Collins Primary
Collins Primary, part of HarperCollins' Collins division, publishes curriculum-aligned print and digital educational resources — including Big Cat reading, Little Wandle phonics, and Discover Geography — for UK schools, international Cambridge/IB curricula, ELT learners, and home educators.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1819
- HeadquartersGlasgow, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Collins Primary does
Collins Primary is the primary-school-focused product line of Collins, the educational publishing division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (owned by News Corp). Founded in Scotland in 1819 and operating from a Glasgow headquarters, Collins publishes print and digital educational resources for UK schools from Reception through Key Stage 3, international schools following Cambridge International, IB, and Caribbean curricula, English Language Teaching learners, and individual home educators. The portfolio centres on structured, curriculum-aligned programmes - notably the Big Cat graded reading series (1,000+ titles), the Little Wandle phonics and handwriting programmes (Letters and Sounds Revised for primary, Code for KS3 intervention), Discover Geography for KS3/Cambridge/IB MYP, Easy Learning revision materials, and the Barrington Stoke dyslexia-friendly imprint. Dictionaries in 26 languages and ELT resources, including COBUILD dictionaries, round out the reference and language-learning portfolio.
Underlying the catalogue is a hybrid print-plus-digital operating model. Physical books priced £2.99-£28.99 are sold via direct e-commerce, UK school accounts on invoice terms, and a network of international representatives. Digital delivery runs through The Collins Hub (school digital subscriptions) and Collins Adapt (adaptive learning content), with eBooks activated by code for three-year access. A separate B2B revenue stream comes from licensing dictionary content via the Collins Dictionary API and from rights licensing to publishers and digital businesses worldwide.
Go-to-market combines enterprise field sales (UK Schools Consultants and international representatives managing a 50,000+ school database) with direct-to-consumer e-commerce, supported by email, social, print catalogue, and Book Squad community marketing. The Home Educator programme offers 50% off RRP, evidencing a deliberate long-tail consumer monetisation layer alongside institutional sales.
Collins Primary firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Collins Primary
- Legal name
- HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
- Website
- https://collins.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1819
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Collins Primary, part of HarperCollins' Collins division, publishes curriculum-aligned print and digital educational resources — including Big Cat reading, Little Wandle phonics, and Discover Geography — for UK schools, international Cambridge/IB curricula, ELT learners, and home educators.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Collins Primary industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Educational Publishing
- NAICS
- Book Publishers (513130), Book Publishers (51313)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- K–12 Textbook Publishing (Core Curriculum) (MPAJABAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Early Readers & Phonics (Learn-to-Read) (EDAGAIAB), Children’s Nonfiction Educational (Science, History, Nature) (EDAGAIAC), Children’s Reference & Encyclopedias (Dictionaries, Atlases) (EDAGAIAD)
Keywords
Where Collins Primary is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Glasgow
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Collins Primary business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations
Revenue model
- Physical Book Sales: Collins generates revenue through the sale of physical educational books including curriculum resources, revision guides, dictionaries, atlases, and reading programmes. Books are sold individually at various price points ranging from £2.99 to £28.99.
- Digital Subscription Services: Annual subscriptions for digital educational resources and content libraries accessible through the Collins Hub platform. School subscriptions allow multiple teachers within a school to access digital content.
- Licensing and Rights: Collins licenses its content including dictionaries, reference materials, and educational resources to third-party publishers, digital businesses, and commercial partners worldwide.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Home Educator Discount |
| Subscription | Annual | School Account Pricing |
| Subscription | Annual | Digital Subscription Services |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Collins Primary product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Collins Primary is the educational publishing division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, producing structured print and digital educational resources for primary and secondary schools and home educators. Its core portfolio includes phonics programmes (Big Cat/Little Wandle series), graded reading schemes, revision guides, dictionaries in 26 languages, atlases, ELT materials, and digital subscription platforms (Collins Hub, Collins Adapt). The business generates revenue through one-time physical book sales, recurring digital subscriptions, and licensing of reference content to third parties.
Product overview
Collins Primary is an educational publishing division of HarperCollins Publishers, offering a comprehensive portfolio of print and digital educational resources. The core offering includes structured phonics programmes (Big Cat/Little Wandle series), handwriting resources, geography curriculum, and revision materials for primary and secondary schools. Key platforms include The Collins Hub and Collins Adapt for digital subscriptions, while imprints such as Barrington Stoke (dyslexia-friendly publishing) and Collins Bartholomew (mapping) extend the portfolio. Digital products encompass Collins eBooks and the Collins Dictionary API for licensing. The company serves UK schools, international schools (Cambridge International, IB, Caribbean curricula), and individual consumers through an e-commerce platform.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Little Wandle: Phonics and handwriting education programmes for primary schools, including Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, Little Wandle Code, and Little Wandle Handwriting.
- Big Cat
- Barrington Stoke
- Collins Hub
- Collins Adapt
- Leckie
- Collins Bartholomew
- Book Squad
Products and services
- Big Cat for Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Award-winning books and resources supporting early reading, aligned with the Letters and Sounds Revised phonics programme for UK primary schools.
- Little Wandle Code Phonics intervention programme for KS3 featuring fully decodable anthologies and workbooks to support students not meeting age-related expectations in secondary school.
- Little Wandle Handwriting Structured handwriting programme developed in partnership with Little Wandle, providing print resources for teaching handwriting skills in primary schools.
- Big Cat for Little Wandle Fluency Collection of 100 chapter books supporting children to become fluent readers through levelled reading practice for ages 4-11.
- Story Talk (Big Cat) Complete programme supporting early language development that places books at the heart of every session for young learners.
- Discover Geography Geography curriculum supporting KS3 Geography National Curriculum for England, Cambridge Lower Secondary Humanities and IB MYP Individuals and Societies.
- The Collins Hub Digital platform providing access to Collins digital resources and subscriptions for schools and educators, with individual and school-wide subscription tiers.
- Collins Adapt Digital learning platform offering adaptive educational content and resources for schools.
- Book Squad Reading programme and platform supporting the National Year of Reading, providing books and free resources to encourage reading for pleasure in schools.
- Collins Dictionaries World-renowned dictionaries available for learners of English and bilingual dictionaries in 26 languages, available for licensing to third-party publishers and digital businesses.
- Collins Maps & Atlases Maps and atlases published by Collins, The Times and A-Z brands, including National Geographic Kids books, produced through the Collins Bartholomew division.
- Collins ELT (English Language Teaching) Resources for English language learners including COBUILD dictionaries, Agatha Christie ELT readers, and examination preparation materials.
- Collins eBooks Digital versions of Collins print books accessible via registration with a code found in purchased books, available for three years upon activation.
- Collins Wordbanks Online Corpus resources platform providing access to the unique language data underlying the Collins dictionary range for language professionals and researchers.
- Collins Easy Learning Revision and practice books for primary and secondary students covering various subjects and age groups for home and school use.
- Collins Cambridge IGCSE International GCSE study resources covering multiple subjects including Mandarin Chinese as a Foreign Language for international schools following the Cambridge pathway.
- Leckie Student Books Scottish educational resources under the Leckie imprint including National 5 English textbooks aligned with the CfE (Curriculum for Excellence).
- Barrington Stoke Dyslexia-friendly publishing imprint offering accessible books including Little Gems for ages 5+ and hi-lo fiction for ages 7-13+.
- Collins Bartholomew Mapping and atlas publishing division producing global digital map data and bespoke maps for private and public sector organisations.
Companies that use Collins Primary
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Collins Primary technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Collins Primary partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Little WandlecoreCollins partnered with Little Wandle to produce print resources supporting the Little Wandle Handwriting programme. The partnership includes the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised reading programme and the Little Wandle Code KS3 phonics intervention programme.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Collins Primary competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Pearson Education: Largest dedicated education publisher globally, with a deep K–12 and English Language Teaching portfolio (including Pearson Edexcel, Phonics Bug, and Bug Club). Directly comparable to Collins on curriculum-aligned print and digital resources for UK and international schools.
- Scholastic: Global children's book and education publisher with reading programmes (e.g., Scholastic Reading Club, guided reading). Overlaps directly with Collins' Big Cat reading scheme and primary school book club market in the UK and US.
- CGP Books: UK-based educational publisher best known for affordable revision and practice books for KS2, KS3, GCSE, and A-Level. Directly competes with Collins' Easy Learning revision range on price-led, school-and-parent-facing study guides.
- Hodder Education: UK educational imprint of Hachette, publishing textbooks and revision resources for primary, secondary, and vocational qualifications. Comparable to Collins on core curriculum textbooks and teacher-resource market positioning.
- Rising Stars (OUP): UK primary-focused educational imprint of Oxford University Press offering reading schemes, test papers, and curriculum resources. Closely comparable to Collins' Big Cat and primary assessment product set.
- Oxford University Press (Education): Major UK-based educational publisher with primary, secondary, and international schools programmes (including Oxford Reading Tree and Rising Stars). Direct competitor across phonics, reading schemes, dictionaries (Oxford dictionaries), and core curriculum resources.
- Cambridge University Press & Assessment (Education): Publisher of Cambridge Primary, Lower Secondary, IGCSE, and IB resources and English language teaching materials. Highly comparable to Collins on the international schools side, particularly Cambridge Pathway curriculum support.
Broad incumbents
- BBC Bitesize: Free, publicly funded digital learning platform aligned to the UK national curriculum. Represents a free substitute for Collins' revision and curriculum resources, particularly for cost-constrained UK state schools and home educators.
Emerging players
- National Geographic Kids (Books): Children's nonfiction and reading book programme. Collins actually distributes National Geographic Kids readers and is mapped to the same retail and school channels; competitive overlap on nonfiction reading scheme titles for primary schools.
- Twinkl: Digital-first educational resource platform offering subscription-based teaching materials, lesson plans, and worksheets to UK and international schools. An emerging disruptor to print-led publishers like Collins, particularly in the primary and home-educator segments.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Collins Primary social profiles
Digital presenceCollins Primary financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Collins Primary leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Collins Primary subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries7 records
Collins Primary funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Collins Primary M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Collins Primary
What does Collins Primary do?
Collins Primary is the educational publishing division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, producing structured print and digital educational resources for primary and secondary schools and home educators. Its core portfolio includes phonics programmes (Big Cat/Little Wandle series), graded reading schemes, revision guides, dictionaries in 26 languages, atlases, ELT materials, and digital subscription platforms (Collins Hub, Collins Adapt). The business generates revenue through one-time physical book sales, recurring digital subscriptions, and licensing of reference content to third parties.
Is Collins Primary a public or private company?
Collins Primary is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Collins Primary founded?
Collins Primary was founded in 1819. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Collins Primary based?
Collins Primary is headquartered in Glasgow, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Collins Primary make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Physical Book Sales are the primary driver. The others are digital Subscription Services and licensing and Rights.
Who are Collins Primary's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Pearson Education, Scholastic, CGP Books, Hodder Education, Rising Stars (OUP), Oxford University Press (Education) and Cambridge University Press & Assessment (Education). BBC Bitesize is listed as a broad incumbent. Emerging players are National Geographic Kids (Books) and Twinkl.
Does Collins Primary have an API?
Yes. The Collins Dictionary API allows integration of Collins definitions, translations, examples, phrases, audio pronunciations and more. Available for licensing by third parties who wish to integrate Collins dictionary content. Developer documentation is at www.collinsdictionary.com/collins-api.
What industry is Collins Primary in?
Collins Primary's product category is Educational Publishing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJABAA, K–12 Textbook Publishing (Core Curriculum), with a secondary code of EDAGAIAB, Early Readers & Phonics (Learn-to-Read). Its NAICS code is 513130 and its SIC code is 2731.