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Is uclacademy.co.uk a Scam? Security Check Results - The UCL Academy

uclacademy.co.uk Security Report Summary

uclacademy.co.uk received a security score of 58 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Elevated Risk". This report covers The UCL Academy's website security posture. The UCL Academy operates in the Education industry in United Kingdom.

The UCL Academy website represents a well-established educational institution in inner London, providing secondary and sixth form education with a focus on STEAM and strong university sponsorship by UCL. The site offers comprehensive information for students, parents, and staff, including curriculum details, admissions, wellbeing, and online learning resources. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with modern libraries and frameworks, delivering a good user experience with mobile optimization and clear navigation. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS and cookie consent implemented, but the expired domain status and lack of explicit security policies present risks. Privacy compliance is addressed with a GDPR-compliant privacy policy and cookie banner, though Google Analytics is not fully configured. Overall, the site is professional and trustworthy but requires urgent domain renewal and enhanced security transparency.

The security scan identified 30 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: WordPress, jQuery, Bootstrap, FontAwesome, Google Fonts, Animate.css, Slick Carousel, SmartAsses plugin, SmartHouses plugin, Contact Form 7.

About this security scan

Guard performs automated security assessments of websites by analyzing SSL/TLS certificates, HTTP security headers, DNS configuration, email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), GDPR compliance indicators, NIS2 directive compliance, network exposure, and business-context intelligence. Each report provides domain-specific findings, risk scores, and actionable recommendations.

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Is uclacademy.co.uk Safe? Security Analysis for The UCL Academy

https://www.uclacademy.co.uk/

Check if uclacademy.co.uk is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

EducationUnited Kingdommedium
WordPressjQueryBootstrapFontAwesomeGoogle Fonts+5 more
Analyzed Completed
58
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

Above Education avg (55)

GDPR-aligned

Data handling

EU

Hosting region

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AI Summary

The UCL Academy website represents a well-established educational institution in inner London, providing secondary and sixth form education with a focus on STEAM and strong university sponsorship by UCL. The site offers comprehensive information for students, parents, and staff, including curriculum details, admissions, wellbeing, and online learning resources. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with modern libraries and frameworks, delivering a good user experience with mobile optimization and clear navigation. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS and cookie consent implemented, but the expired domain status and lack of explicit security policies present risks. Privacy compliance is addressed with a GDPR-compliant privacy policy and cookie banner, though Google Analytics is not fully configured. Overall, the site is professional and trustworthy but requires urgent domain renewal and enhanced security transparency.

Detected Technologies

WordPressjQueryBootstrapFontAwesomeGoogle FontsAnimate.cssSlick CarouselSmartAsses pluginSmartHouses pluginContact Form 7

10 urgent findings need attention

1 critical · 9 high

  • + 2 more findings in the full report below
Continuous monitoring

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Guard tracks your live infrastructure daily: certificate expiry, DNS & mail authentication drift, uptime changes, subdomain inventory, and unexpected tracker or content shifts. A full timeline captures every diff so you can prove remediation and spot regressions instantly.

Security drift alerts

Risk score drops, new high-severity issues, and header hardening gaps

Compliance watch

GDPR / NIS2 posture changes with governance evidence snapshots

Infrastructure surface

Unexpected open services, SSL expiry, DNS & email authentication changes

Content & tracker intelligence

Marketing tech shifts, analytics drift, and AI recommendation updates

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Security Headers

4 findings

80/100

GDPR Compliance

2 findings

65/100

NIS2 Compliance

9 findings

2/100

Email Security

3 findings

85/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

The UCL Academy operates as a medium-sized educational institution targeting students aged 11-18 in London, leveraging its affiliation with University College London to enhance its market position. Its business model focuses on delivering quality education with a STEAM specialism and extensive support services. The website reflects a mature digital presence with active social media engagement and detailed content supporting admissions and community involvement. The lack of direct registrant information in WHOIS is typical for hosted domains but the expired domain status is a notable risk. The academy's partnerships and initiatives with UCL and other educational programs position it well within the education sector.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent mechanisms in place. However, the expired domain registration poses a significant risk of domain hijacking or service disruption. The absence of published security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure reduces transparency and preparedness. Security headers beyond HTTPS are not explicitly detected, and no security.txt file is present. The site uses reputable plugins and libraries but should regularly audit for vulnerabilities. Overall, the security posture is functional but requires improvements in domain management and policy publication to enhance trust and compliance.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Renew the domain registration immediately to prevent potential hijacking or downtime.

Observations

Comprehensive website and business-context analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

The UCL Academy

Description:

The UCL Academy is a diverse school in inner London for girls and boys aged 11-18, supported by University College London, aiming to inspire students to fulfil their potential and achieve success regardless of background.

Key Services:
Secondary education (Years 7-11)Sixth Form education (Level 3)Online learning toolsAdmissions and open eventsStudent wellbeing and safeguardingHouse system and extracurricular activities
Content Quality:

good

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
WordPressjQueryBootstrapFontAwesomeGoogle FontsAnimate.cssSlick CarouselSmartAsses pluginSmartHouses pluginContact Form 7
Frameworks:
Bootstrap
Platforms:
WordPress
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

basic

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
70/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent banner implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of reputable plugins and libraries

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google AnalyticsGoogle Tag Manager
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:basic

Advertising & Marketing

Tracking Pixels:
Google Analytics (not configured)
Marketing Tools:
MonsterInsights (Google Analytics plugin)
Transparency Level:basic

Website Quality Assessment

Design Quality:good
User Experience:good
Content Relevance:good
Navigation Clarity:good
Professionalism:good
Trustworthiness:high

Key Observations

1

Website is a WordPress-based educational site for UCL Academy

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🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

80/100
Score

Weak X-Frame-Options configuration

LOW

Current value: "SAMEORIGIN, SAMEORIGIN"

Weak X-Content-Type-Options configuration

LOW

Current value: "nosniff, nosniff"

Weak Referrer-Policy configuration

LOW

Current value: ": no-referrer"

Sensitive data may be cached

LOW

Cache-Control header should include "no-store" for sensitive pages

👤GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.

GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment

65/100
Score

No Privacy Policy found

HIGH

GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

Third-party services without privacy policy

HIGH

Detected services: Google Analytics, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Cloudflare, Google APIs

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy0% confidence
Cookie Policy85% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
emailphone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

2/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure

No security policy documentation found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management

No incident response procedures found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans

No business continuity planning found

MEDIUM

NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity

No security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels

No vulnerability reporting mechanism

MEDIUM

Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

Critical sector without clear security compliance

HIGH

Detected sectors: energy, transport, banking, health, digital

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📧Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

85/100
Score

No BIMI Record

LOW

BIMI displays brand logos in email clients

No MTA-STS Policy

MEDIUM

MTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery

No TLS-RPT Record

LOW

TLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues

SPF
Sender Policy Framework
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication
MX Records
Mail Exchange Records
BIMI
Brand Indicators
MTA-STS
Mail Transfer Agent Security
TLS-RPT
TLS Reporting
DNSSEC
DNS Security
SPF Details
Record:
v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all
DNS Lookups:1/10
Policy:~all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:google(1416-bit rsa)

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

47/100
Score

Weak Protocols Supported

HIGH

Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

Certificate Transparency Not Implemented

LOW

Certificate is not logged in Certificate Transparency logs

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 37 days

Weak SSL Key Length

HIGH

SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

Mixed Content Detected

MEDIUM

7 resources loaded over insecure HTTP

Protocol Support

TLSv1.3TLSv1.2TLSv1.1

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Enabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

10/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

Domain Expired

CRITICAL

Domain expired 27 days ago

Domain Transfer Lock Not Enabled

MEDIUM

Domain can be transferred without authorization

Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled

LOW

Domain can be deleted without additional verification

No DMARC Record

MEDIUM

DMARC policy not configured

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
18 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
expired(expired)
Protection Level
none
Suspicious Indicators Detected
  • Domain expired 27 days ago
  • No domain protection locks enabled

DNS Records

A Records:104.21.33.120, 172.67.162.136
AAAA Records:2606:4700:3036::6815:2178, 2606:4700:3030::ac43:a288
Name Servers:
novalee.ns.cloudflare.comDNS only
sri.ns.cloudflare.comDNS only
MX Records:
1: aspmx.l.google.com
10: alt3.aspmx.l.google.com
10: alt4.aspmx.l.google.com
5: alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
5: alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
SOA:Serial: 2405770209, TTL: 1800s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:39ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

100/100
Score

Good Network Security Posture

LOW

No unnecessary services detected on common risky ports

How does uclacademy.co.uk compare?

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🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform using Bootstrap for responsive design, jQuery for scripting, and several plugins including Contact Form 7 and custom SmartAsses and SmartHouses plugins. It uses Google Fonts and FontAwesome for styling and icons. The site loads multiple CSS and JS assets from both internal and external CDNs, including cdnjs and Google APIs. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and basic accessibility features. SEO is supported by meta tags and Open Graph data. Hosting is provided by Flywheel Tech Limited, a known hosting provider. The site lacks advanced security headers and some analytics configuration is incomplete, indicating room for technical improvements.
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Full Report
PDF · email delivery · lifetime access
39.90
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Incl. 21% VAT
39.90
Already purchased? Enter unlock code
VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle Payvia EveryPay
SEQ SIA
Reg. No. 40203410806 · VAT LV40203410806

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