ISBA BURSARCAST // Fee Fraud, Cyber Risk and Future-Proofing School IT ft.iSAMS (24 April 2026)

This week’s ISBA Bursarcast asks a timely operational question for schools: how secure is the journey between a parent receiving a fee request and the school actually receiving the money?Peter Othen, Director of IT at Magdalen College School, and Simon Freeman, Managing Director of Education at iSAMS, join us to discuss the risks around fee collection, parent payment scams and the wider cyber challenges facing independent schools.The conversation looks beyond technical systems alone. We explore how fraudsters exploit trust, why parent communications are part of cyber resilience, and how schools can think more strategically about future-proofing their IT infrastructure.Alongside the feature, we deliver a condensed newsbeat from the latest ISBA bulletin, including: residential tenancy changes from 1 May 2026, updated safeguarding expectations under Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026, the SEND reform consultation, mobile phone expectations and inspection readiness, and new data protection complaints requirements from 19 June 2026.What You’ll Learn Why fee collection is becoming a more prominent cyber-risk issue for schools How parents can be targeted by scammers posing as schools or payment providers Why cyber resilience is about communication, trust and process, not just technology What senior leaders should understand about future-proofing school IT systems Why finance, IT and communications teams need to work closely on payment journeys How cyber incidents can create operational, reputational and data protection risk This week’s key operational headlines from the ISBA bulletinResources Mentioned ISBA Reference Library ISBA guidance on residential tenancies and staff accommodation Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 ISC SEND reform questionnaire and government consultation DfE guidance on mobile phones in schools ISBA GDPR and data protection complaints guidance iSAMSMore from iSAMSSubscribe & Follow New episodes every Friday at 4pm on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Acast.Email: [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you. The Bursarcast is produced by RAFIKI STUDIOwww.rafikistudio.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.