Smoothwall buys Securus to boost UK school safeguarding reach

What's the deal? Leeds-based SmoothwallDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a safeguarding technology provider for the UK education system, has acquired Securus SoftwareDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → for an undisclosed sum. The deal brings together two established names in school safeguarding technology.

What each does: Securus offers human-moderated digital monitoring, while Smoothwall provides broader filtering and safeguarding tools. Their services overlap in monitoring students' online activity.

What's the endgame? Smoothwall says it already serves 13,000 UK schools and 6.5 million students. Adding Securus's expertise could extend its reach in a market where scale increasingly matters.

Why now? England's updated KCSIE 2026 guidance sharpens expectations for schools to review their filtering and monitoring systems. That comes amid rising concern about harmful online content, including AI-generated material.

What could go wrong? The companies disclosed no price and gave no detail on how the two products will be integrated, leaving open questions for existing customers.

The signal: The deal consolidates two long-established UK school-safeguarding providers as regulatory pressure mounts. As one message from the company put it, "Tackling online harm demands scale."

Read more: yorkshirepost.co.uk

Image credit: IICD