Tes Review—Should You Use An Alternative?

Tes (formerly known as the Times Educational Supplement) has been around since 1910, when it began as a pull-out supplement to the British Times magazine. In 2007, they revamped their website and had a separate section for teaching resources. Today, the platform counts over 900,000 resources and works with schools in over 100 countries.

We’ve reviewed their services to see if they’re worth your time and whether you should turn your attention to someone else. 

Why You Should Use Tes

While Tes does have 900,000+ materials on its platform, that number accounts for materials that are applicable in over 100 countries. The majority of resources are dedicated to teachers in the United Kingdom, but you’ll still find plenty of materials made for U.S. colleagues.

If you decide to join Tes, you’ll be able to create an account for free. The best advantages to using Tes as your source of teaching materials are:

1. Extensive library of teaching materials
2. Easy-to-use navigation

Extensive Library of Teaching Materials

While the platform claims to have nearly a million resources, almost a fourth (just under 240,000) is dedicated to the English school system. If you’re a U.S. teacher, you can find about 50,000 resources that are adjusted to the American system and its standards.

The best part about Tes’s library is its variety. It has over 30 different types of materials, including:

• Worksheets
• Lesson plans
• Activities
• Presentations
• Visual aids
• Assessments
• Games
• Ebooks
• Clip arts
• Study guides

Easy-To-Use Navigation

Tes search system allows you to combine various filters to find the materials that suit your needs more easily, instead of going manually through thousands of product pages. Make sure to choose the United States as the display country for the platform to show U.S. grades (instead of the British ones) and USD as the preferred currency.

You can filter results based on:

1. Age (i.e., grades)
2. Grade
3. School system
4. Curriculum
5. Awarding body
6. Material type
7. File type

Tes Pricing

Tes doesn’t have a featured pricing page, and creating an account is free. While it has free resources, the majority (and the best ones) come with a price. The problem is, it’s hard to gauge how much money it’ll cost you to use Tes as it depends on how many materials you’ll use.

Since they charge you per download, you’ll have to spend cash every time you visit the website and will have to be cautious and selective with the products you use.

The issue occurs from the fact that the product page only has a few screenshots and a short description. You’ll have to spend your money to review the entire product and see if it’s good enough for you to use in your class.

What Makes Teach Simple a Better Alternative to Tes

While all materials available at Tes are teacher-made, the platform doesn’t have any offices in the States, and its contributors create U.S.-friendly products based on their interpretation of the Common Core and other standards.

Teach Simple is a U.S.-based company that offers thousands of teaching materials made for teachers by teachers with experience in the U.S. school system. Our materials are created and reviewed by teachers who’ve been in the same classroom as you and know exactly what lessons in our country need to look like.

Another benefit to using Teach Simple is the subscription-based model. When you sign up for Teach Simple, you’ll be able to make unlimited downloads without spending a dime over the monthly subscription fee.

How Teach Simple Works

Teach Simple offers thousands of teaching materials from early learning to high school. It has a plethora of material types, such as:

• Projects
• Games
• Flash cards
• Lesson plans
• Audiobooks
• Ebooks
• Worksheets
• Curriculums
• Graphics

All our products are high-quality materials that go through a rigorous review process during which teachers make sure the product aligns with governmental standards and represents a quality material for enriching your class.

You can make use of the 30-day trial option to register for free and check out the products on offer. When you visit a product page, you’ll be able to download it with no extra fees and check the material quality for yourself.

Tes Vs. Teach Simple

Check out the brief overview of what Tes and Teach Simple have to offer:

Overall Impression

Tes is a London-based company that offers thousands of materials for teachers from all over the world. This includes U.S. teachers as well, despite having no contributing teachers from the States. Using Tes will give you access to a wide variety of material types for most of your teaching needs.

The issue with Tes comes from the fact that it doesn’t have dedicated U.S.-based teachers who create the products. Another problem is the fact that they charge you per download, and you can end up spending $1,000+ on products that end up being unusable in your classes.

If you want high-quality products made by and for U.S. teachers—without spending your money every time you stumble upon a material that catches your eye—you can do so over at Teach Simple.

With the benefit of the subscription-based model and American contributors, you can find materials tailored to your needs you can review without spending any extra bucks.

Other Tes Alternatives

Not sure Tes is the right choice for you? We’ve reviewed many other similar platforms that teachers can use to find inspiration for their classes—here are our favorites:

1. K5 Learning
2. Kindergarten Worksheets and Games
3. Learning Resources
4. Twinkl
5. Teachers Pay Teachers
6. DadsWorksheets.com
7. 123 Homeschool 4 Me
8. Really Good Stuff
9. Math Worksheets 4 Kids
10. EasyTeacherWorksheets.com
11. Education.com
12. Super Teacher Worksheets
13. Etsy
14. WeAreTeachers
15. Amazon Ignite
16. Scholastic Teachables
17. All Kids Network