Coordination Group Publications (CGP) is an educational publisher and

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions, but also of learners ( ...

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

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from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, founded and owned by Richard Parsons. Having published over 1,000 books, their series of best-selling

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

study guide A study guide can be anything that facilitates learning in a particular topic. It may be a textbook or other resource that fosters comprehension of literature, research topics, history, and other subjects. General topics include study and tes ...

s are known for their light and humorous writing style.

History

CGP was founded by Richard Parsons in 1995, following his resignation from his teaching position at Furness College. This was due to his dissatisfaction with the poor quality of study guides at the time. He then published his first manuscript, a Mathematics guide, which was a hit after being shared with individual schools. By the end of 2009, his 600 titles had sold over nine million books grossing over £48 million. Although he wrote the original books himself and they all bear his name, later books were written by other teachers.

Products

''CGP Revision Guides'' is the main product line published by CGP, covering a range of school subjects at KS1, KS2, KS3,

11+ Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...

, 13+,

A-level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

and SATs. CGP's books often incorporate a witty and humorous tone, occasionally informal and

colloquial Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...

, making them clear and easy to understand. They also make reference to examination questions from the UK National Curriculum. For digital resources, online editions of their books can be read on their website, accessed using product codes. Many of them are also available as

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...

s on Kindle. CGP also offer subscriptions services
CGP+
for online teaching resources aimed at primary schools, and 11+ Online, for online revision for the 11+ tests. Their books have limited availability in Welsh. The subjects offered include: * Maths * English * Science * Languages * Geography * History * Technology & Food * Music * Business & Economics * Psychology * PE & Sport * Sociology * Computer Science & ICT * Religious Studies * Drama * English as an Additional Language * 'How to Revise'

Controversy

The informal and humorous style in which many of CGP's books are written has caused controversy, especially considering that they are aimed at

teenager Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated wi ...

s. There were complaints about their

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...

guide, with claims it was "explicit" and how it "trivialised sex".

References

External links

* Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Cumbria {{UK-publish-company-stub