Bristol City Council has begun notifying families to take precautions, after more than 320,000 files stolen from its schools network were published online.

The data relates to schools who use the council’s Trading with Schools platform, used by 88 schools in the city, which was hacked in September.

Some 49 of the schools using the system purchase only internet services, while the remaining 39 use it for day-to-day tasks such as scheduling, lesson plans, recording staff details and payroll information, and storing information on students, including sensitive data such as educational psychology files.

Student data

It is this latter group of schools which was affected by the data theft in September, but the council said it has not yet determined what information was stolen.

The system was shut down on 25 September, leaving many schools unable to use their telephone systems and forcing them to find alternate methods for delivering lessons.

“At present, it is not possible to confirm all schools or individuals affected by the theft. Officers are working to audit the published files and establish this picture as quickly as possible,” the council said in a statement, adding that it is working with police, the South West’s regional organised crime unit and cyber-security experts to investigate.

“Officers are working through a large volume of material as quickly as possible,” said the council’s director of education and skills Vik Verma.

The council issued guidance to families, urging them to be cautious of unexpected messages, emails or phone calls that may be scammers exploiting the stolen data.