Frequently asked questions

Teacher's Notes are available online via the website for most series. The Notes are free of charge and are simple to print or download as pdf files.

The Notes are published to coincide with the transmission of programmes. So Notes to support Autumn term programmes will be available from September, etc.

The publications to support most of our Music series are now offered online free of any charge and cannot be ordered.

The words and music for all of the songs included in the programmes are available in the main Teacher's Notes document. Simply print out the songs and distribute them among the class – or display the words using an IWB.

In some cases publications may still be available to order from BBC Active. Where this is so you will find information on how to order on the individual programme pages.

School Radio 'podcasts' offer the programmes from most series for you to download to your computer in mp3 file format. It's a convenient way to use your computer to acquire the programmes for playback either directly from your computer or from the mp3 player of your choice – e.g. an iPod.

Using the podcast service is very simple and allows you to acquire the programmes for use in perpetuity – without the need to complete the order form or cover the cost of the pre-recorded CDs.

Podcasts are currently available for 30 days after transmission and because you can 'subscribe' to the podcast you need never worry about missing an episode because your computer will search for an update automatically.

Information about which School Radio series can be downloaded this way is available from the Podcasts page. Please note that due to rights restrictions we are not able to podcast all programmes.

More detailed information about podcasts from the BBC is available here.

The key difference is that 'podcasts' are only available to download for 30 days following transmission. However, the programmes we are able to offer from the 'Downloads' section of the website are available at any time.

The programmes available for download is a smaller body of content, currently restricted to our dance series, though this will expand to include other subject areas. Programmes available for download are searchable by the the year of transmission.

Unfortunately the only content we are currently able to make available for download at any time is that which can be found in the 'Downloads' section.

Although we intend to expand the body of content made available this way it does not currently include any of the World War 2 Clips.

Due to rights restrictions we are currently only able to make pre-recorded CDs of programmes available to UK schools and academic institutions.

However, the podcast and the 'listen again' services offered by this website are available to anyone in the UK without restriction. Please also note that we are only able to make programmes available on pre-recorded CD during the academic year in which the programmes are transmitted.

The pre-recorded CDs are available at cost price – currently £5.99 (EX VAT).

Details of our programmes are published in the BBC School Radio Guide which is sent to all UK primary schools during the preceding summer term. You can download or print a copy of the Guide by going to the Order page.

In the 2010 – 2011 year the Autumn term programmes will be available for despatch by the end of the preceding Summer term. Your order will need to include the cost of postage for each mailing (terms and conditions apply – please see the current Order form for full details).

The situation is the same as that for old programmes - we have no stock of archive resources.

All materials that are currently available to support programmes can be found by searching the programme pages of the website.

Most programmes from School Radio are available as 'podcasts'. This means they are available to download in mp3 format, currently for 30 days following transmission. Acquiring the programmes in this way is simple. To check out which series are available as podcasts go to the Podcasts page.

Due to rights restrictions we are not able to offer all programmes or short-form audio as downloadable files. For this reason the listen again service and various clip collections on the site offer 'streaming' files.

We will do everything we can to assist you. However, queries regarding ordering or despatch are best handled by our distribution service. For contact details please refer to the Order page.

We will do whatever we can to help but...

Due to rights restrictions we are only able to make available CDs of programmes during the academic year in which they are broadcast. Nor are we able to maintain an archive of old programmes.

However, if a favourite programme is repeated (which often happens within the first 3 years after original transmission) it will be available via the order form once more.

It is extremely unlikely that any copies for programmes over 5 years old will be available. In these instances you will have to beg, borrow or steal from other colleagues or schools!