the same reaction. Another initiative. Another set of requirements. Another thing to add to an already overwhelming list.

But here's the thing—these standards actually matter. And with only 16% of schools currently meeting them, we've all got work to do. The good news? You've got time, and with the right approach, this is absolutely doable.

I've spent the last few months talking to schools at various stages of this journey, and I want to share what's actually working on the ground. Not theory. Not policy documents. Real, practical steps that schools are taking to get this done.

What Are We Actually Talking About?

The DfE wants every school to have six things in place:

Broadband Internet that's fast, reliable, and has a backup line so you're never completely offline.

Wireless Networks that actually work everywhere—not just in the main building while the science block suffers.

Network Switches that are modern, properly configured, and won't die on you mid-term.

Digital Leadership that goes beyond your IT manager heroically holding everything together—we're talking board-level strategy and oversight.

Filtering and Monitoring that keeps children safe online without blocking everything useful.

Cyber Security that's more than just hoping nothing bad happens—proper risk assessments, incident plans, the works.

These aren't statutory yet, but they're increasingly what Ofsted, funding bodies, and safeguarding audits expect to see. The government has put £25 million toward wireless upgrades, with promises of more support to come.

Step 1: Find Out Where You Actually Stand (First 3 Months)

You can't fix what you don't measure, and you can't plan without knowing your starting point. This bit isn't glamorous, but skip it and you'll regret it later.

What Your IT Team Needs to Do:

Walk the site. Test the WiFi in every building. Check when your switches were last replaced (if you even know where they all are). Look at your broadband contract. Review your cyber security policies and be brutally honest about whether anyone actually follows them.

The DfE offers a free "Plan technology for your school" service that's actually quite useful. Your IT team should use it to create a proper gap analysis. Where do you meet the standards? Where are you close? Where are you nowhere near?

Create an asset register if you don't have one. Yes, it's tedious. Yes, it's essential. Every device, every switch, every piece of software. The DfE provides a template, which saves you starting from scratch.

Where External Partners Come In:

Here's the uncomfortable truth: your internal team might miss things. Not through incompetence, but because they're so deep in the day-to-day that they've normalized workarounds that would horrify an external auditor.

Get someone in who specializes in education IT to do an independent audit. They've seen dozens of schools. They know what "good" looks like. They'll spot risks and opportunities your team might miss.

If you don't have a relationship with a managed service provider who understands schools, now's the time to find one. Not all IT companies get education. Find one that does.

Cyber security deserves specialist attention. The National Cyber Security Centre has education-specific guidance, and there are firms who'll do proper penetration testing and vulnerability assessments. This isn't optional anymore.

What Success Looks Like:

By month three, you should have a document that clearly shows your current state against each standard. No waffle, no excuses, just facts. This becomes your baseline and helps you make the case for investment.

Step 2: Build a Plan That Won't Get Laughed at by Finance (Months 4-6)

Now you know what needs fixing, you need a plan that's ambitious enough to matter but realistic enough to actually happen.

Your IT Team's Role:

Work with senior leadership to create a digital strategy that connects technology to education outcomes. Don't write an IT document that only IT people understand. Write something that governors can read and teachers can see themselves in.

The DfE expects digital leadership at board level. That means someone on your governing body needs to own this, and your headteacher needs to care about it beyond approving the budget.

Break your plan into phases. Year by year, standard by standard. Be realistic about costs—network infrastructure isn't cheap, and the sector data shows many schools struggle with this. Better to be honest now than promise what you can't deliver.

Think about who's accountable for what. Who owns cyber security? Who's responsible for maintaining the asset register? Who reports progress to governors? Make it clear.

Working with External Partners:

Show your gap analysis to potential partners and ask them to propose solutions. You want partners, not vendors. People who'll support you through this journey, not just sell you a box of equipment and disappear.

Talk money honestly. Some providers offer leasing, phased payments, or know about funding streams you don't. Some can access trust-level or regional purchasing frameworks that offer better value.

Consider managed services for the complex stuff. Many schools are finding it makes more sense to have external partners handle network monitoring, security patching, and infrastructure maintenance, freeing internal staff to support actual teaching and learning.

Make sure any partner will train your team, not create dependency. You want to build internal capability, not outsource your brain.

What You Need by Month Six:

A strategy that's been approved by your board, with budget allocated for at least the next couple of years. Signed agreements with key partners. And crucially, buy-in from staff who understand why this matters and what's changing.

Step 3: Actually Do the Thing (Years 1-5)

Here's a phased approach that's working for schools I've spoken to:

Phase 1: Get the Safeguarding Stuff Sorted (Year 1)

Start with cyber security, filtering and monitoring, and digital leadership. These directly affect child safety and regulatory compliance. Most schools are already part-way there—this is about tightening up and documenting properly.

Your IT team should roll out cyber awareness training (and make it actually engaging, not just another compliance exercise), conduct your first proper cyber risk assessment, and establish regular security review meetings.

Get your external partners to help with enhanced monitoring tools, staff training on real threats (not generic slides about passwords), and implementing proper endpoint protection. If budget allows, 24/7 security monitoring is worth considering.

On the leadership side, appoint a governor who actually cares about digital strategy. Make cyber security a standing agenda item. Create a working group that includes teachers, not just IT staff.

Phase 2: Fix the Infrastructure (Years 2-3)

Now tackle broadband and network switches. This costs money, but without solid infrastructure, everything else struggles.

Upgrade to full fibre broadband with a backup line. Replace aging network switches—if they're more than 5-7 years old, they're a risk. Do this work during holidays when disruption matters less.

Your external partners should design modern network infrastructure with proper redundancy, implement it with minimal disruption, and provide ongoing monitoring and maintenance.

Spread this over two years if you need to. Year 2: main broadband upgrade and critical switches. Year 3: complete the switch replacement program and implement backup connectivity.

Phase 3: Make WiFi Actually Work (Years 3-4)

With solid wired infrastructure, extend proper wireless coverage everywhere. Not patchy WiFi that drops in half the rooms, but genuine full coverage with capacity for dozens of devices at once.

Get a professional wireless site survey done. Every school building is different, and where you put access points matters enormously. Your external partner should design this, install enterprise-grade access points, and configure proper network segmentation (separate networks for staff, students, guests, and IoT devices).

Do this during holidays. Budget for professional installation—bodged wireless is expensive to fix later.

Phase 4: Polish and Embed (Year 5)

Use the final year to review everything, fill any gaps, and make sure this isn't just a project that finishes but a new way of working that continues.

Conduct a full review against all six standards. Update documentation. Train new staff. Plan for the next refresh cycle—technology doesn't stand still.

Get your external partner to do an independent verification assessment. Use this as evidence for inspections or funding applications.

What Actually Makes This Work

After talking to schools who've made progress, a few themes keep coming up:

Leadership has to care. If your senior team treats this as "an IT thing," it won't happen. Technology strategy is leadership strategy. End of story.

Balance internal knowledge with external expertise. Your IT team knows your school in ways no external partner ever will. But they can't know everything about everything. The right partners complement your team, they don't replace them.

Think beyond 2030. These standards are a baseline, not a finish line. AI in education is already happening. New challenges will emerge. Build flexibility in.

Be realistic about money. Many schools are finding the costs challenging, particularly for infrastructure. Look for creative solutions—leasing, phased work, trust-level purchasing, targeted grants. The DfE knows not everyone can afford everything and is reviewing the costlier requirements.

Keep asking if it helps children learn. All this technology exists to support education. If teachers and students aren't seeing the benefit, something's wrong.

Write everything down. Staff leave. Memories fade. Auditors ask questions. Document your systems, configurations, policies, and procedures. Make your asset register a living tool, not a one-time exercise.

You're Not Alone

The DfE provides the "Plan technology for your school" service, which is genuinely useful. The National Cyber Security Centre has education-specific guidance. The UK Safer Internet Centre offers training and resources. Jisc supports colleges. The Connect the Classroom program has £25m+ for network upgrades.

Professional associations like ANME (Association of Network Managers in Education) offer peer support and training that's worth its weight in gold.

Final Thoughts

Look, nobody I've spoken to thinks meeting these standards will be easy. Budgets are tight. Staff are stretched. There's always something more urgent.

But the digital divide is real, and it's affecting our children right now. Schools with modern, reliable technology give their students advantages that others simply don't have. That's not acceptable, and the DfE is right to push on this.

You've got until 2030. That sounds like ages, but technology projects take longer than you think and there are 2,000 other things competing for your attention. Start with the assessment. Build a realistic plan. Get the right partners on board. Then work through it, phase by phase.

The schools I've seen make real progress share one thing: they started. They didn't wait for perfect conditions or unlimited budgets. They just began.

So begin.

Start with that DfE planning service. Talk to your IT team about the assessment phase. Have the conversation with your senior leadership team about what this really means.

The path to 2030 starts today. Your students are counting on you to walk it.

Further Reading:

Academy trust handbook 2025: effective from 1 September 2025 - GOV.UK