Security Update – PHP Vulnerability

We are aware of the recent critical PHP security vulnerabilities highlighted by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) on 21st October 2026.

We would like to reassure customers that our main platforms, 4Matrix Cloud and 4Matrix Fusion, do not use PHP and are therefore not directly affected by these vulnerabilities.

PHP is used within some of our supporting systems, including our customer support ticketing and billing systems. Our desktop application also communicates with our sales system for licence verification. These systems do not store customers' payment details or sensitive information as part of the licence verification process.

We have been in contact with our hosting provider, Krystal, who has confirmed that the necessary security fixes have been applied to address the reported vulnerabilities.

No action is required from our customers in relation to this advisory.

We take the security of our systems and customer information seriously and will continue to monitor security developments and work with our hosting provider to maintain appropriate protections.

Subject not showing in KS5 Value Added tool

The KS5 VA tool will include A level, Academic and Applied subjects only.

Vocational subjects and subjects that do not contribute to performance measures will not appear on this display.

If you are working with a subject which you believe should be showing on this display, it may be that there is no previous national data for the subject (if it's a brand new qualification type). The Value Added tool uses the data from the most recent DfE Ready Reckoner, and so if the qualification is not included here, then it will not have any VA data in 4Matrix either.

The other reason may be to do with the national subject code in 4Matrix, as in some rare cases, this may not match the code which was included in the Ready Reckoner. A quick fix for this is to change the KS5 VA Subject value in Admin > Edit Qualifications using the table in the bottom right of the display, but this should be carried out with caution. If you need further information in relation to this then please contact us.