The entire digitised BBC broadcast archive is now available to teachers, schools and students in formal education in the UK.
It includes millions of TV and radio programmes, including interviews and features with almost every major cultural, artistic, political and sporting figure of the last 100 years, as well as iconic dramas and landmark comedy programmes.
There are programmes to enhance the teaching of all school subjects, curriculum levels and age groups. These include CBeebies, CBBC and BBC Education programmes; the entire Sir David Attenborough archive; hundreds of episodes of the landmark science series Horizon; classic dramas including the Play For Today collection from the 1970s and 80s, and the entire BBC Shakespeare collection.
Unsure what to request? Check out the BBC’s Programme Index, which lists every programme the BBC has ever broadcast, for inspiration.
How to access the archive
This archive of complete programmes is being made available via our partners Learning on Screen, Planet eStream and ClickView. In order to access this archive, the school will need to hold a subscription to one of these partners’ services. Alternatively, your school can access clips for free via ERA’s new video streaming platform (see below for more details).
Please check with your school's IT co-ordinator or resources manager to see if your school already subscribes to one of these services.
If your school already subscribes to Learning on Screen, Planet eStream or ClickView then you will already have access to this expanded pot of TV and radio programmes.
If your school does not currently subscribe to one of these services, the school can purchase a paid for subscription. More details about how to purchase a subscription can be found by visiting the partners’ websites:
Any school with an Educational Recording Agency (ERA) licence will be able to request through their established education service providers any programme they want. The vast majority of primary and secondary schools and universities in the UK have an ERA licence which enables schools to make educational use of recordings of TV and radio broadcasts. For more information about the ERA licence, click or tap here to visit their website
Only educational establishments are able to take out an ERA licence and so it’s not possible for home educators to access this content.
ERA’s new video streaming platform
ERA have launched a free to access video clip streaming service for schools. Discover thousands of specially curated BBC TV and radio clips for your subject, including streamed content and links to external streaming platforms.
There are clips for all major school subjects, exam boards and levels with accompanying suggestions for use. You can even request clips that you would like to see made available on the ERA streaming platform.
To access this platform, you can sign in with your ERA log in details or register for access here.
If you need to request your ERA log in details, please e-mail [email protected].
If you have any questions please email [email protected].
