TECH-SAVVY girls are being sought by spy chiefs on their hunt to find the cyber security women of the future.

Schoolgirls who fancy themselves as the next Jane Bond, are being challenged to hone their spy-like cyber skills and enter the National Cyber Security Centre’s codebreaking contest by bosses at GCHQ.

Smashing through the head-scratching 2017 challenges, Oxford High School and The Cooper School in Bicester both finished in the top 100 schools last year out of about 2,000 entries and will both be entering teams again this time around.

Oxford High School assistant headteacher, James Watts, said: “Last year in the initial round an OHS team finished forth and qualified for the final, which was held in Lancaster House in London.

“They spent the day following a trail of clues and puzzles hidden around the internet, and had to present their findings to a panel at end of the day.

“Overall they came third in the country out of more than 2000 team entries.”

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of intelligence agency GCHQ, opened contest entries this week and will hold the first round from Monday, January 29.

After a week of combating codes and solving computer brainteasers, thousands of schoolchildren will be whittled down to the top 10 teams for the finals.

Mr Watts added: “This year the competition is open to girls in Year 8.

“Last year’s challenges were highly engaging and I’m told the organisers are particularly excited about this year’s final challenge.”

The Cooper School in Bicester, which also performed well in last year’s contest, placing 38th, will step up to the coding challenge again.

The school has already got four teams signed up and hoping to show off their skills.

The inaugural competition last year saw 8,000 girls take part in decrypting a series of specially-created logic boxes and regex crosswords.

The contest is held to encourage more women to delve into the world of cyber security, as there is a global shortage of females in the industry.

GCHQ director, Jeremy Fleming, said: “I hope many girls from Oxfordshire will be inspired to enter – and perhaps take the prize.

“GCHQ is committed to protecting the digital homeland and making the UK the safest place to live online.

"We need the best and brightest people with a passion for technology,."

To enter visit cyberfirst.ncsc.gov.uk/girlscompetition