A1.12: Have you spoken to an NCSC-assured Cyber Advisor?
Have you spoken to an assured NCSC Cyber Advisor to help with your application?
Source: IASME Cyber Essentials Danzell question set v16.3
A1.12 records whether you have spoken to an NCSC-assured Cyber Advisor, a person assured to give advice on implementing Cyber Essentials. There is no right or wrong answer: Yes and No are both acceptable and neither affects the result. Answer Yes only if the person holds the NCSC Cyber Advisor assurance, not just any consultant or IT provider.
Is A1.12 an automatic fail?
No. A1.12 records information about your organisation and is not marked against a technical requirement, so no answer to it fails the assessment. Inaccurate or contradictory details may be returned by the assessor for correction.
- Answer type
- Yes/No a Yes/No question
- IASME guidance
- This is a person assured by NCSC as a Cyber Essentials Cyber Advisor to provide advice on how to implement Cyber Essentials.
- Requirement enforced
- Section A1 collects the details that appear on the certificate and shape which later questions are shown.
- Outcome if non-compliant
- Not marked against a requirement; inaccurate details may be returned for correction
What does A1.12 ask?
A1.12 asks: “Have you spoken to an assured NCSC Cyber Advisor to help with your application?”
A1.12 asks whether you have spoken to an assured NCSC Cyber Advisor to help with your application. The guidance defines this as a person assured by the NCSC as a Cyber Essentials Cyber Advisor to provide advice on how to implement Cyber Essentials.
Cyber Advisors help organisations put the five controls in place before they apply. Their role is advice and implementation; the assessment itself is marked by an assessor at a Certification Body. See the glossary entry for Cyber Advisor and, if you want an expert review of your answers before you submit, a gap analysis.
How should you answer A1.12?
A1.12 has no single compliant answer. Answer it accurately for your organisation today; this is what each answer means.
- Answer Yes if you have had advice on your application from a person assured under the NCSC Cyber Advisor scheme.
- Answer No if you have not, or if your adviser is an IT provider or consultant without that assurance.
- Either answer is acceptable; A1.12 is not marked against a requirement.
What mistakes do applicants make with A1.12?
A common mistake with A1.12: answering Yes because the MSP helped, when nobody involved holds the Cyber Advisor assurance.
- Assuming a No counts against you; it does not.
- Confusing a Cyber Advisor with the assessor at the Certification Body.
- Expecting a Cyber Advisor to complete and sign the application for you; the attestation must be made by your own board-level person.
How do you get A1.12 right?
Work through these steps before you enter A1.12 in the portal:
- Answer Yes only if your adviser holds the NCSC Cyber Advisor assurance; otherwise answer No.
- Either answer is acceptable, so do not change your approach to the assessment because of it.
How do assessors check A1.12?
Where to go next
- Cyber AdvisorGlossary
- Gap analysisAn assessor review before you submit
- How to get certifiedThe application, step by step
- What Cyber Essentials costsIASME fee bands and assessor prices
- All A1 questionsYour organisation
- Cyber Essentials checklistThe evidence to gather for every question
- Check your readinessScore your answers, auto-fails first
Other A1 questions
- A1.10.5A1.10.5NotesWhat are the reasons you have applied for the certification which you described as "other"?Notes
- A1.11A1.11Yes/NoHave you read the 'Cyber Essentials Requirements for IT Infrastructure' document?Yes/No
- A1.13A1.13Yes/NoCan IASME and their expert partners contact you if you experience a cyber breach?Yes/No
- A1.14A1.14Multiple choiceWhere did you hear about Cyber Essentials?Multiple choice
Frequently asked questions
A1.12 in the 2026 Danzell Cyber Essentials question set asks: "Have you spoken to an assured NCSC Cyber Advisor to help with your application?" It is a Yes/No question.
A1.12 records whether you have spoken to an NCSC-assured Cyber Advisor, a person assured to give advice on implementing Cyber Essentials. There is no right or wrong answer: Yes and No are both acceptable and neither affects the result. Answer Yes only if the person holds the NCSC Cyber Advisor assurance, not just any consultant or IT provider.
No. A1.12 records information about your organisation and is not marked against a technical requirement, so no answer to it fails the assessment. Inaccurate or contradictory details may be returned by the assessor for correction.
No. A1.12 only records whether you have spoken to one. Many organisations self-assess without one.
A Cyber Advisor is assured by the NCSC to advise on implementing the controls. An assessor works for a Certification Body and marks your submission. They are separate roles.
Would you pass the 2026 question set?
Answer 24 yes or no questions, built by the assessors who mark Cyber Essentials, and get a readiness score in about five minutes, with any auto-fail questions you miss flagged first in your results.
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