Selling Resources & being an author FAQs

Resources can be uploaded by anyone who is 18 years old or over, who has registered an account on Tes. The majority of our resource authors are education professionals, such as teachers and lecturers, but you may also find resources shared by third-party companies or the resources team here at Tes.

1. Resources should be downloadable directly from the Tes website and should not direct users to an external hosting site.
2. You can include website URLs for third-party sites within uploaded resource files if the link does not require a login, is directly relevant to the context of the resource and does not promote commercial/personal gain, except when a requirement of any licensed content, such as a Creative Commons licensed image.
3. Please ensure that you own or have permission to use everything that appears in your resource. You can read more about copyright here.
4. Please give your resource a meaningful title and description (including, where necessary, details such as learning objective and how to use the resource), in addition to accurately choosing the relevant categories.
5. Please do not split your resources into multiple documents and upload them as individual resources if they do not make sense in isolation.
6. Make sure that the content you upload is appropriate for the intended target audience and learning objectives.
7. If you are under the age of 18 years, please do not upload resources for free sharing or for sale on tes.com.
8. Resources should not include images or videos of individuals under the age of 18 years taken with personal cameras, videoing equipment or mobile phones.

Find our Tes Author Code here.

You will need to delete the free resource and re-upload it as a new paid-for resource. In the interests of fairness, reviews and ratings cannot be transferred should you decide to sell a resource that was previously shared for free.

Your Author Dashboard is updated every two hours and the Sales section is updated overnight. Please keep these delays in mind if you notice any figures within your Author Dashboard not showing the same information.

The best place to keep a track of your sales and downloads is within the Sales section of your Author Dashboard. A breakdown for each sale is displayed if you click on any of the sales entries and an approximate Net Earnings figure is also shown on the right hand side beneath your Tes royalties balance.

The following information can be viewed within the Sales section:

• Date and time of when the sales data was last updated
• Sales data filtered by resource title, store, or within the specified time frame
• Date and time of each successful transaction
• Resources that were sold and royalties earned
• Breakdown of each transaction which shows the original price of the resource, amount of tax deducted, amount of transaction fees deducted, amount of Tes royalty deducted, amount of net profit, resource licence, buyer location and transaction identifier

It’s important to get to grips with the rules around copyright to make sure your resources are staying on the right side of the law. Read our full set of FAQs around Copyright and Licensing here.

The most commonly used is the Attribution ShareAlike Creative Commons (CC-BY-SA) licence. This means that the author has shared the resource for free and gives permission to others to share it in the same way.

Slight variations apply to the Attribution and No derivative licences. Click on the links below to find out more about each.

Share alike (CC-BY-SA)- Share and share alike.

Attribution (CC-BY)- Share openly.

No derivatives (CC-BY-ND)- Share, but don't modify.

You can find more FAQs about Licensing and Copyright here.

You can find out more about the Teaching Resource Licence here. It applies to our paid resources and some older free resources predating the introduction of Creative Commons licences to Tes.

 Information contained within these pages is intended as general guidance only. This information is not intended to be, and should not be, relied upon as legal advice.

You can’t include copyrighted images even if they’re not being sold or downloaded, as this gives the impression that the copyright owner has given their permission or is associated with the production of the resources, and classes as misrepresentation. This includes use of the Tes logo. Copyright owners state how and when they permit their content to be used.

You can go straight to the uploader here, or you can access it through the left-hand navigation on tes.com or the Author Dashboard, by clicking ‘Add resource’. Read more about uploading your resources here.

You can share most major file types such as PowerPoints, Word Documents, JPG, PDF, Videos and Smartboard. A full list of accepted file types can be found below. The maximum file size for resource uploads is 200 MB per file. 

Bear in mind that if you choose to upload non-standard file types you need to ensure supporting information about the non-standard file type is included as part of the upload information. Remember to think about sharing your work in ways that make it as easy as possible for other educators to access and use your content. You may wish to upload your resources in multiple file types to ensure the end user can easily download and access it.

You can share any of the following file formats:

If you are unclear about accepted resource file types, email authors@tes.com for guidance.

Due to the accessibility, the following file types are most popular:

• doc
• docx
• pdf
• ppt
• pptx
• pub
• xls
• xlsx
• zip

You can view the file information for a resource by looking underneath each uploaded file preview image, which will display the file type and size.

Yes, you can upload Zip files on Tes. This option allows you to upload more resources in less time. You just need to follow the usual steps you follow when you upload a normal file.

We recommend uploading an image file to act as a cover if you upload a Zip file as they do not generate cover images.

Thumbnail images can be automatically generated when compatible resource files are uploaded to Tes. Alternatively, you can create and upload your own thumbnail images. These images appear in search results on the site and within resource pages. Read more about cover and preview images here.

The following file types will not appear as thumbnail images:

• All video file types (MP4, FLV, AVI, WMV, 3GP, SWF)
• All audio file types (WAV, MP3, AIFF, FLAC, RAW)
• Microsoft Publisher (PUB)
• Microsoft Excel (XML, XLSX, XLSM, XLSX)
• Tarsia files (FJSW)
• Smartboard (NOTEBOOK, XBK)
• Keynote (KEY)
• Promethean (FLIPCHART)
• Pages (PAGES)
• Numbers (NUMBERS)
• Zip files

You can embed a video on any resource by following the steps below. This means that the videos you’ve been putting on YouTube can work as previews on your resource pages. You can even add them to already published resources by going to your Author Dashboard or resource display page and editing them.

It’s easy to add a video:

1. On page two of the uploader, scroll to the bottom of the page and paste your video URL or embed code into the box provided.
2. Click ‘Add’ and your video will appear as an uploaded file.
3. Complete your resource and publish. Your video will be live on the page for the world to see.

Read more about uploading your resources here.

• Please ensure that you have verified your email before trying to publish a resource. Also, bear in mind that due to security measures, your resource may not be published on Tes resources for up to 3 working days.

Authors are rewarded with higher royalty rates based on the value of their sales over the last 12 months, meaning the more authors sell, the higher royalty rate they receive. The total sales value is calculated monthly on a rolling total, before Tes funded discounts or vouchers are applied.

The royalty levels are:

*Resources priced under £3/$3 are subject to a transaction fee of 20p/20c

For a detailed breakdown of each sale, simply click on any sale in the Sales section of your Author Dashboard.

To ensure authors receive a fair price for their work, the minimum you may charge is £1 and the maximum is £300 (or equivalent currencies). To set the price of your resource simply use the up and down arrows, or enter the value into the box provided when uploading or editing your resource.

The suggested prices below are offered as guidance only. Pricing is subjective and authors are encouraged to test and monitor their pricing regularly.

Pricing suggestions:

You can edit the price of your resource at any time via the Resource Management section of your Author Dashboard. Simply click on the resource you wish to edit, then use the 'Change price' button to edit the resource price. If you have other edits you'd like to make to the resource as well, click on 'Edit'. Read more about pricing your resources here.

When someone buys your resource, the payment will be processed and your royalties will be added to your seller balance. You can view your balance in the Sales section of your Author Dashboard.

When your account balance exceeds £10/$10 you can request to withdraw your balance. Just click the 'Withdraw now' button beneath your sales balance to request a payment directly to your bank account (you will be asked for this information when you make your first withdrawal, and if this hasn’t been provided or is incorrect, you may experience delays). Funds will normally arrive within five to seven working days for UK payments and 10 to 12 working days for international payments. You are limited to one withdrawal per week.

If you haven’t received your payment within the time frame specified, please email authors@tes.com for help with resolving this.

No, we only pay into a single account. You will need to agree and manage the splits separately with your joint author(s).

The multi-user licence option appears as a ‘School Licence’ on all paid-for resource pages, beneath the 'Buy Now' button. This licence covers all the same permissions as the current Teaching Resource Licence but allows sharing of resources within their institution and can be purchased using school budgets. You can view the full terms of this licence here.

All multi-user licences are priced at a 3.5 x multiple of the original licence price for that resource. We have based this price on the average number of teachers who would access an individual resource within a school (3 - 5) and on direct research with 100 budget holders and Heads of Department. You will earn the same royalty percentage on all paid-for resource sales regardless of the licence type, according to your royalty level.

Royalty amounts can differ from sale to sale due to the following factors:

1. Your royalty level:

 Royalty levels reward authors with higher royalty rates and additional benefits based on the amount of money spent on the resources they publish.

2. The location of the buyer which determines the tax (VAT) rate:

VAT on each transaction (where applicable) is deducted from the purchase price, then the royalty rate is calculated thereafter. The percentage of VAT charged depends on the location of the individual buying the resource (their VAT jurisdiction).

You can see a breakdown for each of your sales in the Sales section of your Author Dashboard.

All authors have a transaction fee of 20p/20c applied when:

• A resource is bought that is priced under £3/$3
• A resource is bought that is usually priced at £3/$3 or more but has been discounted by you to under £3/$3

If you increase the price of your resources to £3/$3 or more, you’ll pay no transaction fee on them. You’ll find a handy ‘Change price’ button by clicking on any of your paid-for resources within the Resource Management section of your Author Dashboard, making it easier to update the price.

You can see your royalty tier on the top right of your Author Dashboard. We will be checking royalty levels on a monthly basis. The previous 12 months of sales will be taken into account when assessing your royalty rate as we know that sales volumes vary throughout the calendar year.

You will be able to verify your new rate on your Author Dashboard and in addition, the Sales section shows you a detailed breakdown for each sale.

The 'Your yearly sales' figure is based on your last 365 days of sales. So today, that figure is based on all sales between this day last year and yesterday (inclusive). Tomorrow that figure may change as it is based on tomorrow’s date last year until today (inclusive). This helps you to keep track of whether your sales are similar to last year.

If this figure goes down it means that you've not made as many sales as this time last year, and if it goes up you're making more sales. The idea of this is to help you track how well your resources are selling. At the beginning of each month this is the value that is used to calculate your royalty level and it may change before that point in time.

Your royalty tier is set at the start of every month based on the total value of all the resources you have sold over the previous 12 complete months, and this will be recalculated each month.   

To work out how much you need to earn to reach the next author royalty tier, you first need to download your sales data from your author dashboard.  

This is only relevant for Bronze and Silver authors.    

Calculating how much you need to earn at the start of the month:  

Using this formula from the information provided on your downloadable sales data will help you to work this out:  

Amount you need to earn this month = 

Total value of sales needed for next tier (Silver is £1000, Gold is £6000)     -      Value of sales in the last 11 complete calendar months                                                                                                                                                 

For more detailed guidance and information on how to calculate how much you need to earn to reach the next tier mid-way through the month, please visit our blog here.   

All authors have access to the shop feature. Once you have published any resources and become an author, you can open a shop in a few simple steps. Sign into your Tes account and you’ll be guided through the process when you go to 'Create a Shop'. Read more about setting up your Tes shop here.

You can update your shop details by clicking on ‘My shop’ from the left-hand navigation on tes.com, and then click on ‘Edit shop’ on the right-hand side of the page. From here you can amend your shop name, shop description, your cover photo which sits at the top of your shop, and any links to your own website and social media pages. You can also choose up to 3 resources to feature at the top of your shop from the same page by ticking the ‘Turn on Featured Resources’ option, and then pasting the link to your resource display page in the relevant boxes. Read more about setting up and editing your Tes shop here.

The Author Discounting Tool is available within the My Promotions section of your Author Dashboard.  You can discount your resources by 5 - 25% to increase your chances of getting noticed and making sales.

Promotions must be a minimum of one day (24 hours) and a maximum of two weeks. The sale period starts and ends at midnight in the timezone selected when creating the offer, and will span the full days of the dates listed (eg, a sale starting on one day and ending the next will span the full 48 hours of both days). Setting a sale to start on today’s date will make the sale active immediately. Remember, you can't run two or more overlapping sales at once.

You can't edit a currently active sale. You will need to end the sale and set it up again with any amendments made. You can, however, edit an upcoming sale that has not yet begun.

Cancelling a currently active sale will set the end date to ‘now’ and you will be able to see the information about that sale in the ‘Ended’ section of the tool's dashboard.

Please note: If the promotional discount applied to your resources brings your resource below £3, a 20p transaction fee will be applied to every sale. This transaction cost is due to bank charges incurred on lower-priced transactions.

If you have more than one premium resource you will be able to create bundles of your resources to promote and sell them together. Read more about how to create a resource bundle here.

Some examples of bundles can be found here.

Yes. Once logged in, you have the ability to respond to a review of your resource. This allows authors to connect with their customers and offer support or guidance. After you have replied to a review, the original reviewer is able to leave a further comment in case it is needed in solving an issue. However, the number of replies is restricted as this is not a feature designed for discussion. If further contact is needed between authors and users this can be facilitated by contacting resources@tes.com.

We will remove a review from a resource page if we deem that:

• The review is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise discriminatory
• The review is based on a customer being unable to access it due to a technical error
• The review makes untrue claims that are in contradiction to factual information supplied in the description

Click here to report a review, be sure to include the details of the review and why it should be removed.

We aim to increase your reach as an author by making your resources available to our global audience and save you time uploading.

At present, buyers can purchase in British Pounds, US Dollars, Australian Dollars, Euro (including Ireland), Canadian Dollars and New Zealand Dollars according to their location.

Your royalty payment will always be in the currency you've set the price of your resource in.

At the bottom right of the site, choose a country from the drop-down menu and you’ll see resources as though you were visiting from that country. Subjects and topics will automatically convert into local equivalents (United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Ireland, Canada or New Zealand)

Yes, you can sell resources from outside the UK. Of course, you must always comply with the laws of the country you are located in. The Tes site supports multiple currencies for buyers, which is dependent on their IP address. However, the royalty you receive for each sale will be paid in the same currency as the price you've set for your resource. This is either GBP or USD.

There are a small number of countries that we are unable to work with because they do not conform to the correct trading laws – this list is provided by our payment service provider Stripe, and the Office for Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), so we’re unable to overrule their decision. For more information please email authors@tes.com.

The buyer country is displayed in the Sales section of your Author Dashboard by clicking on any of your sales. For authors with resources uploaded to both the UK and US inventories, you can toggle between the two using the drop down menu at the top. You can also view the approximate locations of your free downloads and paid purchases on the map located within the Overview section of your Author Dashboard.

You can also see both your UK and US Net Earnings on the right hand side.

Tes does not pay income tax on your behalf to any tax authority. There is no withholding tax on any author royalty payments made by Tes to you. However, you may need to submit a tax return to the tax authorities to report and pay any income tax that may be due on your royalty payments.

For up-to-date government provided UK income tax information, please see here.    

The information contained in this section will help you think about the tax implications of selling your content on Tes Resources. However, Tes is not a tax adviser and recommends that you consult a tax professional for advice pertaining to your own specific circumstances.

Yes, you may need to submit a UK tax return and declare your royalty income and pay tax thereon.

For up-to-date government provided UK income tax information, please see here.

The information contained in this section will help you think about the tax implications of selling your content on Tes Resources. However, Tes is not a tax adviser and recommends that you consult a tax professional for advice pertaining to your own specific circumstances.

When a resource is sold from Tes’ Resources website to a third party, Tes is the seller in that sale and so charges VAT/GST (as appropriate) to the third-party customer and remits that VAT/GST to the appropriate Tax Authority.

It is your responsibility to decide whether you need to register for UK VAT in respect of your royalty income. It is also your responsibility to file your own VAT returns and pay the VAT due to HMRC.

If you are based in the UK and are VAT registered, it is your responsibility to issue a tax invoice to Tes Education Resources limited for the royalty income paid into your bank account. You need to notify Tes if you are already registered for VAT, become registered or deregister.

For up-to-date government information about registering for VAT, please see here.    

The information contained in this section will help you think about the tax implications of selling your content on Tes Resources. However, Tes is not a tax adviser and recommends that you consult a tax professional for advice pertaining to your own specific circumstances.

Your tax affairs are your responsibility.

For up-to-date government provided UK income tax information, please see here.  

The information contained in this section will help you think about the tax implications of selling your content on Tes Resources. However, Tes is not a tax adviser and recommends that you consult a tax professional for advice pertaining to your own specific circumstances.