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School broadband in Wales: Hwb standards and PSBA

In Wales, the Hwb Education Digital Standards say PSBA should be every school’s default broadband provider, over dedicated, symmetrical, uncontended fibre with no data limits and at least 99.9% availability. Leaving PSBA needs a business case.

  • Checked 25 October 2026
  • Applies to: Wales
  • 3 min read
  • 6 sources
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At a glance

  • PSBA (Public Sector Broadband Aggregation) should be the default broadband provider for schools in Wales.
  • Leaving PSBA needs a clear business case, and the school must first tell the Welsh Government through its local authority.
  • The line should be dedicated, symmetrical, uncontended fibre; FTTP-type services are “generally unsuitable”, with exceptions for schools with fewer than 50 learners.
  • Minimum availability 99.9%, with restoration within 6 hours after a total failure.
  • PSBA’s WebSafe filtering service is accredited under the UK Safer Internet Centre filtering standards.

Schools in Wales follow the Education Digital Standards published on Hwb, the Welsh Government’s digital learning platform — not the DfE standards for England. They’re written as “should” standards.

PSBA is the default

PSBA — Public Sector Broadband Aggregation — is “Operated by Welsh Government and delivered by BT”. It provides connectivity to public sector organisations across Wales, including schools, colleges and universities.

The Hwb connectivity standards say:

  • A1. Schools should use the PSBA network as their default broadband provider. PSBA includes built-in cyber security, a centrally managed web filtering service (WebSafe) and a direct connection to local authority systems. Leaving PSBA needs a clear business case, and the school must first inform the Welsh Government through its local authority.
  • A2. Use a dedicated, symmetrical, uncontended fibre service. FTTP-type services are “generally unsuitable” because of limited capacity. “Exceptions may apply for schools with fewer than 50 learners” where dedicated services aren’t available.
  • A3. Bandwidth should match the school’s size and use — learners, staff and community use — and allow for growth. There is no numeric figure.
  • A4. Avoid data limits. PSBA provides unlimited data as standard.
  • A5. The connection must be scalable.
  • A6. A minimum availability of 99.9% and “guaranteed restoration of service within 6 hours in the event of a total service failure”. Review the service level agreement.
  • A7. Before switching, check which extra services — firewall, DDoS protection, web filtering — are in your current contract. A new provider must match them.

The Welsh Government’s March 2026 benefits map for the Hwb programme describes the aim as “Future-proofed, sustainable, resilient, safe and secure internet connectivity for all maintained schools in Wales”, through a national PSBA managed service and a national filtering platform.

Web filtering and online safeguarding

The Hwb filtering standards ask for real-time filtering on the device (or at the network edge where that isn’t possible), age-appropriate controls across all networks including guest access, recommended categories with the headteacher deciding what is blocked or unblocked, monitoring policies with clear roles, safeguarding alerts, a review at least once a year using the SWGfL test tool, and filtering on school devices used off site. WebSafe, PSBA’s filtering service, supports Hwb login and is accredited under the UK Safer Internet Centre filtering standards.

Wireless, routers and switches

  • Wireless: 802.11ax preferred, with 802.11ac Wave 2 as the minimum; a wireless survey before installing; certificate-based authentication preferred; separate networks for guests and for building devices such as CCTV; govroam where public services share a school building.
  • Routers and switches: a business-grade router agreed with the local authority (PSBA provides and manages it); no more than two switch hops between a device and the router; backbone switch capacity of 10 Gbps for secondary and large primary schools and 1 Gbps for smaller primaries; small rural schools with fewer than 50 pupils should consult their local authority; remove unmanaged switches.

Sources

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

  1. Hwb: Connectivity (broadband) standards (hwb.gov.wales)
  2. Hwb: Web filtering and online safeguarding standards (hwb.gov.wales)
  3. Hwb: Wireless networking standards (hwb.gov.wales)
  4. Hwb: Router and switches standards (hwb.gov.wales)
  5. Welsh Government: Hwb programme strategic benefits map (March 2026) (gov.wales)
  6. PSBA (Public Sector Broadband Aggregation) (psba.gov.wales)

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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