Over its first decade, The TES established itself as a paper for teachers, though it was primarily aimed at those in private and grammar schools. King George V had recently begun his reign, and the paper noted that “some great resettlement of the English school system seems likely to take place”. The first issue of the monthly educational supplement appeared on September 6, 1910, opening with a witty weather forecast for the UK’s school systems. The idea for a regular section on education in The Times was first proposed in 1905 by J E G de Montmorency, a barrister and writer who later composed leader articles for The TES.
The publication has developed a popular website featuring teaching jobs, forums and free resources, uploaded by teachers. Data from the National Readership Survey Jan-Dec 2011 suggests that the average yearly readership is around 378,000, of which around 90 per cent are in the ABC1 category. The TES is published weekly on Fridays, at a cover price of £1.70. All are produced by publishers TSL, owned by private equity group Charterhouse.
An alternative version of the publication is produced for Scotland, TESS, which is edited by Gillie Macdonald. It covered higher education until the Times Higher Education Supplement (THE) was launched as a sister publication in 1971.
The TES focuses on school-related news and features. Such was its popularity that in 1914, the supplement became a separate publication selling for 1 penny. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in The Times newspaper. The Times Educational Supplement ( TES) is a weekly UK publication aimed primarily at school teachers in the UK.