Queen Mary University of London awarded Friendly WiFi certification standard

Focused on providing an unrivalled education journey, Queen Mary University of London is a world-leading research-intensive university with over 33,000 students representing more than 170 nationalities. A priority is to ensure that they provide the best IT platform and WiFi service to support their strategic goal of excellence in research, teaching and learning as well as providing connectivity to visitors.

The team recognised that in addition to providing a first-class IT platform for students and research, they wanted to create a seamless WiFi journey for visitors to their campuses, whilst being mindful of the welfare and wellbeing of users when accessing their new WiFi service. This commitment led to them applying to be Friendly WiFi certified, which they have now been awarded. This ensures that their new WiFi service for visitors filters out inappropriate content – creating a safe user experience and a comfortable and enjoyable browsing experience for all who visit their campuses.

The team at Queen Mary led the way in the higher education sector by proactively deciding to become Friendly WiFi certified. They worked with their provider (BT WiFi) and the team at Friendly WiFi to show their commitment to online safety and user wellbeing. They are the first university to be awarded this accreditation.

Launched by Government in 2013, the Friendly WiFi symbol tells customers those services are meeting agreed minimum filtering standards.

Bev Smith, Director from Friendly WiFi supported their decision: “I am truly thrilled to welcome Queen Mary University of London to the family of Friendly WiFi certified clients and venues. Although we work with many schools, to have the first University to join us is key to help drive more educational institutions to take a proactive approach to provide a safe online experience. I applaud Queen Mary University of London in becoming certified and demonstrating their commitment.”

Rachel Bence, CIO from Queen Mary University of London added: “The safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and all those who use our internet service is fundamental. We are devoted to the many aspects of cyber security and gaining the Friendly WiFi certification is part of that journey. We are proud to see the Friendly WiFi symbol associated with our WiFi as it immediately denotes the safe, high-quality service we take pride in offering our students, staff and visitors."

About Friendly WiFi

Friendly WiFi – providing a certification standard for Public WiFi networks, to identify public places in areas such as Transport, Retail, Hospitality, Leisure and Education, who are providing safe filtered WiFi. Initiated by the UK Government with support from the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) and managed by the RDI trade organisation, the certification means that children, parents and guardians can look for the Friendly WiFi symbol to be sure that the public WiFi network is tested and verified on an annual basis to make sure pornographic and child abuse websites are blocked.

For more information on the Friendly WiFi certification for the education sector, click here

About Queen Mary

Queen Mary University of London is a world-leading research-intensive university with over 33,000 students representing more than 170 nationalities. We open the doors of opportunity to anyone with the potential to succeed – and were ranked as the country’s top university for social mobility.

A member of the prestigious Russell Group, we work across the humanities and social sciences, medicine and dentistry, and science and engineering, with inspirational teaching directly informed by our research.

In the most recent Research Excellence Framework, we were ranked joint 7th in the UK for the quality of our research, with 92% of it being assessed as internationally excellent or world-leading. We were also the first UK university to receive the Platinum Watermark from the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement in 2021.

Queen Mary has a proud and distinctive history built on four historic institutions stretching back to 1785 and beyond. Common to each of these institutions – the London Hospital Medical College, St Bartholomew’s Medical College, Westfield College and Queen Mary College – was the vision to provide hope and opportunity for the less privileged or otherwise under-represented.