BBC Bitesize

On the 20th of April 2020 the BBC launched its biggest ever push on education with a 14-week programme of content designed to minimise disruption to children’s education and provide rhythm and routine during the coronavirus lockdown.  The initiative was rolled out rapidly when lockdown came into effect, but the content also needed to pass stringent quality controls so, when it came to choosing a transcription and captioning provider, the BBC needed a reliable vendor.

Take 1 has extensive experience delivering subtitles and transcription data for a number of BBC projects across multiple platforms.  As such, the team are familiar with the BBC’s technical, grammar and language requirements and are able to support delivery in multiple formats (including .SRT for social and the BBC EBU TTD format for online content.) 

Take 1 also has specific experience working on educational programming for the BBC as the company is responsible for providing transcriptions and subtitles for BBC Teach’s short-form content catalogue.  BBC Teach is a dedicated teaching resource site which aims to support educators by curating the best BBC videos, clips and other curriculum-related resources for use in the classroom.  The site covers 22 subjects ranging from early years to GCSE/Nationals and Highers, organised by subject and age group, to help teachers deliver lessons. 

For BBC Bitesize Daily, Take 1 provided transcripts and captions for hundreds of hours of programming delivered across BBC iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Bitesize website and app, BBC Four and BBC Sounds.  With three million children taking Bitesize Daily lessons on the first day the service was launched, the project required that Take 1 produce transcripts and captions for a high volume of content within a short timeframe; this was enabled by the company’s distributed workforce, supported by their proprietary, cloud-based infrastructure.  

Take 1 is really proud of the small part we’ve played (before, during and after lockdown) to make sure educational content is accessible to all learners.