Led by the University of South Wales, ten HEIs (higher education institutions) across the UK co-organised the ACE Cyber Security Competition 2025-26. The Competition aimed at 16-18-year-olds studying Y12 or Y13 at a local school of an FE (further education) college, and it received support from NCSC’s CyberFirst team on reaching out to more schools nationally.
As a UK government recognised Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education (ACE-CSE) with Gold Award status, the University of Kent participated in the Competition to support local schools and students especially those in the Kent and Medway region. The University of Kent’s participation was coordinated by iCSS (Institute of Cyber Security for Society), with the support of KMCS3 (Kent & Medway Cyber Security Student Society). This event was part of iCSS’s school outreach activities, under the brand name KMCSN (Kent & Medway CyberSchools Network), aiming at raising cyber security awareness and education for pre-university students in Kent and Medway.
On 26 February 2026 (10:00-15:00), seven student teams (in total 28 students), shortlisted based on results of Stage 1 of the competition, were invited for a final Stage 2 competition at the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus. The seven teams represented three schools: Leigh Academy Longfield, MidKent College and The Folkestone School for Girls. Three teams were composed of girls and four teams of boys.
The Stage 2 event included a CTF competition, where the seven teams competed against each other by trying to collect as many points as possible by solving a number of CTF challenges, which were created by the following five KMCS3 student leaders: Umuthan Çakır, Viktor Majzus, Mihai Marin Moraru, Shawn Quaye, and Daniel Shorter. The CTF challenges were developed based on a system originally developed by Adel Elzemity, a PhD student studying at the School of Computing and iCSS at the University of Kent, for iCSS’s other school outreach activities organised before. The CTF system is released as an open-source project on GitHub (https://github.com/Duck8267/school-ctf), and all are welcome to use it for cyber security awareness activities. The above-named KMCS3 student leaders and another KMCS3 member Rakshit Pandey were present throughout the event to provide support to the participating students.
The competition results were the following. Each winning team received iCSS-branded gifts and a 3D-printed trophy as prizes. All 28 participating students received an iCSS-branded T-shirt and an iCSS-branded pen as souvenirs.
- 1st place: Team 4 from The Folkestone School for Girls
- 2nd place: Team 2 from MidKent College
- 3rd place: Team 3 from Leigh Academy Longfield
Dr Virginia Franqueira, Director of the University of Kent ACE-CSE, said “This year was the first time iCSS was involved with the ACE Cyber Security Competition, and we are already thinking about next year. The experience was extremely rewarding from an educator’s point-of-view since the students were really engaged and took the opportunity very seriously. It was also quite a pleasant surprise to see that the top 3 teams included a representation of all participating schools, and both girls and boys. A big thank you goes to the members of the KMCS3 who helped for their amazing effort, teamwork and perseverance to put together so many challenges and provide the students who attended a memorable hands-on experience!”
Konrad Eke, Director of Careers and Leadership Learning at The Folkestone School for Girls, said “It was our pleasure to bring two teams along to the ACE Cyber Security finals hosted by the University of Kent. Students really enjoyed the opportunity to take part in a range of cybersecurity challenges and the added time pressure added to the excitement. Students also received a guided tour of the campus to help them consider their future studies. Thanks to everyone involved in organising the event, it brought students together from different year groups to work together and solve the challenges.”
Matt Lowe, Assistant Principal at Leigh Academy Longfield, said “Leigh Academy Longfield thoroughly enjoyed participating in the ACE Competition this year. It was such a rewarding experience for our students to engage in an exciting range of puzzles, challenging their logical thinking skills. We would definitely participate in this event again in the future.”
Emily Blackburn, Curriculum Manager for Digital at MidKent College, said “Our students thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience, and we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity. It was wonderful to see them dedicating their free time to come together as a team, practise, and collaborate with peers they wouldn’t normally work with at college. Opportunities like this are truly invaluable, giving our students essential employability skills such as teamwork and problem solving in a format they genuinely enjoy.”
Rhys Driscoll, Co-Director of ACE-CSE at The University of South Wales and the UK-wide Coordinator of this ACE Cyber Security Competition, said “Collaboration between Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Education is a powerful way to strengthen the national effort to raise aspirations, awareness, and opportunities for students and our wider communities. I’m really pleased that the University of Kent has joined the ACE competition as partners. Their expertise and enthusiasm will help the competition grow, ensuring it remains inclusive and equitable, and supports the development of strong competencies in both cyber security knowledge and practical skills.”
KMCS3 students who supported this initiative said “It was great to witness the enthusiasm students brought to our challenges. Watching how they approached each problem made the experience just as rewarding for us as we hope it was for them. We were particularly impressed not only by their curiosity and determination, but also by the level of skill many students already demonstrated. The challenges were designed to span a wide range of disciplines within cybersecurity, giving participants a chance to explore both foundational and more advanced concepts. These included areas such as cryptography, web exploitation, reconnaissance and open-source intelligence (OSINT). Overall, it was a fantastic experience to see students engage so deeply with these topics, and I think we would all be more than happy to assist with an event like this again.”