The Royal School Armagh Crowned Northern Ireland Champions in Cyber Explorers Cup 2026

Pupils at The Royal School Armagh are celebrating after being crowned Northern Ireland winners of the prestigious Cyber Explorers Cup 2026 – a UK-wide cyber security competition involving around 2,500 pupils aged 11-14 from across the United Kingdom.

In the school’s very first year entering the competition, several teams comprising 26 pupils took part in the exciting national challenge, with teams of up to six pupils competing in a series of fast-paced, high-pressure cyber security missions.

The theme of this year’s competition was “Smart City and Corrupted AI”. Participants were tasked with saving “Cyber City’s” brand-new Smart Mall after its advanced AI system, SAM-U.L (Shop Assist Manage Utility), became corrupted, causing payment systems to fail, shelves to empty, and forcing the mall to close.

Throughout the competition, pupils worked collaboratively to complete timed one-hour missions involving:

• Cyber security challenges

• Code-breaking and encryption tasks

• Digital forensics investigations

• Secure communications exercises

• Restoring the corrupted AI system to safely reopen the Smart Mall

The competition day proved to be a fantastic experience for all involved, with pupils demonstrating exceptional teamwork, resilience, communication skills, and problem-solving abilities under pressure.

The Royal School’s winning team, Firewall Force, excelled against strong competition from across Northern Ireland and the wider UK, ultimately securing the title of Northern Ireland champions.

Excitement reached another level in early April when the school was informed that they had officially won the competition. However, staff and pupils were required to keep the news confidential until the result was formally announced by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology – something which proved particularly difficult given the scale of the achievement!

As part of the prize package, the school received:

• £2,000 to spend on educational technology

• A special series of workshops delivered by QA

Following discussions led by Mr Forrest with the pupils involved in the winning team, the pupils decided to use the funding to purchase an iPad each – a fitting reward for their outstanding efforts and success.

The school was also delighted to welcome Ben from QA to lead the prize workshops. All 26 pupils who participated in the competition were invited to attend and could choose from a range of workshop experiences. Royal School pupils selected “Crack the Code” and “The Digital Detective”, both of which proved highly engaging and enjoyable.

Mr Luke Forrest, Teacher of Computer Science at The Royal School Armagh, said:

“Entering the Cyber Explorers Cup for the first time and going on to win the competition was an outstanding achievement for our pupils and a hugely rewarding experience for everyone involved.

From the outset, the competition challenged pupils to think critically, work collaboratively, and apply cybersecurity and computational thinking skills in authentic, high-pressure scenarios.

What impressed me most was the resilience, creativity, and determination shown throughout the competition. The pupils embraced every challenge with enthusiasm and demonstrated exceptional teamwork and problem-solving skills against very strong competition from across the UK.

We are incredibly proud to have brought the Cyber Explorers Cup title to Northern Ireland and delighted to now finally be able to share the news with our wider school community.”

The success highlights the growing strength of digital learning and cyber security education within the school and reflects the enthusiasm and talent of pupils engaging with emerging technologies and real-world computing challenges.

The Cyber Explorers programme forms part of the UK Government’s wider ambition to equip one million young people with the digital and technology skills needed for future careers in cyber security, artificial intelligence, and technology innovation.