Security fears force council to remove iPads from schools

More than 2,000 iPads are to be removed from school classrooms in Argyll & Bute to avoid the devices becoming a security risk.

A report for the local council stated the devices must be taken out of use by October 2026 before they develop “critical security vulnerabilities”.

Just under 1,000 devices have already been removed this year because of software being out of date and no longer compatible with Apple’s security releases.

Councillors agreed to provide more than £1.5m of funding over a five year period to expand the existing computer rolling replacement programme (CRRP) to also include iPads and Chrome books.

CRRP previously did not cover iPads or Chrome books, meaning there was no funding available to replace iPads when they became obsolete.

Executive director Douglas Hendry said: ” Due to a lack of current device replacement strategies at school level, schools can face challenges when outdated equipment, which can no longer be supported, is removed from the network due to becoming obsolete or posing a security risk to the network.

“In April 2025, the ICT security team advised of the immediate removal of 970 iPads running Apple iPad software below version 17 from the school network due to critical security vulnerabilities.”

Another 399 iPads are to be removed by October 2025, with a further 904 needing replaced by October 2026.

Ben Hatton, an analyst with the firm CCS Insight, said the speed of change with modern technology could create regular issues for councils.

He told BBC Scotland News: “This is certainly a concern in some areas of tech. If we look at laptops, for example, the imminent end of life for laptops running Windows 10 will cause major problems for many organizations yet to upgrade to hardware capable of running Windows 11.

“We would expect quite a few cybersecurity concerns to arise over the coming years, for organizations and consumers, if people don’t upgrade their devices.”

Councillor Audrey Forrest, policy lead for education with the local authority, said the CRRP expansion would “ensure that our children and young people have the best possible learning opportunities and gain essential knowledge and skills to help them thrive.”