Got a question?

There's nothing we like better than having a good old chin‑wag with our customers. So if there's anything we can help you with, just give us a call on 0870 750 1262 or email us at customerservices@cgpbooks.co.uk.

Having said that… if it's 4 o'clock in the morning, we may well be in bed. Sorry! So here are a few infrequently asked questions that might get you through the night.

How do I place an order?

Ordering our books is really easy. You can do it here through our website, or in one of the four ways below. Just choose whichever one suits you best:

  • By phone: 0870 750 1242 (+44 1229 719000 — overseas)
  • By fax: 0870 750 1292 (+44 1229 775371 — overseas)
  • By email: orders@cgpbooks.co.uk
  • By 'snail' mail: CGP, Kirkby in Furness, Cumbria, LA17 7WZ, UK

I don't live in the UK. Can I still order your books?

Definitely — we love spreading the CGP 'word' all around the world. Just contact us by one of the methods above and we'll get back to you with a quote including your shipping costs. We should point out that overseas deliveries may be subject to national customs and import charges which are outside our control. Parcels may also be opened and inspected by customs authorities, so it's important that you comply with your country's laws and regulations. If you're not sure what these are, we'd recommend that you contact your local customs office to find out.

How can I pay for my order?

If you're ordering online, we'll take your payment by credit or debit card. But if place your order a different way, you can make payment in any of these simple ways:

  • By sterling cheque: made payable to 'CGP' and posted to CGP, Kirkby‑in‑Furness, Cumbria, LA17 7WZ
  • By credit / debit card: by phone (or online)
  • By bank transfer: just ask us for our bank details

If you're a school or retail customer in the UK or overseas, we'd also be happy to look into opening a credit account for you with 30‑day terms.

How do I know it's safe to order from your site?

Because we cross our hearts and hope to die.

Oh and… because we use a secure Sage Pay payment site for your card details — so you can rest assured your card details won't get hacked, pinched or cloned and we won't keep hold of any of your payment data. Even better than that, all the personal details you give us are protected by a secure SSL server and we promise we'll never flog them to anyone else.

If you'd like to find out more about our website security, have a look at our privacy, security and data protection statements.

How much do you charge for postage and packaging?

We offer fab FREE delivery to all students, parents and tutors in the UK for orders over £20 and there's a £2.50 delivery charge for orders that fall below that amount.

UK schools and retail customers receive FREE delivery on orders over £40, with the following handling charges for smaller orders:

  • Orders below £20 = £2
  • Orders of £20 — £40 = £1

For European schools, postage is FREE for orders of £50 and over.

For schools outside Europe, postage is FREE for orders of £500 and over.

For smaller overseas school orders and for other international customers, shipping costs are individually calculated based on size, weight and destination country.

We're also able to arrange delivery to UK shippers for international customers who'd prefer to make their own arrangements.

To find out about delivery charges for a specific order, just give us a call on 0870 750 1262 (+44 1229 719000 from overseas) or email us at customerservices@cgpbooks.co.uk.

When will I receive my order?

We're really proud to say that we despatch all orders on the same day as they're placed, provided it's a weekday and we receive them by 5pm. That means that, if you live in the UK, your order should arrive the very next working day!

All UK orders are sent by First Class post or courier, depending on the size of the order. First Class post should pop through your letterbox the day after we despatch it. Our courier (Fedex) doesn't deliver on weekends and they'll only leave your parcel if there's someone at home to receive it. If there isn't, they'll leave you a calling card and keep your parcel at their depot until they receive further instructions.

All international orders are sent by Airmail or courier (TNT) and delivery times vary for each country.

If you're at all worried that an order is missing in action, please call us on 0870 750 1262 and we'll sort everything out for you.

Can I track my order?

Ah… you've got us on that one. You can't track your order for one very simple reason — UK orders should be with you the day after they're placed. So we didn't think you'd really want to stay up all night to monitor your parcel making its way along the M6.

What's the best soil pH for growing kohl rabi?

About 7, so you'll need to add lime if you've got acidic soil.

What if I want to return something?

Not a problem! We want you to be 100% satisfied with everything you receive from us — if you're not, we've got a brilliant 30‑day no quibbles returns policy. If you'd like to return anything to us, just give us a ring on 0870 750 1262 or email us at customerservices@cgpbooks.co.uk and we'll sort out the details for you. As well as this, you're also entitled to a statutory cooling off period of seven business days.

How come there are two different prices for one book?

We have one price which is for UK schools and an RRP which is the price for all other customers. We know the school price is much cheaper and we know that might not seem fair to everyone else. However, the only reason we can offer these prices to schools is because they order very large quantities of our products, year after year.

Here's a brief explanation of all our prices and discounts:

  • UK schools receive specially discounted prices
  • Private individuals, tutors and home educators in the UK receive our retail prices with discounts based on their total order value:
    • Order total of £20 — £40 = 10% discount
    • Order total over £40 = 20% discount
  • Overseas schools receive our retail prices with a 10% discount on orders over £20 (click here for information about shipping rates for overseas schools).
  • Overseas private individuals, tutors and home educators receive our retail prices with a 10% discount on orders of £20 or more.
  • Retail customers (bookshops and wholesalers in the UK or overseas) receive our retail prices with discounts available.

Do you charge VAT?

Books are zero-rated for VAT so there’s no VAT charge for those. We charge VAT at the going rate on our digital products, though the good news is that if your school, institution or business is VAT registered you’ll be able to claim all the VAT back.

What's all this about free samples?

We're so proud of our books that we'll happily send out FREE sample copies to UK schools to prove it. Just let us know which ones you'd like to see and they'll be on your desk before you know it.

We're very sorry, but we can't send free samples to all our customers or we'd go bankrupt. Instead, we've loaded lots of lovely sample and contents pages for all our books onto our website — this should give you a little taster.

Our school is having a fete/gala/parents evening — can we sell your books?

Of course you can, we’ve got a CGP Book Stall service that’s just the ticket.

Do you publish books in large print or Braille?

We're sorry but we don't currently have any books available in large print or Braille. However, we have given permission to the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) to transcribe our publications. They've already transcribed some — you can search their library here http://librarycatalogue.rnib.org.uk. We can also grant permission for individuals to make their own enlargements of our material in individual cases. If you'd be interested in this, please drop us a line and we'll look into it for you.

I'm looking for a book, I've typed in the title / code… but it won't come up?

Ah… the only thing we can think of is that the product you're looking for might have gone out of stock. When this happens, the details magically disappear from our website until it's available to buy again. Other than that… we're not really sure why this has happened. But if you're having any trouble finding what you need, please get in touch — we're always happy to help.

How do I find your Site Map?

It's here... Site Map

Can I change my account details?

No you can't — you should have got them right to start with.

Just kidding! Of course you can. Just log in with your email and password and go to the My Details page. From here you'll be able to view all your details and update them 'til the cows come home. The only thing is we haven’t got this sorted for school accounts just yet — so if you want to change any school details just get in touch and we’ll do it for you.

I've forgotten my password — help!

Oops! Don't worry — it's easily done. All you need to do is go to the log in page and type your email address into the box provided. We'll email you back with your password. Easy‑peasy!

Why can't I check my order history?

We wish we could, but we can't show previous orders on the website. We'd be more than happy to tell you the details of these over the phone — feel free to give us a ring on 0870 750 1262.

I’ve just ordered a digital download, err, how do I download it?

We make a personalised version of our digital products for each customer. As soon as yours is ready we’ll send an email with some download instructions to the email address you gave us. All you’ll have to do is click a few buttons and, hey presto, it’ll be on your computer.

I’ve got a problem with one of your digital downloads

Oh no, we’re sorry about that. The easiest thing to do is give us a ring on 0870 750 1262 and we’ll sort it out for you straight away.

I have a burning desire to read some feature-length legal gubbins, do you have a page of Terms and Conditions?

Here you go… Terms and Conditions

What's the opposite of badger?

Well, we never said we knew all the answers.