2026

Scenario Theme: Electricity Grid

The 2026 UK Cyber Leaders Challenge centred around a (fictional) series of malicious activity within the UK's electricity grid. This was coupled with escalating geo-political tensions resulting from the UK's support for Ukraine.

Initially, teams supported regional government to prepare for possible power disruptions caused by an ongoing cyber incident & upcoming thunderstorms.

As the fictional geopolitical tensions escalated, wider compromise was discovered across UK electricity infrastructure. With multiple simultaneous risks, teams were challenged to identify & communicate the highest priority response actions.

The scenario explored how highly-targeted foreign cyber activity can be utilised as part of the wider geopolitical landscape.

2026 UK CLC Champions from Middlesex University & Northumbria University

Applications.

In the 2026 UK Cyber Leaders Challenge, 114 teams representing 72 universities from across the UK were selected to compete in the three hybrid Regional Qualifiers.

We are committed to creating an inclusive cyber industry. To this end, here are a few statistics from our 2026 DEI Report:

36% of competitors identify as female;
47% of competitors are from a minority ethnicity;
17% of competitors are neurodivergent.

All of these are above the UK cyber industry averages (DSIT).

Regional Qualifiers.

Scenario Stage 1 was released to teams in January. Across several artefacts, it described a potential power outage risk for a UK region.

Teams were tasked with advising regional government on how to respond to this cyber incident & prepare for potential disruption. They presented their Briefing to a panel of expert judges, consisting of cyber professionals from across government & industry.

From three hybrid events taking place in Gloucester, Edinburgh & Manchester, the top 17 teams progressed to the National Finals.

Meet the National Finalists.

South-West Regional Qualifier

nullnv0id | University College London

Transformers | Aston University, The University of York, University of Birmingham

Warwick CyBears | University of Warwick

CyBeR_Pengu1nz | Coventry University

404 Brain Not Found | Cardiff University, Cranfield University, University of South Wales

UK Cyber Leaders Challenge regional qualifier in Manchester

UK Cyber Leaders Challenge Scotland Regional Qualifier in Edinburgh

North-West Regional Qualifier

Cyberella | The University of Warwick

Cyberfox | The University of Law

MBK | Loughborough University

Phishin' Impossible | Middlesex University, Northumbria University

The Bee-Cryptors | The University of Manchester

University of Birmingham Cyber Sirens | University of Birmingham

Glaswegian Chip-monks | The University of Glasgow

Least-Privileged Users | Loughborough University

Networkin' it | Edinburgh Napier University, The University of Exeter, University of Edinburgh, University of Plymouth

PARK | University of the Highlands and Islands

QS3c | The Queen's University of Belfast, Ulster University

QSec Phishermen | The Queen's University of Belfast

Scotland Regional Qualifier

The National Finals.

Taking place over two days at the iconic BT Tower in London, finalist teams were tasked with responding to an escalation of the cyber incident affecting the UK electricity grid.

In three with with increasing time pressure, the teams were whittled down to crown the first UK Cyber Leaders Challenge champions.

The three finalist teams had just 15-minutes to analyse new updates to the scenario & formulate their 10-minute verbal Briefing before delivering it to a panel of VIP Judges.