Cookies and analytics
What we store on your device, and how we count visits without tracking you.
In short
- We use only essential cookies: to keep you signed in and to remember your choices.
- There are no advertising cookies and no social media trackers or tools that follow you around other sites.
- Google Analytics is optional and off unless you accept it. It is never loaded on children’s practice sessions, challenges, or signed-in family pages.
- We also count page views with our own simple system that uses no cookies and stores no IP addresses.
- This is a site for children, so we keep tracking to the minimum.
Cookies we set
| Name | What it does | How long | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
gs_session | Keeps you signed in. Holds a random code; only a scrambled copy is stored on our server. | Until midnight UK time on the day you sign in, or until you sign out | Essential |
gs_login_req | Lets the 6-digit sign-in code work in the browser that asked for it. Holds a random value. | 15 minutes | Essential |
gs_player | Remembers which player is selected on this device. | 1 year | Essential |
gs_consent | Remembers your cookie choice so we do not ask again. | 1 year | Essential |
Google Analytics (optional)
If you accept, Google Analytics sets the cookies below and sends anonymous usage data (pages viewed, time on page, rough location, device and browser) to Google, which provides the service. We use it only to understand which pages are used and to improve the site. We have switched off Google Signals and advertising personalisation, your IP address is anonymised, we do not send any user ID or personal details, and we ask Google to keep the data for no more than 2 months. Google may process data outside the UK. You can change your mind at any time below, and withdrawing removes the cookies.
| Name | What it does | How long | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Google Analytics: tells visitors apart so we can count how many people use each page. | 2 years | Analytics (only if you accept) |
_ga_ followed by an id | Google Analytics: keeps track of a visit, such as how long it lasts and which pages are seen. | 2 years | Analytics (only if you accept) |
Information kept in your browser
| Name | What it does | Type |
|---|---|---|
stats:* | Topic scores for free-sample practice, kept only in your browser. | Functional (your choice to use it) |
gs:a11y | Your accessibility choices: text size, font, spacing, contrast, movement and voice. | Functional (set by you) |
gs:no-count | Remembers that you asked us not to count your visits. | Functional (set by you) |
How we count visits ourselves
When a page loads, our own code records which page it was, which website sent you (if any), a rough device type (phone, tablet or computer) and a country code when available. It also keeps a “visitor code” made by scrambling your network address together with a secret and the date. The code changes every day, so we can tell roughly how many different people visited today but cannot follow anyone from one day to the next. We do not store your IP address, and nothing is stored on your device for this.
Pages that need you to be signed in, such as your account and reports, are never counted.
Your choices
- We respect the Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control settings in your browser: if either is on, your visit is not counted.
- You can also opt out here: