Data

Where it comes from

• Get Information about Schools (DfE): type, ages, admissions policy, pupils, capacity and location of schools in England.
• School contact details (Scottish Government): every publicly funded school in Scotland open at 31 July 2026, with its SEED code, address, departments, denomination, medium of education (English or Gaelic) and Gaelic for learners. Independent schools are on a separate register, which is not used yet.
• School Roll and Locations (Scottish Government, the 2023 edition, the latest published): the point of each school. About twenty newer schools are placed by postcode.
• School level summary statistics (Scottish Government): the September 2025 pupil and teacher census for each school.
• Leaver results by school (Scottish Government, via data.gov.scot): positive destinations, literacy and numeracy and tariff points for secondary schools, 2015/16 to 2024/25, each with the school’s virtual comparator.
• Care Services Datastore (Care Inspectorate, 31 August 2026): Scotland’s registered day care of children services, with their grades.
• Address list of schools (Welsh Government): every maintained school, independent school and pupil referral unit in Wales, with its language category, governance, religious character, address, phone number and pupils (the January school census).
• DataMapWales (Welsh Government): the location of each maintained school in Wales. Independent schools and pupil referral units are placed by postcode.
• StatsWales (Welsh Government): the school census summary by school, for free school meals, additional learning needs and first language.
• Care service directory data extract (Care Inspectorate Wales, 17 October 2026): Wales’ registered day nurseries, pre-schools and crèches, with their ratings.
• School enrolment, school level data and Available places (Department of Education, Northern Ireland): every grant-aided nursery, primary, post-primary (secondary and grammar) and special school, with its type, management type, district council, the October 2025 school census (pupils by year group, free school meal entitlement, special educational needs and newcomer pupils) and the places available for the 2025/26 school year. Independent schools are not in these files.
• School Locations (Department of Education, on OpenDataNI, February 2016): the point of each school, used only where the school’s postcode is unchanged; otherwise it is placed by its postcode. The Department’s pre-school playgroups and day nurseries are placed by postcode.
• Inspection reports (Education and Training Inspectorate): each report’s page, matched to a school or pre-school by the Department reference it prints, and linked with its title and date. For reports of 2012 to 2020, the table of overall findings in the report, as ETI printed it.
• Ofsted: latest inspection outcomes, updated monthly, with further education data for colleges and the Early Years Register for day nurseries and pre-schools. Also Parent View, its survey of parents, updated three times a year.
• Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI): reports on independent schools, linked to isi.net and not copied. The latest also shows whether the Independent School Standards were met.
• Explore Education Statistics (DfE): KS2, GCSE, A level and other 16 to 18 results, destinations, school census and applications and offers.
• Compare School and College Performance (DfE): school results from years before Explore Education Statistics holds them at school level (KS2, GCSE and 16 to 18 from 2015/16 to 2018/19, and GCSE 2021/22), the earliest years from the UK Government Web Archive’s copy of that site. Nothing was published for 2019/20 and 2020/21.
• OS Code-Point Open: postcode locations in Great Britain.
• ONS Postcode Directory (with Land & Property Services data): postcode locations in Northern Ireland, which Code-Point Open does not cover. Terminated postcodes are left out.
• OS Open Names: place names for search in England, Scotland and Wales.
• OSNI Open Data Gazetteer (Land & Property Services): place names for search in Northern Ireland.
• AEFE, via data.gouv.fr: French-curriculum schools and extra sites.
• OpenStreetMap: nursery phone numbers and websites missing from DfE records, and the websites of Welsh schools (the Welsh Government's lists have none).
• Wikidata (CC0): school and nursery websites and phone numbers the official lists lack, in every nation. It only fills gaps: a figure from the official register is always the one shown.

Inspection outcomes

This part is about England. Schools in Scotland are inspected by Education Scotland (see Scotland) and in Wales by Estyn (see Wales) and in Northern Ireland by the Education and Training Inspectorate (see Northern Ireland).

Ofsted has used three different systems, so grades from different eras aren’t comparable.

• Report cards, from November 2025: each area is graded 1 to 5, Exceptional to Urgent improvement. Safeguarding is met or not met. There is no overall grade.
• September 2024 to November 2025: a judgement for each area, with no overall grade.
• 2019 to August 2024: one overall grade, Outstanding to Inadequate.

Ungraded inspections only check a school has kept its standard. After an academy conversion, the latest inspection may be of the predecessor school. Independent schools are inspected by ISI instead: its reports are linked, and the latest shows whether the Independent School Standards were met.

What parents said

Each bar is the share of parents giving each answer, with the share who agreed or strongly agreed beside it and England’s figure under it (independent schools: all independent schools), over the same days.

• Replies: about 1 in 100 parents reply, so figures can shift a lot. Only schools with 10 or more replies appear; each result gives the count and the date replies run to.
• Release: Ofsted publishes in January, April and September. A school shows its newest release that includes it, so the date can be from an earlier year.
• Question sets: from November 2025 (new questions) or September 2021 to September 2025 (14 questions, no “neither” answer, so agree shares run a little higher). England’s figure is from the same set and year; sets and years are never mixed.
• Some bars cover fewer parents: bullying, SEND and concerns count only those parents; the note under the bar says about how many. Boarding questions go to boarding schools only.
• Not shown: Ofsted withheld the figure because it rests on very few replies.

The questions asked

Parents answer each statement from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The short wording on each row, and the full question:

From November 2025

• Child is happy at school: “My child is happy at this school”
• Child feels safe: “My child feels safe at this school”
• Pupils are well behaved: “The school makes sure its pupils are well behaved”
• Gets the right support to learn: “The school gives my child the right support to enable them to learn well”
• School communicates well: “The school communicates well with me about the things I need to know”
• Acts in child’s best interests: “When the school makes decisions it has the child’s best interests at heart”
• Concerns are dealt with properly: “When I have raised concerns with the school they have been dealt with properly”
• Bullying dealt with quickly: “When the bullying took place the school dealt with it quickly and effectively”
• Gets the SEND support they need: “The school gives them the support they need to succeed (parents of a child with special educational needs or disabilities)”
• Enjoys boarding, feels cared for: “My child enjoys boarding and feels well cared for”
• Warm and comfortable: “My child is warm enough and comfortable in the residential accommodation”
• Boarding helps their progress: “The experience of boarding/welfare helps my child’s progress and development”
• Easy to contact boarding staff: “I can easily contact the staff who care for my child”
• Overall view of boarding: “Your overall view of the boarding or residential provision”
• Would recommend: “Would you recommend this school to another parent?”
• Positive overall: “Your overall view of the school” (positive, neutral or negative)

September 2021 to September 2025

• Child is happy at school: “My child is happy at this school”
• Child feels safe: “My child feels safe at this school”
• Pupils are well behaved: “The school makes sure its pupils are well behaved”
• School has high expectations: “The school has high expectations for my child”
• Child does well: “My child does well at this school”
• Told what child will learn: “The school makes me aware of what my child will learn during the year”
• Told how child is doing: “The school lets me know how my child is doing”
• Good range of subjects: “There is a good range of subjects available to my child at this school”
• Can join clubs and activities: “My child can take part in clubs and activities at this school”
• Supports personal development: “The school supports my child’s wider personal development”
• Concerns are dealt with properly: “When I have raised concerns with the school they have been dealt with properly”
• Bullying dealt with quickly: “My child has been bullied and the school dealt with the bullying quickly and effectively”
• Gets the SEND support they need: “My child has SEND, and the school gives them the support they need to succeed”
• Would recommend: “I would recommend this school to another parent” (yes or no)

Exam results

These are England’s results. Scottish secondary schools’ leaver results are described under Scotland. Welsh secondary schools’ results are described under Wales.

Results are shown beside the England average for the same year (state-funded schools; for 16 to 18, state-funded schools and colleges). KS2 uses a scaled score where 100 is the expected standard, Attainment 8 is the average score across eight subjects, and for progress measures 0 is average.

Hidden means the DfE withheld the figure to protect pupils’ privacy. There is no KS2 progress or Progress 8 for 2024/25, because baselines were cancelled during COVID.

Attainment 8 for 2015/16 is not shown: it was scored before the 9 to 1 grades and cannot be read against later years. That year’s English and maths measure was grades A* to C, not 9 to 4 or 9 to 5, so it is not shown either. Applied general and tech level qualifications were given new points in 2017/18, so their average grade is shown from then.

16 to 18 progress is value added against students with similar GCSE results (0 is average), shown with DfE’s band. Destinations run a year behind the results; what they count is explained under Where leavers went.

Where leavers went

In England: After GCSEs (Year 11 leavers) and After sixth form (students finishing 16 to 18 study) are separate DfE figures, never added together. Each covers the group that left in the year shown, with destinations measured the year after. A figure DfE hides because the group is small is shown as a dash.

• After GCSEs: pupils finishing key stage 4 at state-funded mainstream and special schools, non-maintained special schools and alternative provision. Independent schools and pupils repeating Year 11 are not counted.
• After sixth form: students finishing 16 to 18 study at any level, at state-funded and independent schools and at colleges.

2015/16 to 2019/20 leavers

These are the figures DfE published at the time, in whole percents, on its earlier method. DfE has since recalculated them (employment from tax records alone, a new rule for who leaves 16 to 18 study) but reissued school-level figures only from 2020/21. After GCSEs the lasting-destination share runs about a point higher; after sixth form the group can be a different size. They are never compared with later years.

After sixth form, 2015/16 counts only students who took A levels or other level 3 qualifications (all leavers from 2016/17), so a college with many lower-level students has a much smaller group. That year is compared with no other.

The kinds of destination

• School sixth form (After GCSEs only): a state-funded school’s own sixth form, studying at level 3 or below.
• Sixth form college (After GCSEs only): a sixth form college, studying at level 3 or below.
• University (After sixth form only): a university or other higher education institution, studying at level 4 or above.
• Further education: a further education college or other further education provider, studying at level 3 or below. Further education courses taught at a university count here.
• Other education: any other education: independent schools, special schools, alternative provision, specialist post-16 institutions, and pupils who moved between kinds of place. After sixth form it also includes school sixth forms and sixth form colleges. Schools with many special or alternative provision pupils can show most leavers here.
• Apprenticeship: an apprenticeship funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency.
• Employment: a job, or training, recorded in official employment records.
• Not in a lasting destination: some education, apprenticeship or work in the year, but not for long enough to count as lasting, or a claim for out-of-work benefits.
• Activity not captured: no education, apprenticeship or work recorded and no benefit claim. They may have studied or worked abroad, or in Scotland or Wales, where the records don’t reach.

French schools

DfE exam tables don’t cover French exams. Sites run from another address, such as a lycée’s primary schools, are mapped as schools of their own. Addresses come from AEFE data last updated in 2014 and from school pages, kept only where a matching school is open.

Nurseries

In England: Council nursery schools, and day nurseries and pre-schools on Ofsted’s Early Years Register.

• Left out: childminders and withheld records.
• Location: a nursery with an unknown postcode is placed at the centre of its postcode sector.
• Inspections: Ofsted’s nursery data is published twice a year, months after inspections. A nursery inspected since then shows the report card from its Ofsted report until the data catches up. “Not yet inspected” gives the date it was last checked.

Wales

Care Inspectorate Wales’ registered full day care, sessional day care (playgroups, cylchoedd meithrin) and crèches, with maximum places.

• Left out: childminders, out-of-school care, open-access play, the people responsible and mobile numbers.
• Ratings: Excellent, Good, Adequate or Poor for each of four areas, as CIW prints them. There is no overall rating, and they are never set beside an Ofsted or Care Inspectorate (Scotland) grade.

Scotland

The Care Inspectorate’s active day care of children services (nurseries, playgroups, crèches, children and family centres), with registered places and grades.

• Left out: childminders, school-age childcare, holiday playschemes, services kept off its public list and mobile numbers.
• Nursery classes: a council nursery sharing its postcode and name with exactly one school is that school’s nursery class and appears in its panel, not as a point of its own.
• Grades: the latest for each key question, worded by the framework that graded it (a new one began in late September 2025). A service with grades from both is shown without grades. There is no overall grade.

Demand for places

England only: the DfE publishes these for England’s schools.

Councils’ main-round offers for Reception or Year 7, made each spring for that September. First choices per place compares families who put the school first with the places offered; above 1 means some first choices missed out. It isn’t your chance of getting in, which depends on the school’s admission rules and where you live.

Last distance offered

How far from the school the furthest child lived who was offered a place in the most recent admissions round.

• Not a catchment area: it changes every year, and children admitted under priority rules (siblings, faith, looked-after children) can live further away.
• Source: each council’s own admissions documents, which are the authority. A figure is the latest year the council has published, and its entry year is shown.

Scotland

Scottish figures are in the Scottish Government’s own terms, never set beside England’s or Wales’ or added to a score or ranking.

• Schools: the Scottish Government’s contact list of publicly funded schools (council and grant-aided). A primary and a secondary on one campus share a SEED code, so each stage is its own school, with its own figures. Placed by the School Roll and Locations (2023) point, or by postcode for a newer school.
• Census: counts from the September 2025 pupil and teacher census, with shares worked out from the count and the roll. Free school meals are registrations, not England’s eligibility figure (all P1 to P5 and special school pupils could receive them), so they are never compared. “Hidden” means suppressed because the group is small.
• Inspections: Education Scotland gradings (1 to 6 per quality indicator) from its one-off Freedom of Information releases, 2008 to May 2025. It inspects a sample of schools, so many have none. The two frameworks (to October 2016, and since) are shown separately, with no overall grade.
• Leaver results (secondary schools, each year from 2015/16 to 2024/25; 2024/25 leavers left in summer 2025). Scotland’s own measures, not GCSE or A level results, and years are never combined.
  • Attainment for all: average total tariff points of the lowest 20%, middle 60% and highest 20% of leavers. Tariff points are Scotland’s own scale.
  • Literacy and numeracy: the share of leavers with awards at SCQF level 4 or better, and level 5 or better (the level of a National 5).
  • Where leavers went: the share in a positive initial destination: higher or further education, training, employment, voluntary work or an activity agreement.
  • Comparator (dotted line, last column): the Scottish Government’s Insight virtual comparator. For each of the school’s leavers, ten leavers from other councils’ schools are picked who are similar: same stage (S4, S5 or S6), sex, additional support needs and area deprivation. The comparator is how those pupils did, so it shows what to expect from a similar intake.
• Nurseries: see Nurseries. Care Inspectorate grades are never set beside an Ofsted grade.

Wales

Welsh figures are in the Welsh Government’s own terms, never set beside England’s or added to a score or ranking.

• Schools: the Welsh Government’s address list (maintained schools, independent schools and pupil referral units), each with a school number.
• Language: the school language category: Welsh medium (including transitional), dual language or English medium. Special schools, independent schools and pupil referral units have none.
• Census: StatsWales’ school census summary for January. Pupil numbers are rounded to the nearest five. Free school meals are a three-year average, not a single year’s count like England’s, so they are never compared. “Too few to publish” means StatsWales withheld the figure because the group is small; it publishes zeros.
• Still learning English: the share of pupils whose home language isn’t English at stages A to C of five (A, new to English; B, early acquisition; C, developing competence; D, competent; E, fluent). A school with many bilingual children can show 0%.
• Estyn: each school’s page on Estyn’s site, matched by the school number in its My Local School link (or, for a page with none, by postcode and name): the follow-up category (special measures, significant improvement, or none) and every report it lists. The latest full inspection report’s recommendations are shown as the report prints them (its R1, R2 … list, or A1, A2 … for a school in follow-up), and an earlier report’s open from its row in the list; they are not graded and not ranked, and a report whose list can’t be read shows none. A school with no matching page has no Estyn tab; the coverage page lists those schools. Estyn has given no judgements since inspections restarted in 2022. When a school’s latest full inspection is older, its judgements are shown as the report prints them: five inspection areas from September 2017, or current performance, prospects for improvement and three key questions before that, each on a four-point scale (excellent, good, adequate, unsatisfactory). The panel shows each judgement as its first word: “adequate” stands for “adequate and needs improvement” and “unsatisfactory” for “unsatisfactory and needs urgent improvement” (the full phrase is the word’s tooltip). The two frameworks are never compared with each other or with an Ofsted grade. The reports are Crown copyright, reused under the terms each one prints and named by their titles.
• Results: for a secondary or middle school, the Welsh Government’s interim Key Stage 4 measures for Year 11 as My Local School publishes them (Welsh Government, Crown copyright, used with its permission): the Capped 9, literacy, numeracy, science and Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate points scores for the last three years. Each is shown beside Wales and beside the school’s family of schools, a group of similar schools chosen by the Welsh Government, which is not a school. They are Welsh measures, never set beside England’s GCSE results or Scotland’s leaver results, and not a rank. A school without Year 11 pupils, or with no figures, has no Results tab.
• Nurseries: see Nurseries. Care Inspectorate Wales’ ratings are never set beside an Ofsted grade.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland figures are in the Department of Education’s own terms, never set beside England’s, Scotland’s or Wales’ or added to a score or ranking.

• Schools: the grant-aided schools in the Department’s school-level files: nursery, primary (including preparatory departments), secondary, grammar and special, each with its seven-digit Department reference. Grammar schools admit by academic selection; other post-primary schools are shown as secondary.
• Management type: as the Department prints it: Controlled, Catholic Maintained, Other Maintained, Controlled Integrated, Grant Maintained Integrated or Voluntary. Irish-medium schools say so.
• Census: counts from the school census of 10 October 2025, with a share worked out only from two published numbers. Free school meals are entitlement, so they are never compared with England’s. Where the Department prints a marker (“fewer than five”, or a suppressed figure) it is shown, never a zero, and no share is worked out from it.
• Available places (nursery, primary and post-primary, 2025/26): approved enrolment, pupils on the roll at the census, supernumerary pupils and places left. They are not a chance of getting in: admission depends on each school’s criteria.
• Pre-schools: the playgroups and day nurseries in the Department’s pre-school education programme, with the children in funded places at the census.
• Inspection reports: the Education and Training Inspectorate’s reports for each school, newest first, matched by the Department reference they print. Reports of 2012 to 2020, and later follow-ups, sum up their findings (overall effectiveness and a level for each area).
• Postcodes (BT) are from the ONS Postcode Directory under Land & Property Services’ licence (see Licences).

Licences