Access

The National Archives strives to make access to our collection online and onsite as easy as possible for as many people as we can.

Our archival records are available in two ways: online or onsite. We recommend you try our extensive online services first where you can search the database and download some of the more popular records we have made available online. If you are unable to find what you are looking for online, you can visit us to see original records.

Find out what´s available online in our help pages

We have set up the Catalogue, which allows you to find details about the records we keep here. When you find the document you are looking for, you have two choices:

You can order records in advance of a visit or,
You can order (and quite often download) digital images of our records

A growing collection of born digital government records is available from Electronic Records Online.

Our busy education department makes sure that schools and colleges get hands on experience of historic documents. And we have used innovative methods, from open days and behind the scenes tours, to the widely admired Moving Here website, to involve the whole community in our work.

We also offer a wealth of information about records held elsewhere. The Access to Archives database contains catalogues describing archives held locally in England and Wales; and the National Register of Archives is the online resource for historical records created by individuals, families, businesses and organisations.

In addition to this, with the arrival of the government's Freedom of Information programme our work has become all the more accessible.