What does the CLA licence permit?

The licence provides blanket permissions to copy and reuse content from publications

  • Make copies from books, magazines, journals and websites
  • Share copies with students and staff
  • Extend the value of the licence with access to the CLA Education Platform
  • Use copies with digital whiteboards, VLEs and presentation software programs
  • Copy up to one article, chapter, short story or poem or 5% of the total, whichever is greater
  • Copy publications from the UK plus 38 international territories


For more information, you can read our Terms and Conditions

Is your school covered?

We license schools throughout the UK. All state-funded schools and most independents are covered by the CLA Licence.

In most cases, licences are held or administered by representative bodies that act as agents between us and the schools. Details of these arrangements are shown below:

Type of School Agreement via Contact
State maintained schools in England Department for Education The relevant local authority
State maintained schools in Wales Welsh Local Government Association The relevant local authority
State maintained schools in Scotland The Scottish Government The relevant council
State schools in Northern Ireland Education Authority www.eani.org.uk
Independent schools in England, Scotland and Wales Independent Association of Prep Schools www.iaps.uk
Independent schools in Scotland Scottish Council of Independent Schools www.scis.org.uk
Department for Education logo
iaps logo
scottish government logo
Education Authority logo
English UK logo

Education Licence Extensions

We have developed extensions to the CLA Education Licence tailored to the specific needs. Be sure to speak to the team when discussing your licence about the right options for your organisation.

Language Schools

Any Language School can apply to CLA direct for a Licence. After a year, if you are an English UK member, the management of your licence will pass to them

Read Aloud

CLA’s Read Aloud Licence allows members of school staff to record readings from books, and to use these recordings with pupils & their parents via the school’s intranet.

NLA Schools licence

CLA acts as the exclusive agent for all of NLA’s UK education licensing. This licence provides annual blanket permissions to copy and reuse content from print and digital newspaper publications

More information

CLA International Education Licence

The licence is the only way to get blanket permissions to copy and reuse content from print and digital publications in international schools anywhere in the world

  • Make copies from digital and print books, magazines, journals and websites
  • Share copies with students and staff
  • Use copies with digital whiteboards, VLEs and presentation software programs
  • Copy up to one article, chapter, one short story or poem or 5% of the total, whichever is greater
  • Copy publications from the UK and the US

The cost of the International Education Licence is based on the type and number of your institution’s students
CLA Banding Age Group School Equivalent Unit of measure Fee
Band 1 pupils 5-15 Includes Primary & secondary equivalents and Special pupils Per student £2.06 + VAT
Band 2 Pupils 16-18 Includes Secondary equivalent pupils Per student £5.00 + VAT

Supporting tools

CLA Check Permissions Tool
Check Permissions works for all, even if you don’t have a licence. Use it to check whether an article, book or website is covered by the CLA licence
View More
CLA Education Platform tool
Digital resources to copy and share with students for learning and teaching. Provided for use by schools and colleges covered by the CLA Education Licence
View More

Useful links

Licence documents

See education licence support documents

Training

We have developed short training modules to help your understanding of copyright

Events

Check out the our Events page to see whats coming and access the webinar library

Keep up to date

Sign up for one of the CLA newsletters to keep up to date with the latest news and developments in your sector or across CLA

What our schools say about us

The Department for Education (DfE) highly values the CLA licence which permits all state-funded primary and secondary schools in England to access written material, copy, re-use and share content from a wide range of sources within schools for non-commercial, educational purposes.

This is important in supporting aims of the National Curriculum, including ensuring that all pupils can develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information, and acquire a wide vocabulary.

dfe logo
Department for Education

The Department for Education (DfE) highly values the CLA licence which permits all state-funded primary and secondary schools in England to access written material, copy, re-use and share content from a wide range of sources within schools for non-commercial, educational purposes.

This is important in supporting aims of the National Curriculum, including ensuring that all pupils can develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information, and acquire a wide vocabulary.

dfe logo
Department for Education

The Department for Education (DfE) highly values the CLA licence which permits all state-funded primary and secondary schools in England to access written material, copy, re-use and share content from a wide range of sources within schools for non-commercial, educational purposes.

This is important in supporting aims of the National Curriculum, including ensuring that all pupils can develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information, and acquire a wide vocabulary.

dfe logo
Department for Education

The Department for Education (DfE) highly values the CLA licence which permits all state-funded primary and secondary schools in England to access written material, copy, re-use and share content from a wide range of sources within schools for non-commercial, educational purposes.

This is important in supporting aims of the National Curriculum, including ensuring that all pupils can develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information, and acquire a wide vocabulary.

dfe logo
Department for Education

Education Licence FAQs

Find out more about the Education Licence coverage and how it can protect and support your organisation
The Education Platform is provided at no additional cost to holders of the CLA Education Licence. Your institution needs to be registered on the platform, and each teacher or other member of staff needing access will also need to register.
All state-funded schools in the UK hold the CLA Licence through central agreements with regional education bodies. Most Independent schools also hold the licence, but just check with IAPs, SCIS or CLA. We license sixth-form colleges and further education colleges directly, so just get in touch with CLA if you're unsure that your institution has the licence.
The CLA Education Licence covers individual educational establishments on a single school's site, and copies can be shared with teachers in an individual school. These copies may not be shared across a group of schools such as a MAT.
Staff and students at your school or college can receive copies made under the licence. The key thing to remember is that the copy must be secure to your institution. It should not be shared outside the school, or put on a public facing website.
You can make as many copies as are needed to see that each student and any staff supporting the class has access to a copy. It’s fine to put the copy on the VLE or intranet, just make sure it’s secure to your school or college.

Check Permissions