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Questions to ask a broadband or filtering supplier

Thirteen questions to put to any company quoting for your school’s connectivity or filtering, each tied to what the DfE standards, KCSIE or the Welsh standards actually say.

  • Checked 25 October 2026
  • Applies to: UK (some questions are for England or Wales only)
  • 2 min read
  • 10 sources
On this page

At a glance

  • Ask whether the line is full fibre and meets the DfE speed for your type of school.
  • Ask what backup line of a different type they offer, with automatic failover.
  • Ask about IWF and CTIRU blocklists, monitoring alerts and the SWGfL test.
  • Ask which framework they are on and when it expires.
  • Ask what happens to your alarm, lift and phone lines at the switch-off on 31 January 2027.

These questions come straight from the official standards and guidance. Each one says where it comes from, so you can show suppliers why you’re asking. The same points are on our printable provider checklist.

The line

  1. Is it full fibre — a leased line or FTTP? DfE’s broadband standard says “copper connections do not meet this standard”. Does it give at least 100 Mbps down and 30 Mbps up (primary), or capacity for 1 Gbps both ways (secondary and all-through)? See the broadband standard.
  2. If you can only offer a non-fibre line now, can we switch to fibre when it becomes available? The standard says new or extended non-fibre contracts should allow this.
  3. What backup connection of a different type can you provide, such as a leased line plus FTTP, or FTTP plus low Earth orbit satellite? Is there automatic failover between routers? See backup broadband.

Security and safeguarding

  1. Is a firewall included, on site or as an edge service? Who manages it, and who reviews the rules each term? (Broadband and cyber security standards.)
  2. Is your filtering provider an IWF member and signed up to CTIRU? Can anyone override those blocklists? DfE says nobody, administrators included, should be able to. Have you self-certified with the UK Safer Internet Centre, and does your filtering pass the SWGfL test?
  3. Can filtering use different profiles for staff and pupils, cover school devices off site and personal or guest devices, block VPNs and proxies, and log the device, user and time? (Filtering and monitoring standard.)
  4. What monitoring and alerts do you provide? DfE expects weekly reports and immediate alerts for high-risk incidents. See filtering and monitoring.
  5. Is DDoS protection included, and is your DNS service registered for the NCSC’s free Protective DNS for Schools? See cyber security.

The contract

  1. What availability and fix times are in the service level agreement? In Wales the standard sets 99.9% availability and restoration within 6 hours after a total failure. The England standard sets no figure, so ask.
  2. Are there data caps? The Welsh standard says to avoid data limits.
  3. Which DfE-approved framework (on Get help buying for schools) or GCA agreement are you on, and when does it expire? See how to buy.
  4. What happens to our alarm, lift and phone lines at the switch-off on 31 January 2027? Will you provide battery backup or a UPS? See the copper switch-off.

Wales only

  1. Are we leaving PSBA? In Wales PSBA should be the default. Leaving needs a clear business case, and the school must first tell the Welsh Government through its local authority. See schools in Wales.

Sources

Checked 25 October 2026. We wrote this guide from these sources, in our own words:

  1. DfE: Broadband internet core standard (gov.uk)
  2. DfE: Filtering and monitoring core standard (gov.uk)
  3. DfE: Cyber security core standard (gov.uk)
  4. UK Safer Internet Centre: Appropriate filtering and monitoring (saferinternet.org.uk)
  5. NCSC: PDNS for Schools extended to more institutions (ncsc.gov.uk)
  6. Hwb: Connectivity (broadband) standards (hwb.gov.wales)
  7. Get help buying for schools: IT category (get-help-buying-for-schools.education.gov.uk)
  8. GCA: Network Services 3 (RM6116) (gca.gov.uk)
  9. DfE: Prepare your education estate for the PSTN and ISDN switch-off (gov.uk)
  10. Openreach: Upgrading the UK to digital phone lines (openreach.com)

Broadband for Schools is an independent guide. We are not a broker, a reseller or a supplier, and we are not connected to the Department for Education, any local authority or any provider. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

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