Schools near my postcode

How we work this out

In England we take every open school from the Department for Education's Get Information about Schools (read 17 October 2026): academies, free schools, council schools, special schools and independent schools. Each is placed at its postcode's centre point, as ONS gives it.

In Scotland we take the Scottish Government's School Roll and Locations, and in Wales the Welsh Government's list of maintained schools (both read 27 October 2026). Each school there is placed where its government places it. Their lists hold council and grant-aided schools, not independent ones, and we leave out their special and nursery schools. A Scottish school with a primary and a secondary department is one all-through school.

For a postcode we list the four nearest primary schools and the three nearest secondary schools to its centre point, by straight-line distance, within 8 km, whichever side of a border they are. A school for ages 4 to 18 counts as both. Pupils are as each school last told its government; only England's list gives places.

Is the nearest school the one my child will get into?

Not always. Distance is not a catchment: each council, or each academy trust, sets its own admission rules, and the council's admissions team has them. We do not hold catchments.

Does this cover Wales and Scotland?

Yes. Scottish schools come from the Scottish Government and Welsh ones from the Welsh Government. Scotland's list gives no ages, so we show none; a Welsh school shows whether it teaches in Welsh, in English or in both. Northern Ireland is not covered.

What does this not tell me?

How good a school is. We do not hold inspection grades or results: GOV.UK's school performance tables have them for England, My Local School for Wales, and each school's inspection reports from Education Scotland for Scotland.