Plain English · 30 terms
Glossary of education networking terms
The words you’ll meet in tenders, supplier proposals and Jisc documents, explained briefly — with a link to the guide that goes further.
B
- Backup line
A second internet connection that takes over if the first fails. The DfE standard for schools and colleges in England asks for connections of different service types, with automatic failover.
Read more: Resilience: backup lines, failover and power
C
- Category 1, 2 and 3
The three kinds of organisation in the Janet connection policy. Universities and FE colleges are Category 1; Category 2 connect mainly to sell services to others on Janet; Category 3 is everyone else allowed to connect, such as schools, museums and charities.
Read more: Who can connect to Janet: the connection policy explained
- Critical services protection
An optional Jisc DDoS service that protects an organisation’s DNS, website and VPN.
Read more: DDoS protection and Jisc’s CSIRT
- CSIRT
Computer security incident response team. Jisc’s CSIRT is included with Janet and Jisc membership: it coordinates incidents, monitors and mitigates denial-of-service attacks, and sends vulnerability alerts.
Read more: DDoS protection and Jisc’s CSIRT
- CTIRU
The Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit. The DfE filtering standard says its blocklist must be implemented and must not be overridable by anyone, including administrators.
Read more: Filtering and monitoring in colleges and training providers
- Cyber Essentials
A government-backed cyber security certification. The DfE cyber security standard says colleges in England must hold it under their funding agreement.
Read more: Cyber security for colleges and universities
D
- Dark fibre
Unlit fibre that the customer lights with its own equipment. It is lot 2 of the Jisc telecommunications framework.
Read more: Buying connectivity and network services through frameworks
- DDoS
Distributed denial of service: an attack that floods a network or service with traffic to knock it offline. Every Janet-connected organisation gets Jisc’s Foundation DDoS mitigation.
Read more: DDoS protection and Jisc’s CSIRT
E
- eduroam
The worldwide roaming Wi-Fi service for education: one Wi-Fi profile and one set of credentials that work at every participating organisation.
Read more: eduroam and govroam: roaming Wi-Fi for education and the public sector
- EVAc
Emergency Voice and Access Continuity — the Openreach service that lines not moved to digital in time may be switched to.
Read more: The phone line switch-off: what colleges and universities need to check
F
- Foundation DDoS mitigation
Jisc’s DDoS protection, provided automatically to every Janet-connected organisation. Suspicious traffic is re-routed through a “scrubbing centre”. “Foundation plus” adds 24/7 protection.
Read more: DDoS protection and Jisc’s CSIRT
G
- GCA
The Government Commercial Agency — the new name, from 1 April 2026, for the Crown Commercial Service (CCS). It runs public sector frameworks such as Network Services 3.
Read more: Buying connectivity and network services through frameworks
- govroam
A roaming Wi-Fi service for public sector staff. It is included “visited only” in Jisc FE and HE membership.
Read more: eduroam and govroam: roaming Wi-Fi for education and the public sector
I
- ITP
Independent training provider — including many apprenticeship providers. KCSIE counts ITPs as “colleges” for learners under 18.
Read more: Which standards apply to colleges, universities and training providers?
- IWF
The Internet Watch Foundation. The DfE filtering standard says its blocklist must be implemented, and that a filtering provider should be an IWF member.
Read more: Filtering and monitoring in colleges and training providers
J
- Janet
The UK’s national research and education network, run by Jisc. Universities and colleges use it to reach the internet and each other.
Read more: What is Janet, and what does a Janet IP connection include?
- Janet IP connection
Jisc’s internet connectivity service over Janet, with DDoS mitigation, CSIRT support, DNS protection and IP addresses packaged in.
Read more: What is Janet, and what does a Janet IP connection include?
- Jisc
The UK digital, data and technology agency for tertiary education and research. It runs Janet and offers membership to colleges and universities.
Read more: Jisc membership for colleges and universities: what it costs and what’s included
K
- KCSIE
Keeping children safe in education — statutory guidance in England. The 2026 edition, in force from 1 September 2026, covers colleges, 16–19 academies, special post-16 institutions and independent training providers for under-18s.
Read more: Filtering and monitoring in colleges and training providers
M
- Managed router service
A Jisc service in which Jisc fully manages the router that connects a site to Janet. It is included in FE and HE membership.
Read more: What is Janet, and what does a Janet IP connection include?
- Medr
The Commission for Tertiary Education and Research in Wales, operational since 1 August 2024. It took over from HEFCW.
Read more: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
N
- NREN
National research and education network. Janet is the UK’s.
Read more: What is Janet, and what does a Janet IP connection include?
O
- OfS
The Office for Students, the regulator of higher education in England. We found no OfS requirement specific to connectivity or cyber security.
Read more: Which standards apply to colleges, universities and training providers?
P
- Partner organisation
An organisation given access to Janet through another organisation’s connection. Only Category 3 organisations can be partners, and the connected organisation becomes responsible for their compliance.
Read more: Who can connect to Janet: the connection policy explained
- PSBA
Public Sector Broadband Aggregation — the Welsh public sector network, operated by the Welsh Government and delivered by BT.
Read more: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- PSTN switch-off
The end of traditional copper phone lines. Openreach says all traditional lines go digital on 31 January 2027.
Read more: The phone line switch-off: what colleges and universities need to check
S
- SWAN
The Scottish Wide Area Network, a public sector network contract awarded to BT in 2023.
Read more: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
U
- UK5 notice
A procurement transparency notice. Jisc suggests members publish one for the membership fee where it is over the relevant threshold.
Read more: Jisc membership for colleges and universities: what it costs and what’s included
- UKUPC
UK Universities Purchasing Consortia — the collaboration of the regional university purchasing consortia (APUC, HEPCW, LUPC, NEUPC, NWUPC and SUPC).
Read more: Buying connectivity and network services through frameworks
W
- Wi-Fi 7
The 802.11be Wi-Fi standard. The DfE wireless standard asks for at least Wi-Fi 7 in schools and colleges in England (a 2030 target).
Read more: Campus networks: Wi-Fi and switching