A pupil at Greenfield Community College in Newton Aycliffe, which is partnered with Sunnydale Academy in Shildon, has managed to infiltrate school security systems and leak the personal data of other students at the school.

The data breach, which includes information about students’ dates of birth, addresses and whether they receive school meals has shocked parents who blame the school for not password-protecting their system maintenance file.

The pupil downloaded the personal information on his memory stick and shared it with fellow pupils.

“As soon as we became aware of the issue, we took immediate action to delete the information from the devices it was stored on and we are satisfied that it was not shared more widely,” assured executive headteacher of the school, David Priestley.

One parent, whose child recently graduated from the college, said she wasn’t reassured by the executive headmaster’s comments: “We only have the school’s word this information hasn’t been spread any further and with the internet and social media, who knows where it could end up?”

Another parent added, “How can a file like that not have been password protected?”