. If possible, carry out tests over a few days and at different times of day.
Get advice from your broadband provider: If your connection isn’t working as well as it should, you can find advice on your broadband provider’s website. If you need to contact them for help, keep in mind that because of coronavirus some companies have fewer people to help with your queries.
This means that time spent on BBC Bitesize will not eat into your data allowance. This change will be applied automatically so you don't need to do anything.
BT is also in talks with Oak Academy to offer free access to Oak National content.
The phone provider has also asked the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish administrations to each suggest one online resource for school children. It plans to zero-rate the chosen website to help families outside of England.
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Low-income tariffs
Looking beyond lockdown, BT also offers a social tariff for low income families.
BT Basic costs just a £10 per month for broadband and phone line service with a priority connection.
BT Broadband
BT has removed all of its broadband caps, so none of its customers will have to deal with data limits on top of the pandemic.
The caps were removed on home broadband plans back in March 2020 so every customer has unlimited WiFi at home.
Be experiencing disruption to face-to-face education.
The additional data is administered through schools. That means your school, trust or council needs to have requested support on your behalf from the Department for Education.
If you think you qualify but haven't heard anything, speak to your child's teacher or the school administration.
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programme, you may be entitled to the freebies if you're at least 10 weeks pregnant or you have a child under four and you're on certain benefits, such as Universal Credit.
£500 free grant - In England, Northern Ireland and Wales you may be entitled to a Sure Start grant of £500 if you're on certain benefits and expecting your first child or expecting more than one baby - such as twins.To claim, you need to fill out the following and get your doctor or midwife to sign it.
Register the birth in time or face a £200 fine - You need to register the birth within 42 days of your baby being born with your local registry office. This costs £11 in England and Wales.
Update a will or update it - If you don't have a will, in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, where one parent dies, children will only inherit cash if the estate is worth more than £250,000 - otherwise all the money will go to the surviving spouse. If you don't want that to happen, you need to get a will stating your wishes.
Consider getting life insurance - No-one likes to think about death but if something happened to you, could the family survive without your salary? If not, you many want to consider life insurance. Use a comparison service to find not only the cheapest, but the most suitable cover for your needs.
Zero-rated resources
Virgin Media customers do not have to pay for data when it's used to access the Oak National Academy, a website with thousands of free lessons and resources.
Free educational programming
Virgin is also offering some of its TV channels for free - specifically those broadcasting factual shows.
Channels include Animal Planet, Crime+Investigation, Discovery Science, Eurospot and Sky History.
How to save on your mobile phone bill
NOT happy with your current mobile phone deal?
If you’re outside the minimum term of your contract then you won't need to pay a cancellation fee - and you might be able to find a cheaper deal elsewhere.
But don't just switch contracts because the price is cheaper than what you're currently paying.
Take a look at how many minutes and texts, as well as how much data you're using, to find out which deal is best for you.
For example, if you're a heavy internet user it's worth finding a deal that accomodates this so you don't end up spending extra on bundles or add-ons each month.
Also note that if you're still in your contract period, you might be charged an exit fee.
Ready to look elsewhere? Pay-as-you-go deals are better for people who don’t regularly use their phone, while monthly contracts usually work out cheaper for those who do.
It's worth using comparison websites, such as and , to compare tarrifs and phone prices.
also matches buyers to the best pay-monthly deal based on their previous three months of bills.
It only works if you’re a customer of EE, O2, Three, Vodafone or Tesco Mobile and you’ll need to log in with your online account details.
There's also which has a bill monitoring feature that recommends a tariff based on your monthly usage.
If you’re happy with your provider then it might be worth using your research to haggle a better deal.
O2
Free additional data
O2 is participating in the Department for Education free data scheme for home learning, offering families who are struggling with connectivity 40GB of free data.
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The free sites include Hungry Little Minds and the free school meal voucher site. O2 is also planning on adding Oak National Academy to the list.
Three
Three is providing unlimited data upgrades to disadvantaged school children in England.
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The upgrades are available for Three customers on Pay as You Go or any contract, and will be applied until the end of the school year in July.
Vodafone
Free data
Last year, Vodafone offered free SIM cards with 30GB of data to schools and colleges for disadvantaged students. These SIM cards are now entering circulation and starting to be used.
Vodafone has also signed for the Department for Education scheme, but there is no news so far about what the phone provider's plans are.
Great British Tech Appeal
Vodafone has also partnered with the children's charity Barnardo's to launch the great Tech appeal.
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The scheme encourages people to donate old devices such as phones and tablets, so they can be gifted to young children in need. As part of the scheme, Vodafone also provides six months of unlimited free data.
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