diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d152e571b0..38386ca373 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -18,34 +18,39 @@ Binary installation of CIL can be achieved with `conda`.
 
 We recommend using either [`miniconda`](https://docs.conda.io/projects/miniconda/en/latest) or [`miniforge`](https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge), which are both minimal installers for `conda`. We also recommend a `conda` version of at least `23.10` for quicker installation.
 
-Install a new environment using:
+Install a new minimal environment with CIL using:
 
 ```sh
-conda create --name cil -c conda-forge -c https://software.repos.intel.com/python/conda -c ccpi cil=24.3.0 ipp=2021.12
+conda create --name cil -c https://software.repos.intel.com/python/conda -c conda-forge -c ccpi cil=24.3.0
 ```
+A number of additional dependencies are required for specific functionality in CIL, these should be added to your environment as necessary. See the dependency table below for details.
 
-To install CIL and the additional packages and plugins needed to run the [CIL demos](https://github.com/TomographicImaging/CIL-Demos) install the environment with:
 
-```sh
-conda create --name cil -c conda-forge -c https://software.repos.intel.com/python/conda -c ccpi cil=24.3.0 ipp=2021.12 astra-toolbox=*=cuda* tigre ccpi-regulariser tomophantom ipykernel ipywidgets scikit-image
-```
-
-where:
-
-- `astra-toolbox=*=py*` enables CIL support for [ASTRA toolbox](http://www.astra-toolbox.com) CPU projector (2D Parallel beam only) (GPLv3 license)
-- `astra-toolbox=*=cuda*` (requires an NVIDIA GPU) enables CIL support for [ASTRA toolbox](http://www.astra-toolbox.com) GPU projectors (GPLv3 license)
-- `tigre` (requires an NVIDIA GPU) enables support for [TIGRE](https://github.com/CERN/TIGRE) toolbox projectors (BSD license)
-- `ccpi-regulariser` is the [CCPi Regularisation Toolkit](https://github.com/TomographicImaging/CCPi-Regularisation-Toolkit)
-- `tomophantom` can generate phantoms to use as test data [Tomophantom](https://github.com/dkazanc/TomoPhantom)
-- `ipykernel`  provides the IPython kernel for Jupyter (allowing jupyter notebooks to be run)
-- `ipywidgets` enables visulisation tools within jupyter noteboooks
+#### Binary packages and dependencies
+While building the CIL package we test with specific versions of dependencies. These are listed in the [build.yml](https://github.com/TomographicImaging/CIL/blob/master/.github/workflows/build.yml) GitHub workflow and [environment-test.yml](https://github.com/TomographicImaging/CIL/blob/master/scripts/requirements-test.yml). The following table tries to resume the tested versions of CIL and its required and optional dependencies. If you use these packages as a backend please remember to cite them in addition to CIL.
 
-### Dependencies
+| Package | Tested Version |  Conda install command | Description | License |
+|----|----|--------|--------|----|
+| [Python](https://www.python.org/) | 3.10 - 3.12 | `"python>=3.10,<=3.12"` || [PSF-2.0](https://docs.python.org/3/license.html) |
+| [Numpy](https://github.com/numpy/numpy) | 1.23 - 1.26 | `"numpy>=1.23,<2"` || [BSD-3-Clause](https://numpy.org/doc/stable/license.html) |
+| [IPP](https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/tools/oneapi/ipp.html#gs.gxwq5p) | 2021.12 | `-c https://software.repos.intel.com/python/conda ipp=2021.12` | The Intel Integrated Performance Primitives Library (required for the CIL recon class). | [ISSL](http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/articles/license/end-user-license-agreement.html) |
+|--|--| **Optional dependencies** |--|--|
+| [ASTRA toolbox](http://www.astra-toolbox.com) | 2.1 | CPU: `conda-forge::astra-toolbox=2.1=py*` <br> GPU: `conda-forge::astra-toolbox=2.1=cuda*` | CT projectors, FBP and FDK. | [GPL-3.0](https://github.com/astra-toolbox/astra-toolbox/blob/master/COPYING) |
+| [TIGRE](https://github.com/CERN/TIGRE) | 2.6 | `ccpi::tigre=2.6` | CT projectors, FBP and FDK. | [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/CERN/TIGRE/blob/master/LICENSE.txt) |
+| [CCPi Regularisation Toolkit](https://github.com/TomographicImaging/CCPi-Regularisation-Toolkit) | 24.0.1 | `ccpi::ccpi-regulariser=24.0.1` | Toolbox of regularisation methods. | [Apache-2.0](https://github.com/TomographicImaging/CCPi-Regularisation-Toolkit/blob/master/LICENSE) |
+| [TomoPhantom](https://github.com/dkazanc/TomoPhantom) | [2.0.0](https://github.com/dkazanc/TomoPhantom/releases/tag/v2.0.0) | `ccpi::tomophantom=2.0.0` | Generates phantoms to use as test data. | [Apache-2.0](https://github.com/dkazanc/TomoPhantom/blob/master/LICENSE) |
+| [ipykernel](https://github.com/ipython/ipykernel) || `ipykernel` | Provides the IPython kernel to run Jupyter notebooks. | [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/ipython/ipykernel/blob/main/LICENSE) |
+| [ipywidgets](https://github.com/jupyter-widgets/ipywidgets) || `ipywidgets` | Enables visualisation tools within jupyter noteboooks. | [BSD-3-Clause](https://github.com/jupyter-widgets/ipywidgets/blob/main/LICENSE) |
 
-CIL's [optimised FDK/FBP](https://github.com/TomographicImaging/CIL/discussions/1070) `recon` module requires:
+We maintain an environment file with the required packages to run the [CIL demos](https://github.com/TomographicImaging/CIL-Demos) which you can use to create a new environment. This will have specific and tested versions of all dependencies that are outlined in the table above: 
 
-1. the Intel [Integrated Performance Primitives](https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/tools/oneapi/ipp.html#gs.gxwq5p) Library ([license](https://www.intel.com/content/dam/develop/external/us/en/documents/pdf/intel-simplified-software-license-version-august-2021.pdf)) which can be installed via conda from the `https://software.repos.intel.com/python/conda` channel.
-2. [TIGRE](https://github.com/CERN/TIGRE), which can be installed via conda from the `ccpi` channel.
+```sh
+conda env create -f https://tomographicimaging.github.io/scripts/env/cil_demos.yml
+```
+Or for a CPU-only environment which will work for a limited number of [CIL demos](https://github.com/TomographicImaging/CIL-Demos)
+```sh
+conda env create -f https://tomographicimaging.github.io/scripts/env/cil_demos_cpu.yml
+```
 
 ### Docker