Cookie Policy

1. What a cookie is

A cookie is a small text file that a website asks your browser to store on your device. When you come back, the browser sends the file back to the site, which is how a website can remember, for example, that you already dismissed a banner or that you are part-way through an order. Cookies cannot read your hard drive, cannot install software and cannot see other tabs.

Alongside cookies, websites use similar technologies such as local storage, session storage and pixel tags. Where this policy says "cookies", it means all of those technologies unless we say otherwise.

2. Why this website uses them

We use cookies for three reasons and no others: to make the site work, to remember choices you have made, and to understand in aggregate how the site is used so we can improve it. We do not use cookies to build an advertising profile of you, we do not run behavioural advertising, and we do not allow third parties to use cookies on this site to track you across the rest of the internet.

3. Categories of cookie we use

Strictly necessary cookies

These make the website function. They keep your session alive as you move between pages, remember what is in an order, protect forms against cross-site request forgery, balance traffic across servers, and keep the site secure. They are set by the commerce and hosting infrastructure that runs this site. You cannot switch these off through our site, because without them the site does not work. Most are session cookies, deleted when you close the browser; a small number persist for up to twelve months for security and load-balancing.

Preference and functionality cookies

These remember choices you have made so you are not asked twice. Examples include your cookie consent decision itself, your language or region preference, and whether you have dismissed a notice. They are not necessary for the site to load, but without them the site forgets you between visits. These typically last between six and twelve months.

Analytics and performance cookies

These tell us, in aggregate, which pages are read, how long people stay, which links get clicked, where the site is slow and where visitors leave. We use this to fix the site, not to identify you. The data is reported to us as numbers and trends, not as a profile with your name on it. These cookies are only set where you have accepted them, and they typically last up to twenty-four months.

Advertising and tracking cookies

We do not use them. There is no advertising network on this site, no retargeting pixel and no cross-site tracking cookie. If that ever changes, this policy will be updated before the change goes live and consent will be requested.

4. Third-party cookies

Some cookies are set by providers we rely on rather than by us directly. In practice these are the commerce platform that hosts the website, the payment processor that handles the checkout and, where you have accepted analytics, the analytics provider. Those providers set cookies under their own policies. We do not control the content of their cookies, and we do not receive personal information from them beyond what is described in our Privacy Policy.

5. How long cookies last

A session cookie lasts until you close your browser. A persistent cookie stays until it expires or until you delete it. The practical lifetimes on this site are: session cookies for the duration of your visit; security and load-balancing cookies for up to twelve months; preference cookies for six to twelve months; and analytics cookies for up to twenty-four months.

6. How to control cookies

You have two levels of control.

Through the consent notice on this site. Where a consent banner is shown, you can accept or reject the non-essential categories. Your choice is stored in a preference cookie, which is why rejecting everything and then clearing your browser data will bring the banner back.

Through your browser. Every major browser lets you view the cookies stored on your device, delete them individually or in bulk, block cookies from specific sites, block all third-party cookies, or refuse cookies entirely. The controls are usually found under a privacy, security or site-settings menu. Mobile browsers have the same controls, generally under settings rather than a menu bar. Browsers change their menus regularly, so we describe where to look rather than promising an exact path.

7. What happens if you disable cookies

Blocking strictly necessary cookies will break the site: pages may fail to load, forms may not submit, and an order may not complete. Blocking preference cookies means the site will forget your choices, including your cookie choices, and will ask again on every visit. Blocking analytics cookies has no effect on you at all — the site works exactly the same, we simply have less information about how it is performing.

8. Local storage and session storage

The website uses browser storage for small pieces of state, such as remembering that a modal has been opened during your visit. This data stays on your device and is not transmitted to us as personal information. Clearing your browser storage removes it.

9. Cookies in delivered materials

Digital learning materials, plans and content projects are supplied as files. Files do not set cookies. Nothing we deliver to you tracks you after delivery.

10. Changes to this policy

We update this policy when the cookies on the site change or when the law changes. The date at the top of the page tells you which version is in force. Where a change introduces a new category of cookie, we will ask for consent before it is set.

11. Contact

If you have a question about cookies on this website, or you think we are setting something we have not described, tell us using the details below, which are provided as plain text.