On Thursday 27th November 2025 from 1:30pm to 3:30pm, iCSS organised a NCSC CyberFirst Girls Competition Familiarisation Day at The Folkestone School for Girls. Like two other similar events in 2024 (see here and here for a news story of the events), this event has the same main aim: to support local schools and girls to participate in the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre)’s CyberFirst Girls Competition in 2025 and in future years, and to inspire more local girls to consider cyber security and computer science for their future career.
The event was organised by the iCSS (Institute of Cyber Security for Society) of the University of Kent as a member of NCSC’s CyberFirst programme. In addition to the host school, the event was also supported by six members of KMCS3 (Kent & Medway Cyber Security Student Society) who are current or former UG or MSc students at the University of Kent, three cyber security researchers and two cyber security/IT professionals. It is part of the activities of the KMCSN (Kent & Medway CyberSchools Network), a local schools network co-founded by iCSS, KMCC and The STEM Hub managed by Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU). The event was also supported by KMCC (Kent & Medway Cyber Cluster), a local cyber security community building body.
The event saw 48 girls of 12-13 years old (Year 8) from The Folkestone School for Girls to participate in a simulated mini-competition (led by the University of Kent PhD student Adel Elzemity), a mini deepfake detection competition (led by the iCSS Director Professor Shujun Li), and also career stories and tips from the following female volunteers who helped deliver the event:
- Titilayo Saidu, VP – Technology Risk and Controls Lead, JPMorganChase, UK
- Dr Virginia Franqueira, Director of ACE-CSE & Deputy Director (Education) of iCSS & Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security at School of Computing, University of Kent
- Zehra Kuru, MSc graduate, School of Computing, University of Kent; former VP for PGT students, KMCS3
- Lucy Jackson, UG student, School of Computing, University of Kent; member, KMCS3
- Mary Sanyu Nantume, UG student, School of Computing, University of Kent; member, KMCS3
Other volunteers who attended and supported the event include:
- Carol Maravanyika, MSc student, School of Computing, University of Kent; member, KMCS3
- Mihai Marin Moraru, UG student, School of Computing, University of Kent; former President and current Vice President for Strategy and Development, KMCS3
- Sanika Shrikant Naik, MSc student, School of Computing, University of Kent; member, KMCS3
- Adeboyejo Saidu, Technical Business Analyst (System and Data Integration), University of Plymouth; Director, Steam Consulting and Training Limited
Adel Elzemity said “As the workshop lead for the CyberFirst girls familiarisation day, I was genuinely impressed by how motivated and excited the participants were throughout the session. Most of the teams successfully completed the challenges, demonstrating great enthusiasm and determination. When given clear instructions and a clean system to test their problem-solving skills, the girls truly flourished, showing confidence, creativity and a strong willingness to learn.”
Konrad Eke, Director of Careers and Leadership Learning at the Folkestone School for Girls, said “The afternoon provided an exciting opportunity for our students to work together as a team and solve a range of challenges ahead of the CyberFirst Girls Competition. We particularly liked the deepfake workshop which provoked students to think critically and look carefully at images to identify which ones were not real. The questions the students asked throughout the activities were excellent and all of the students came away having thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to make it happen and we look forward to working with the University of Kent again soon.”
Professor Shujun Li, Director of iCSS who also leads the operation of KMCSN and the cyber skills development activities of KMCC, said: “This is the second year since we started the NCSC CyberFirst Girls Competition Familiarisation Day series as a way to inspiring more local girls to participate in the NCSC Girls Competition and consider a cyber or computing career. This new event is the third of the series since 2024, and we were very glad to work with The Folkestone School for Girls again this year for the second time. The deepfake mini-competition is a new add-on to the event, and I was glad to see the new experiment went well to go beyond cyber security to cover AI.”
The University of Kent is a UK Government recognised Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education (ACE-CSE) with Gold award status (2023-29) and an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR) (2015-17, 2018-23, 2024-29), among only eight UK universities with such double recognitions. The University was also named the ‘Cyber University of the Year’ of the inaugural Real Cyber Awards 2023, due to its active profile in all areas of cyber security especially its wider impact and engagement activities. Cyber security activities of the University in all areas are coordinated by iCSS (Institute of Cyber Security for Society), a university-wide and interdisciplinary institute.
KMCSN (Kent & Medway CyberSchools Network) is a local schools network on cyber skills development co-founded in 2023 by iCSS, KMCC (Kent & Medway Cyber Cluster Ltd) and The STEM Hub managed by the Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU). It welcomes more local schools and teachers to join as organisational and individual members to co-develop cyber skills development activities for pupils in Kent and Medway.
KMCS3 (Kent & Medway Cyber Security Student Society) is a student society founded by iCSS in 2023. It was originally created to engage with students studying at the University of Kent but has been made open to any current and former students studying and/or living in the Kent and Medway region.
The Folkestone School for Girls is an innovative and high achieving school, providing an ambitious curriculum designed to encourage students to go beyond exam results. While students at FSG have access to a full slate of academic subjects, attaining excellent qualifications, they also enjoy a broader education through our bespoke FSG Bacc programme. Our students develop “courage, kindness, friendship, character”, mountain biking with friends, reaching new heights on the climbing wall and many other opportunities to develop teamwork and resilience. The Computing department at FSG is part of this vision, taking the subject beyond the classroom. Our students participate in a variety of exciting challenges including the CanSat competition, the UK Bebras Computing Challenge and the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition. We are proud to have worked with the University of Kent in delivering this year’s CyberFirst event, building on FSG’s successful first year of participation in 2023 where 45 eligible students participated in the challenge, and several went on to take part in a CyberFirst Investigators day at the University of Kent campus.