Free Resources
Searching for free resources
If you know which free resource you want you can use the main site search to find free resources. The search will automatically display results for books or software that you can buy but simply click on the ‘Free resources’ tab to see search results for free resources.
Search tips
- To find your free resource, try searching for the name of the book or software that the free resource goes with to narrow the search, so instead of answers try looking for New GCSE Maths Edexcel answers
- You could also just look for the book or software first - so for example just search for Cirque du Freak - and then you will be given the option to filter your results by type of free resource (lesson plans, answers etc) so it might be better to search for the book title first and then filter the results by the type once you have these
Browsing for free resources
- From the home page, use the drop down menu in the Free Resources box to select free resources for Primary or Secondary schools, you can then narrow down by subject area using the left hand menu.
- From a subject page, such as Literacy or English, select the 'Free resources for…' button in the centre of the screen to view a list of all downloads for that subject, narrowing your choice by using the left hand menu.
- From a series page, such as New Maths Frameworking, or product page such as Collins Big Cat: Cat and Dog, select the free resources box under the image.
You can then choose to see different types of free resources, so for example if you just want to see ‘Answers’ you can filter by ‘Answers’ at the top of the page, once you are within a subject, area or series.
Downloading resources
When you have found a resource you want, click on the ‘Download’ button to open or save it to your computer. Please make sure that pop-ups are enabled in your internet browser, otherwise the downloads won't open.
Common File Types
- PDF: Portable Document Format.
To open these files, all you need is the free PDF reader from Adobe Acrobat. Visit their website and follow their instructions on how to install. If the file fails to open, the most common solution is to upgrade your copy of Acrobat Reader.
This document can be opened in Microsoft Word, which is a common word processing programme supplied with many computers. If you have problems opening a Word file, it is likely that your version of Word is older than the version used to create the file. To view the file, you may need to update your version of Word.
This is an audio file, which has to be opened with a media player such as Windows Media Player or iTunes.