Code-cracking schoolgirls were praised by judges in the UK final of a cyber security competition.

The girls from Henrietta Barnett School, Hampstead, beat out 8,000 pupils to qualify in the final of the CyberFast Girls competition where they had a series of code-breaking challenges.

The competition was organised by the National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, and took place at Lancaster House on Monday, 27th March.

Student Jess Ebner-Statt said: “We really enjoyed it – it was more fun than hard work.

“None of us had any knowledge of cyber security before but we really enjoyed it.”

CyberFast Girls was created to raise awareness of careers in cyber security amongst girls, as only 10 percent of those in this field globally are female.

Judges included Inspiring Girls International founder Miriam González and CEO of TalkTalk Dido Harding, who also helped the girls decipher clues about a fictional website hacking.

Ms González said: “I was truly impressed by the talent of the girls who have taken part of the competition and I do hope that many of them pursue a career in the technology field.”

The National Cyber Security Centre was opened in February 2017 by The Queen and manages national cyber security incidents as a single centre.