Cyber Essentials Certification

Certified secure.
Certified credible.

Cyber Essentials is the UK government-backed cyber security certification that demonstrates your organisation has the fundamental controls in place to defend against common cyber threats. We guide you from gap analysis to certification.

Start your certification Cyber security services
Gov UK government backed
CE+ Cyber Essentials and Plus available
80% Of common attacks prevented
100% Guided support throughout

What we cover

Everything you need
from gap to certification

We manage the entire Cyber Essentials process: assessing your current controls, remediating gaps, and submitting your certification application.

  • 01

    Gap Analysis

    We assess your organisation against all five Cyber Essentials controls (firewalls, secure configuration, access control, malware protection, and patch management) and produce a clear report of what needs addressing before certification.

    • Assessment against all 5 controls
    • Risk-prioritised findings
    • Clear remediation recommendations
    • Pre-certification confidence
  • 02

    Remediation Support

    We don't just identify gaps. We fix them. Our engineers implement the required controls across your environment, whether that's configuring firewalls, enforcing MFA, patching systems, or securing device configurations.

    • Technical control implementation
    • Firewall and boundary configuration
    • MFA and access control setup
    • Patch management remediation
  • 03

    Certification Submission

    We guide you through the self-assessment questionnaire (or independent assessment for Cyber Essentials Plus), review your answers for accuracy, and submit your application. We handle the process so you don't have to interpret the guidance yourself.

    • Questionnaire guidance and review
    • Application preparation and submission
    • Assessor liaison
    • Certificate management
  • 04

    Annual Renewal Management

    Cyber Essentials certification is valid for one year. We proactively manage your renewal, assessing any changes to your environment, confirming controls are still in place, and submitting renewal applications before your certificate lapses.

    • Proactive renewal management
    • Annual control re-assessment
    • Change impact assessment
    • Lapse prevention

Cyber Essentials vs Cyber Essentials Plus

Choose the right level of certification

Cyber Essentials is a self-assessment certification: you answer questions about your controls, which are reviewed and verified by an approved assessor. Cyber Essentials Plus includes independent technical testing by a qualified assessor who actually tests your systems. Cyber Essentials Plus carries more weight with government procurement teams and cyber insurance underwriters.

  • Cyber Essentials: self-assessment, faster and lower cost
  • Cyber Essentials Plus: independent technical verification
  • Often required for government contracts
  • Both valid for 12 months from certification date
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80%
Of common cyberattacks prevented by Cyber Essentials controls

Certification Beyond Compliance

Security improvement, not just a checkbox

Cyber Essentials is often pursued for compliance reasons, such as government contracts, insurance requirements, or client demands. But the five controls it requires genuinely improve your security posture. Research from NCSC shows that organisations with Cyber Essentials controls in place prevent around 80% of common cyberattacks.

  • Demonstrable security improvement
  • Reduced cyber insurance premiums
  • Competitive advantage in procurement
  • Foundation for further security maturity
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30%
Average reduction in cyber insurance premiums post-certification

Why choose A4S?

Cyber Essentials certification
handled from start to finish

Many organisations attempt Cyber Essentials independently and fail, or get certified without actually being secure. We ensure you achieve certification with controls that genuinely protect your business.

  • Full support from gap analysis to certificate
  • Technical remediation by our engineers
  • Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus both available
Talk to us today
  • We do the technical work Rather than just advising, we implement the required controls. If your firewall isn't configured correctly, we fix it. If MFA isn't in place, we deploy it.
  • No certification failures We only submit applications when we're confident you'll pass. Our gap analysis and remediation process ensures your controls are in place before any assessment.
  • Annual renewal managed for you We track your renewal date and proactively manage the process each year, so your certification never lapses without you knowing.

Frequently asked

Questions we
hear all the time

Cyber Essentials is a UK government-backed cyber security certification scheme that verifies an organisation has fundamental security controls in place to defend against common cyber threats. The five controls cover: boundary firewalls, secure configuration, access control, malware protection, and patch management.

Cyber Essentials is mandatory for organisations bidding on UK government contracts that involve handling personal data or providing certain IT products and services. It's also increasingly required by enterprise procurement teams and some cyber insurance providers.

Cyber Essentials is a self-assessment certification reviewed by an approved assessor. Cyber Essentials Plus includes independent technical testing by a qualified assessor, who actually verifies your controls through vulnerability scans and configuration checks. Cyber Essentials Plus carries more credibility and is required for some government procurement categories.

With our support, most organisations achieve Cyber Essentials within 4–8 weeks from initial gap analysis to receiving their certificate. The timeline depends on the number of gaps identified and how quickly remediation can be completed. CE Plus typically takes an additional 2–4 weeks.

Yes. Cyber Essentials certification is valid for 12 months. Annual renewal requires re-assessment against the controls to confirm they're still in place. We proactively manage renewals for all our certified clients.

Insights & resources

Further reading

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Ready to achieve Cyber Essentials certification?

Let's get you
certified and secure

We'll start with a gap analysis, tell you exactly what needs to change, implement the controls, and guide you through to certification. Get in touch to get started.

+44 1491 712 344 [email protected]

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