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The demand for digital video in the classroom is dramatically growing across all disciplines- from arts & sciences, literature & world languages, history & economics and more. At BBC Learning, we’re helping to pioneer the new digital reality — a world in which textbooks and learning programs are enhanced and improved by digital media to stimulate learning.

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Learning English

Inspiring language learning since 1943.

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6 Minute English

Intermediate level.

Our long-running series of topical discussion and new vocabulary, brought to you by your favourite BBC Learning English presenters.

From the archives 

6 Minute English programmes from 2023 and before, are  here . 

All 6 Minute English programmes pre-September 2014 are  here .

Sexism: Female farmers fighting back

Episode 231228 / 28 dec 2023.

How can female farmers beat rural sexism?

Learning lessons from the Moon

Episode 231221 / 21 dec 2023.

What can the Moon tell us about Earth?

Can we live without plastic?

Episode 231214 / 14 dec 2023.

Do we even want to live without plastic?

Invasive species: Why don't we eat them?

Episode 231207 / 07 dec 2023.

Could we eat invasive species?

What and where is Little Italy?

Episode 231130 / 30 nov 2023.

Mozzarella, ricotta, cannolis and focaccia... Where are we? Little Italy of course!

Social media and teenage health

Episode 231123 / 23 nov 2023.

What are the health risks of social media for teenagers?

Mystery flying objects

Episode 231116 / 16 nov 2023.

Have you ever seen an alien?

Elephant-proof farming

Episode 231109 / 09 nov 2023.

How can you stop elephants eating your crops?

Should we farm octopus?

Episode 231102 / 02 nov 2023.

Is it OK to eat animals that can feel emotion?

Ways to live for 100 years

Episode 231026 / 26 oct 2023.

How do people live to 100?

How green is your money?

Episode 231019 / 19 oct 2023.

Do you know how your money is being invested?

Mushrooms: Medicine or myth?

Episode 231012 / 12 oct 2023.

Should we be using mushrooms as medicine?

Saving dead languages

Episode 231005 / 05 oct 2023.

How can dead languages be revived?

Sounds that make you want to scream

Episode 230928 / 28 sep 2023.

Are there any sounds you find upsetting?

How fans talk about their passions

Episode 230921 / 21 sep 2023.

What language do fans use?

Making male friends

Episode 230914 / 14 sep 2023.

Do men find it hard to make and keep friends?

Space-saving solar hacks

Episode 230907 / 07 sep 2023.

How can we find space for more solar panels?

The stories behind our names

Episode 230831 / 31 aug 2023.

What do our names reveal about our culture and family history?

Heatwaves: can we adapt?

Episode 230824 / 24 aug 2023.

Can we adapt to heatwaves?

Are you unhappy at work?

Episode 230817 / 17 aug 2023.

Does work leave you feeling bored and exhausted?

Do you have eco-anxiety?

Episode 230810 / 10 aug 2023.

What is eco-anxiety and do you have it?

Can you stop a disaster?

Episode 230803 / 03 aug 2023.

Can natural disasters be prevented?

The right way to say sorry

Episode 230727 / 27 jul 2023.

Different ways to say sorry.

Foraging for wild food

Episode 230720 / 04 jul 2023.

Do you pick the fruit you eat from trees?

Plants fighting pollution

Episode 230713 / 13 jul 2023.

Can plants clean up our mess?

Should we fear chatbots?

Episode 230706 / 06 jul 2023.

How human are chatbots?

Is it wrong to eat plants?

Episode 230629 / 29 jun 2023.

Should we treat plants with the same consideration we treat animals with?

Sonic seasoning

Episode 230622 / 14 jun 2023.

Does sound make food taste better?

The benefits of doing nothing

Episode 230615 / 15 jun 2023.

Would being lazy have a purpose in life?

The art of subtitling

Episode 230608 / 08 jun 2023.

Hear how subtitles can help bring TV and movies to life

Ecotourism: good or bad?

Episode 230601 / 01 jun 2023.

We discuss the growing popularity of ecotourism.

Can climate change cause more disease?

Episode 230525 / 25 may 2023.

With warming temperatures, mosquitos are now spreading to new areas, including Europe.

Food shortages

Episode 230518 / 18 may 2023.

Listen to an expert on the global food system.

Addicted to war

Episode 230511 / 11 may 2023.

BBC war correspondent Fergal Keane tells his story.

Ice and the origins of life on Earth

Episode 230504 / 04 may 2023.

We talk about an essential element for life to thrive.

Women in politics

Episode 230427 / 12 apr 2023.

We discuss some of the reasons why women make up only 26% of the world's politicians.

What's the point of museums?

Episode 230420 / 20 apr 2023.

We discuss the role of museums in the 21st century and the items taken from different countries.

How culture affects sadness

Episode 230413 / 11 apr 2023.

What ways do you think culture can influence sadness?

Would you eat a Kalette?

Episode 230406 / 06 apr 2023.

Hear about a new kind of vegetable making an entrance in British kitchens

Do you get jealous easily?

Episode 230330 / 06 mar 2023.

Let's talk about the ugly green-eyed monster

Episode 230323 / 23 Mar 2023

We discuss the role of crowds in modern life

Food and mood

Episode 230316 / 16 mar 2023.

We look at the link between what you eat and how you feel.

How to talk to a climate denier

Episode 230309 / 09 mar 2023.

The dos and don'ts of trying to discuss science with someone who doesn't believe in it

Losing your mother tongue

Episode 230302 / 02 mar 2023.

Hear the story of a woman who replaced her native Czech for English.

The health benefits of apples

Episode 230223 / 23 feb 2023.

Could 'an apple a day keep the doctor away'?

Why do we procrastinate?

Episode 230216 / 16 feb 2023.

Do you leave your work until the last minute?

Doomscrolling: Why do we do it?

Episode 230209 / 27 jan 2023.

What is doomscrolling and why are we attracted to bad news? Listen to find out!

Exercise for the lazy

Episode 230202 / 22 jan 2023.

What's the least amount of exercise you should do to stay healthy?

Can AI have a mind of its own?

Episode 230126 / 26 jan 2023.

Hear about the software engineer who became 'friends' with his computer

Climate change: Are there too many people?

Episode 230119 / 13 jan 2023.

Does the size of your carbon footprint depend on where in the world you were born? Listen to find out!

The hidden life of buffets

Episode 230112 / 12 jan 2023.

Neil and Sam discuss buffet meals and the history behind them.

Songwriting

Episode 230105 / 05 jan 2023.

Writing a memorable song isn't easy. So is there an art to good songwriting?

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BBC Bitesize - Exam Revision 4+

Flashcards, quizzes and guides, bbc media applications technologies limited.

• #34 in Education
• 4.5 • 3.7K Ratings

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Description.

Free flashcards, quizzes and more on the BBC Bitesize - Exam Revision app. Get ready for the GCSEs, TGAU, Nationals and Highers with maths, science, english, history and geography revision resources, plus many other subjects across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Bitesize app is suitable for students in years 10+/S4+, who are 14-16 years old. BBC Bitesize is used by over 1.5 million students per week. For more educational materials, including content for younger learners, visit the BBC Bitesize website at https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize KEY FEATURES - Bitesize flashcards summarise the key points of a topic using bullet points and labelled diagrams. Quiz flashcards help you to practise with multiple-choice questions. Video and audio flashcards feature lots of visual recaps and audio clips. - Revision guides explain key concepts to help you recap topics across all of your subjects. Most guides contain a ‘test’ section with multiple-choice quizzes. There are also sample exam questions for subjects like biology, chemistry, physics, English literature and English language. - Sign in with your free BBC account to set your subjects and exam board. It’s easy to save flashcards and revision guides for quick reference as you revise. - Available on iPhone and iPad. - The BBC Bitesize - Exam Revision app is completely free and there are no in-app purchases. RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY All BBC Bitesize revision guides, flashcards and quizzes are created by curriculum experts and designed to be exam board-specific. Our content is written by curriculum authors and checked by educational consultants to ensure it follows the National Curriculum and the appropriate exam boards. SIGN IN AND CHOOSE YOUR SUBJECTS: EXAM BOARDS: - England: AQA, Edexcel, Eduqas, OCR - Northern Ireland: CCEA - Wales: WJEC - Scotland: SQA LEVELS: - GCSE - TGAU - Welsh Baccalaureate (WBQ) - Highers - National 5 - National 4 - Àrd Ìre - Nàiseanta 5 - Nàiseanta 4 --- To give you the best experience, this app tracks your selected nation, language, subjects and exam specifications to provide you with customised revision content. The app uses technologies similar to performance cookies. The BBC uses these for internal purposes to analyse and improve the app and its content. You can choose to opt out of this from the in-app settings menu. We've made some important changes to our Privacy and Cookies Policy and we want you to know what this means for you and your data. Find out more at https://www.bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/your-data-matters. Find out about your privacy rights and the BBC’s Privacy and Cookies Policy at https://www.bbc.co.uk/privacy.

Version 4.5.6

We've been making improvements and fixing bugs.

Ratings and Reviews

3.7K Ratings

Utterly Brilliant…

I don’t normally leave reviews but this app is absolutely incredible provided you use it in the correct way; as a knowledge maintainer and perhaps booster. Learn your stuff (hopefully from your teacher but often) from the Bitesize website and use the app as a booster and together they make a wonderful learning aid, especially for people with busy lives who are often short of time. A more in depth quiz with questions a little more challenging (I.e. not multiple choice) would be nice in conjunction with the current quizzes, but there’s always room for improvement and all in all a great app.

Developer Response ,

Hi Louis, Thank you so much for this amazing feedback - it makes us happy to know you're such a massive fan of the app! We're always looking at ways to improve so we will definitely look into how we can make the quizzes a bit more challenging and varied - it's been on our list for a while! Thanks again! The Bitesize App Team

More detail

A Year 10 student here from a top grammar school ( not to brag hehe ). The only problem I have with the app is that there just isn’t enough detail when compared to the website itself. I downloaded the app to get a more enjoyable experience with a polished interface that couldn’t be created on a website, however I came to an unpleasant surprise when the lack of notes were there. I get it about the whole condense important stuff, but... especially for subjects like RS/RE you really need to pack in the points and drench them in quotes. Also, I don’t know if my school just does this, but we have a ‘themes’ paper, and that whole subject isn’t even on there. So... you know. My main issue is the detail, maybe just import all the info from the website to the app, people only download the app for the interface, that shouldn’t be a reason to cut down on imports quotes... and also add more questions in the quiz.

Hello, Thank you for your feedback. We are keen to keep improving our Bitesize app and its accessibility in order to make the content as useful as it can be, and user feedback helps us to achieve this. I will certainly hand your suggestion across to the development team who can take your comments into consideration when discussing future developments of the app. Unfortunately, I cannot put a timescale on this, but I hope that in the meantime you continue to use and enjoy our educational resources. Kind regards, Lizzie

Good app but can be glitchy

The app is good due to it having most of the subjects however I don’t seem to find a GCSE sociology section while looking Wales or English GCSE subjects in the app but is on the website . This isn’t as big of a deal but I do need it for some help on the go before I do tests and such . The app itself is good and is quite detailed however my loading screen glitches out a lot and I had to refill out my exam board and my subjects then it just does it again . I’ve re-downloaded it many times and it sometimes doesn’t work but it sometimes does . Depends weather it likes me that day or not lol . Anyway , good app for revision since there is quite a lot of detail in both flash cards and the whole textbooks type-esk and I’ll recommend it

Hi there! Thanks for your review. We’re sorry to hear that you’ve been experiencing glitches when using our app on your iPhone. We've found and fixed an issue at our end which we think caused this. Can we invite you to try again and let us know what happens? If you could also send us details of your device and version of iOS that would be incredibly helpful. Thanks. The Bitesize App Team

App Privacy

The developer, BBC Media Applications Technologies Limited , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

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The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

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The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:

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BBC to invest in AI to help transform its education services

Hopes investment to make Bitesize more personalised and interactive will attract future licence-fee payers

The BBC plans to use a multimillion investment to transform its educational offering and attract the licence-fee payers of the future, with the help of artificial intelligence.

After being heavily relied upon by desperate parents during the pandemic lockdowns, the BBC is to announce a new £6m investment in BBC Bitesize to make learning more personalised and interactive for students from primary school onwards. The money is part of an effort to lock in young users’ relationship with the public service broadcaster.

Helen Foulkes, the BBC’s head of education, said: “It’s a significant investment in BBC Bitesize to turn it from a really brilliant, trusted digital textbook, to a much more personalised learning platform. We’re taking our education service and making it fit for the digital age, so the learning adapts to the user.”

Marking 100 years since the broadcast of its first educational programme – an experimental schools radio programme heard only by Garnetbank school in Glasgow in February 1924 – there will be a special Live Lesson on CBBC and BBC iPlayer on Monday, giving young viewers tips on how to produce their own report for the channel’s Hacker T Dog radio show. Foulkes said the move would build on the BBC’s trusted educational brand. “When you use the BBC you know it’s safe, you know it’s trusted, you know it’s right and that does help as a parent,” she said.

But in an acknowledgement that the BBC is in danger of being left behind by more fleet-footed digital content providers, the home of Newsround and the magic pencil is taking a leaf out of the book of AI-powered learning tools such as Duolingo to better use its vast database of educational content.

New tools, which are under development, are likely to provide personalised testing and identify holes in learning, while, like a “spinach version” of YouTube, users are also likely to find suggestions for follow-on content to deepen understanding of a subject.

The BBC is also testing out a new service for A-level students, providing content to help them widen their knowledge around a subject. Piloted around English literature, students studying Jane Austen could find they are offered a BBC adaption of Pride and Prejudice. “We’ll test it with students and teachers to see if that is a useful supplementary offer,” Foulkes said.

In the context of £700m annual savings the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, has said need to be found to ensure the broadcaster’s survival, £6m is something of a drop in the ocean.

But the move appeared to be a nod to a promise he explored in a landmark speech at the Royal Television Society last month : that while the broadcaster ruled out the use of AI in its journalism, it was developing “unique ethical algorithms” to increase personalisation for users. Davie said the BBC would proactively deploy AI on “our terms” to create tools that helped it build relevance”.

It also spoke directly to the broadcaster’s founding Reithian purpose to “inform, educate, entertain”, said Foulkes. “Education is the jammy bit in the middle – it’s really important,” she said.

Foulkes pointed to the role the BBC played during the pandemic, when Bitesize had 3.8 million weekly users during the first term. “Only the BBC could have provided that pandemic response, because it’s got 100 years of education behind it,” she said. “It was great that the general public really understood that’s what the BBC can do as a public service … It’s something the team is really proud of.”

But there may also be a little benign self-interest involved. Last year, the BBC annual report revealed the broadcaster was struggling to attract younger audiences. Its reach among 16- to 34-year-olds had slipped from 81% using any BBC service in a normal week to 76% over the course of a year. The figure was worse for the under-16s, with 72% using BBC services in an average week, well behind YouTube.

“I think what the BBC wants is for people to value the BBC and use the BBC, whatever their age,” said Foulkes. “And any touch points that you’ve got with that younger audience, it’s really important to make sure we’re both supporting them both on the children’s entertainment side and ... on that educational side, and then introducing them to the rest of the BBC.”

Key dates in BBC education

February 1924 The first experimental schools radio programme, heard only by Garnetbank school, Glasgow, in broadcast.

October 1930 Broadcast of Here and There, the first regular news programme for children, presented by the playwright and naval commander Stephen King-Hall.

June 1940 Broadcast of Kitchen Front, a BBC national programme to help children with cooking skills while improving morale during wartime

September 1957 BBC Television for Schools broadcasts its first programme, Living in the Commonwealth, looking at life beyond the classroom.

April 1964 Play School brings play and structured learning for three- to five-year-olds on air, and will run for 20 years.

April 1972 John Craven presents the first Newsround, with short news reports for a younger audience.

September 1982 Adult education series Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery, brings the prospect of homemade English curries into UK homes.

May 1997 Adrian Chiles and Carol Vorderman promise to demystify words such as CD-rom, ram, megabytes and floppy disks in the six-part series Computers Don’t Bite.

April 2009 Horrible Histories is broadcast for the first time on BBC Two.

February 2016 Launch of school video resources BBC Teach and Live Lessons, whereby pupils and teachers take part in real time.

April 2020 First broadcast of Bitesize Daily, a virtual school experience providing lessons during the pandemic.

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6 Minute English

Intermediate level, bitter food, better health, episode 240509 / 09 may 2024.

Talking at the table

Eating for two, dancing for the brain, introduction.

Could bitter foods be better for your health? Beth and Phil discuss this and teach you some useful new vocabulary.

This week's question

How many different basic flavours can humans taste?

a) 4? b) 5? c) 6?

Listen to the programme to hear the answer.

microbiome the collection of microorganisms found in a specific part of the body

suppress stop something from happening or operating

tastebuds flavour receptors found on the tongue and in the mouth

undesirable trait an unwanted negative characteristic

mainstream something that the majority of people would use or like

a degree of a small but significant amount of something

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Phil Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Phil.

Beth And I’m Beth. Phil, I'm going to start this episode with grapefruit - I've got some here - do you want some?

Phil Er, I'm not that keen on grapefruit - they're too bitter for me.

Beth Oh, that's a shame, because this episode is all about bitter food. It has actually been linked to a number of health benefits. So maybe you should take my grapefruit.  

Phil I might not like it that much, but in this programme, we’ll be finding out how bitter foods can benefit our health. And, of course, we’ll be learning some useful new vocabulary.

Beth That should give you a taste of what's coming up, but before that, if you want to learn vocabulary to talk about world events - search for our News Review podcast - we look at vocabulary about a major news story every week. But, back to this episode - I have a question for you, Phil. How many different basic flavours can humans taste? Is it:

a)    4? b)    5? or, c)    6?

Phil Hmmm, I can think of bitter, sweet, salty and sour - so I'm going to go with four. I think we can taste 4 basic flavours.

Beth OK, Phil, I’ll reveal the correct answer later. Leyla Kazim presents 'The Food Programme' on BBC Radio 4. Here she is talking about some of the possible benefits of bitter food.

Leyla Kazim New research has found a remarkable link between bitter foods and our health. It seems they have an incredible ability to interact with our gut microbiome , suppress feelings of hunger, control glucose release and even counter chronic inflammation in the body. Could bitter be the answer at the tip of our tastebuds ?

Beth Bitter foods can interact with our gut microbiome . A microbiome is a collection of microorganisms that can be found in a particular part of the body. It includes fungi, bacteria and viruses. Microorganisms in our gut play an important role in the digestive process - they are our gut microbiome .

Phil If we suppress something then we stop it from happening or operating. We heard that bitter foods can suppress hunger feelings. This means that they stop people feeling hungry. If we try to suppress a feeling, we are trying to stop it.

Beth Leyla asks if bitter foods are the answer at the tip of our tastebuds . Normally we'd say that something that we can't quite remember is on tip of our tongue. Here we have tastebuds , which are the receptors on our tongue and inside our mouths that can detect flavours, like bitterness.

Phil So, it seems that bitter foods could be very beneficial, but they are not always the easiest foods to love. In BBC Radio 4's 'The Food Programme', presenter Leyla Kazim spoke to chef Alexina Anatole, who points out that we might be consuming more bitter food than we realise:

Alexina Anatole I think it's a real perception issue with it. I think people are exposed to bitters way more than they think they are, but there's this perception of bitter and negativity, both in terms of emotions and food, right? Bitterness is generally an undesirable trait , but there are so many very very mainstream bitter things.

Leyla Kazim Such as?

Alexina Anatole Chocolate, coffee, alcohol, any alcohol has a degree of bitterness to it.

Beth Alexina says that many people see bitterness as an undesirable trait . A trait is a characteristic, so an undesirable trait is a characteristic that people don't want. We often see bitterness as a bad thing. We also often use undesirable traits to refer to negative aspects of people's personalities.

Phil Alexina points out that there are a number of mainstream things that have a bitter flavour. If something is mainstream, then it means it's ordinary and part of what most people consume - she listed chocolate and coffee as mainstream things.

Beth The other mainstream thing mentioned was alcohol - we heard that it has a degree of bitterness. If something has a degree of something , then it has at least a small, but noticeable amount of it.

Phil OK, now I think it's time to hear to the answer to your question.

Beth Right, I asked how many basic flavours humans can taste.

Phil And I guessed it was four.

Beth Which, unfortunately was not the right answer. The answer is in fact five. The flavour that you missed is umami, which comes from a Japanese word and refers to a savoury flavour often found in grilled meats or broths.

Phil OK, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned, starting with, microbiome , the collection of microorganisms found in a specific part of the body.

Beth Suppress means prevent from operating or happening.

Phil Tastebuds are the receptors found on in the tongue and in the mouth that sense flavours.

Beth An undesirable trait is a negative characteristic that we don't want.

Phil If something is mainstream , then it is something that most people would use. It's not unusual.

Beth And finally, a degree of something is a small, but noticeable amount of something. Once again, our six minutes are up! Remember to join us again next time for more topical discussion and useful vocabulary, here at 6 Minute English. Goodbye for now!

Latest 6 Minute English

Could bitter foods be better for your health?

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Episode 240425 / 25 Apr 2024

Is it OK to eat unhealthy food during pregnancy?

Episode 240418 / 18 Apr 2024

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Nudges: The secrets of persuasion

Episode 240411 / 11 apr 2024.

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Why sitting is bad for health

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Why everyone loves the underdog

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Could it be best to be the underdog?

Disability in music and theatre

Episode 240321 / 21 mar 2024.

Learn about the people who are making it easier for disabled musicians and music fans to perform and see live music

What makes a great library?

Episode 240314 / 14 mar 2024.

What makes a library a library?

Sewing to fight period poverty

Episode 240307 / 07 mar 2024.

Period poverty affects over 500 million people worldwide. How can a volunteer project help?

Plastic waste eaten by enzymes

Episode 240229 / 29 feb 2024.

Plastics can be difficult to recycle. Could a recently discovered enzyme help?

Feed your brain

Episode 240222 / 22 feb 2024.

Food is fuel for our brains. So, what should we be eating?

Food for new mums

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Having a baby is exhausting! What do mothers need to eat after giving birth?

Fighting loneliness with soup

Episode 240208 / 08 feb 2024.

Hear how a project in the Netherlands is helping in the fight against loneliness

What is the future of work?

Episode 240201 / 01 feb 2024.

Is AI going to take away your job?

How the language of menus matters

Episode 240125 / 25 jan 2024.

Why is the language used on menus important?

The psychology of greed

Episode 240118 / 18 jan 2024.

Is it ever OK to be greedy?

Addicted to sugar

Episode 240111 / 11 jan 2024.

Are we addicted to sugar?

Our love of pets

Episode 240104 / 04 jan 2024.

Are you a dog or a cat person?

View all 6 Minute English

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BBC’s lockdown educational programming is way better than the dull fare of yesteryear

Associate professor in Media Production, Birmingham City University

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Vanessa Jackson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Birmingham City University provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

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Schools are closed and parents face the dreaded task of homeschooling while juggling work and domestic responsibilities. Hoping to help, the BBC is airing several hours of educational programming each day throughout the lockdown for both primary and secondary school students.

As someone from the baby boomer generation, born in the mid-1960s, the BBC’s Schools programming was the only thing you could watch in the morning if you were off school sick. I remember it was pretty dull stuff, probably not helped by our small black and white rental TV set.

Education programming was a mainstay of the morning television schedule from the 1960s until the late 1980s when daytime TV as we understand it today began. Special broadcasts for schools began on BBC radio as early as 1924 and moved to television in 1957. Schools broadcasting was one of the few BBC programming departments, along with children’s, to have several senior female staff , at a time when women were under-represented across the broadcaster. Mary Somerville was the first director of schools broadcasting, appointed in 1929.

Why education programmes matter

The BBC’s current initiative to broadcast education programmes is a timely revival. Education is a pillar of the BBC’s public service remit to inform, educate and entertain, devised by Lord Reith , the first director general of the BBC. It is also a clever way of repurposing existing content in a manner that is both public spirited and economically expedient. The venture plays well politically at a time when the future of the BBC is under scrutiny, with discussions around the level of the licence fee underway.

Much of the schools content that will be broadcast on children’s channel CBBC and on BBC Two in the next few weeks was produced during the first lockdown last year by the BBC Bitesize team and was originally available online only – something the press releases around the initiative have failed to highlight.

Ironically, broadcasting the shows on the “old media” of TV is what is new. This choice is also democratic, however. There is a stark digital divide in this country, which the pandemic has exposed. An estimated 140,000 UK families with young children do not have a TV, while over a million children have no home access to a computer or tablet.

This is a win-win situation for the BBC, since far fewer children have no access to a terrestrial television than lack a good broadband connection or different devices that can access the internet at any one time. Meanwhile, the sensible scheduling of content with different time slots for each age group means there are no conflicting broadcasts.

Getting the lessons right

The key to successful educational programming is getting the tone right and making it fun. The BBC’s early experiments into schooling the nation did not always succeed because the overly academic content sometimes failed to engage children.

Programming for the current generation of both primary and secondary children has to be pitched in a way that makes it compete for their attention against the likes of social media and streamed content. Sampling some of the programmes, I was struck by the bright colours of the simple sets, which instantly (and cost-effectively) gave a feeling of positivity. This was combined with energetic, diverse, cheery presenters who were constantly enthusiastic, with a permanent smile on their faces no matter what the subject matter was.

There was singing and dancing to reinforce learning points, and lots of animations that were as colourful as the studio. Including actual teachers lent credibility, and inserts from well-known presenters and celebrities in their own homes reading stories or responding to challenges, added a touch of showbiz glamour. The Celebrity Supply Teacher slot at 10am was a highlight and will feature lockdown heroes like footballer Marcus Rashford giving a sports lesson or interior designer Laurence Llewelyn Bowen giving art lessons.

What made the viewing experience particularly cohesive was the flow of the programmes, with the content carefully curated between the core and secondary lessons. For example, a history lesson covering ancient Egyptian pyramids referred to earlier discussions of three-dimensional shapes from the episode’s maths lesson.

It was well-produced, and while it might lack the high-tech graphics and fast-paced action of computer games, it was a lot more fun and interesting to watch than the schools programming of my youth.

• Children's TV
• Educational TV

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