Why a free download asks for your email
One code, once - what we ask for before a paper downloads, why it is asked, and what it does not sign you up to.
Every paper in the library is free. Before the file arrives you are asked for an email address, and then for a short code sent to it. That is the whole of it - but it is a fair thing to be suspicious of, so here is exactly what it is for.
The page is open; the file is the gate
Nothing you can read is behind the form. The paper analyses, the chapter weightages, every knowledge-base article, all of it is open to anyone including a search engine. What the code sits in front of is the download itself.
That distinction is deliberate and it is the test we hold ourselves to: gate the action, never the content. A site that hid the explanation behind an email form would be using your child's examination as bait, and the reading is the part that helps.
Why a code, and not just an address
An address typed into a box is a claim. A code returned from it is a check. We ask for the second because of what sits on the other end: the download link is sent to that address, and an address entered wrongly - or entered by somebody else - sends a stranger a link and leaves a parent waiting for an email that is never coming.
It also keeps the library from being harvested wholesale by anything that can fill in a form, which is the difference between a free library and a free library that stays up.
What you are not signing up to
This is the part most worth knowing, and it surprises people: verifying that code does not create an account. There is no password, no profile and nothing to sign in to. It records that this address asked for this paper and may have it.
- No password is set, because there is nothing to log in to.
- No student details are asked for at any point - not a name, not a school, not a mark.
- What we hold, why, and how to have it deleted is set out in the privacy notice.
We ask the parent, never the child. Nothing in this step collects information about a student, and that is a rule about what this company will build rather than a setting somebody could change.
How long the link lasts
Forty-eight hours. After that the link stops working and you ask for the paper again - the same address, a fresh code, no cost and no penalty. Our page on an expired download link covers what to do when you meet one.
Sources
Facts last checked against these sources on 16 September 2026.
About the author
Founder Member & Director
An MBA (Finance and Strategy) with over 16 years across strategy, technology and operations. At TRUtesting he makes sure the platform is built to serve schools reliably and at scale.
Prabhjeet Singh on LinkedIn
