Download Help
ParentsCentre contains documents for you to download in a variety of formats. Often there will be a web page version as well. We try to ensure that as many users as possible can open these documents. If you are unable to open a document, the following advice may be of help:
Document types
The following are the most common forms of documents available from the Department's websites along with links to sites where software can be downloaded for free.
- Adobe Acrobat files- Portable Document Files (PDF) can be opened on PC and
Macintosh machines. To read them, though, you need the specific Adobe Acrobat
Reader software. This can be downloaded for free from the
Adobe Acrobat Reader
website. - Microsoft Word and Excel files (xls) - Microsoft Word (doc) and Excel (xls)
documents can be opened by many but not all programs. If you are unable to open
a document it could be that you do not have the appropriate software. To check
the software on your machine, you can download a viewer from the Microsoft Viewer
site for free if you are a PC user.
Macintosh users who do not have Microsoft Office programmes installed will have to either download a different version of the document if available or order a postal copy. - Rich Text Format files (RTFs) are an alternative text file to Word. They can be opened by a much wider number of text editors on PCs and Macintoshes. A disadvantage of these files is that they take longer to download for multi-page documents.
Saving documents
Internet browsers save documents in a variety of ways which can often be confusing, so if you want to guarantee saving a document you can do the following:
- For PC users - right click on the link (a pop-up menu will appear) Scroll down the menu and click on 'Save Target As' You will then be prompted to choose a folder where you want to save the file Once you've saved the file and you want to open it, go to the folder you selected and double click on the file name.
- For Macintosh users - hold down the mouse button until the menu appears and then follow the instructions as per the PC user.
Browser upgrades
We have aimed to make ParentsCentre compatible with all browsers. However, if you are using an older browser (a level 3.0 browser for instance), you may see inconsistencies in the presentation of pages. It may help you to download a newer version of a browser to improve your general internet experience.
The following browsers are available to download for free:
If you are still unable to download a document, please contact the ParentsCentre team at downloadsupport@parentscentre.gov.uk
