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Security report for progressivecollege.ie

Progressive College · Education · Ireland

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, SSL/TLS and 1 other check.

Security score

53/100

Risk levelMedium

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

Progressive College is a well-established private education provider in Ireland, specializing in QQI accredited courses across childcare, healthcare, special needs assistance, business, and training sectors. As part of the City Education Group, it benefits from a strong market position and a broad portfolio of educational services. The website reflects a professional and comprehensive approach to education, targeting students seeking flexible and accredited learning options. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with WooCommerce, integrating modern libraries and tools such as Cookiebot for privacy compliance, Google Tag Manager, and Hotjar for analytics. The site is mobile-optimized and demonstrates good SEO and accessibility practices. Security-wise, the site uses HTTPS and implements cookie consent mechanisms but could improve by adding explicit security headers. No critical vulnerabilities or WAF blocks were detected, indicating a mature security posture. Overall, the site is trustworthy, compliant with GDPR, and provides clear contact and business information.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
75/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

5 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • Critical

      No HTTPS encryption

      GDPR requires appropriate security measures for personal data

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate for HTTPS

  2. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • Critical

      No HTTPS Encryption

      Website does not use HTTPS encryption, making all data transmission vulnerable to interception

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate and redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS

  3. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching progressivecollege.ie

This scan found 20 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

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Recommended

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
0
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
75
Average
53

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The business operates in the education sector with a focus on accredited vocational and professional courses. Its competitive advantage lies in its long-standing history since 1986, strong accreditations, and integration within a larger education group. The business model is primarily B2C, offering both online and classroom-based courses. Revenue streams likely include course fees and related educational services. The target customers are individuals seeking career advancement or qualification in childcare, healthcare, and business fields. The partnership ecosystem includes sister companies under the City Education Group, enhancing brand trust and operational synergy. The website's content and structure support growth and customer engagement through clear course offerings, testimonials, and easy contact options.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security posture with enforced HTTPS and a robust cookie consent mechanism via Cookiebot, ensuring GDPR compliance. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options suggests room for improvement. The use of third-party scripts like Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, and Tawk.to is managed with user consent, reducing privacy risks. Incident response and security policy documents were not found, indicating potential gaps in formal security governance. Overall, the site is secure for its purpose but would benefit from enhanced security header implementation and documented incident response procedures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, and Referrer-Policy to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  2. Develop and publish a formal security policy and incident response plan accessible to users and stakeholders.
  3. Regularly update all WordPress plugins and themes to mitigate vulnerabilities from outdated components.
  4. Enhance transparency by providing a dedicated data protection officer contact or privacy team email.
  5. Conduct periodic security audits and penetration testing to proactively identify and remediate potential vulnerabilities.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Progressive College
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Progressive College
Description
Progressive College is a leading provider of QQI accredited courses in Childcare, Healthcare, Special Needs Assistant (SNA) training, Montessori, Business, and Training in Ireland. The college offers flexible online and in-person study options and is part of The City Education Group.
Key services
QQI accredited courses, Childcare education, Healthcare courses, Special Needs Assistant training, Business and training courses, Online and classroom study options
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, WooCommerce, jQuery, Swiper.js, Cookiebot, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, Tawk.to
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent with Cookiebot
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure cookies for consent

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Hotjar
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ads, Facebook Ads
Tracking pixels
Hotjar, Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
Tawk.to
Transparency
good

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Comprehensive cookie consent mechanism implemented via Cookiebot
  2. Multiple QQI accredited courses offered with clear categorization
  3. Strong presence of trust indicators including testimonials and accreditations
  4. Use of modern web technologies and responsive design
  5. No critical security issues or WAF blocking detected
  6. Clear and accessible contact information including phone, email, and physical address
  7. Integration with multiple marketing and analytics tools with user consent
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress CMS with WooCommerce for e-commerce capabilities. It uses popular JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and Swiper.js for UI components and interactivity. Cookiebot is integrated for cookie consent management, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations. The site includes Google Tag Manager and Hotjar for analytics and user behavior tracking, with user consent mechanisms in place. The design is responsive and optimized for mobile devices, with good SEO practices including meta tags and structured data (JSON-LD). Performance is moderate, with some opportunities for optimization in loading times. No hosting provider details were explicitly found in the HTML content. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a professional and user-friendly educational platform.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

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