Data catalogue/ Schools
Schools data
Find schools near properties and postcodes in England — with school phase, age range, pupil numbers, type, and straight-line distance. Data sourced directly from the DfE's GIAS register: ~27,000 open establishments in England, updated with each release. Ofsted inspection ratings are being integrated and will be available soon.
Available to every account. Pay as you go — 100 tokens = £1. Nearby schools 1 token a call.
One call. Every school nearby. Pass a postcode or lat/lng — get back a ranked list of nearby schools with the full DfE record. Filter by phase, Ofsted rating, or radius in a single request.
What's included
What's included
Ofsted rating→
Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, or Inadequate — plus the inspection date. Currently returns null while we import DfE inspection outcomes. Filter by Ofsted rating will work once data loads.
ofsted_rating
School phase & type→
Primary, Secondary, All-through, Nursery, Special, or PRU. Plus type group (academy, free school, LA maintained, independent).
phase, type_group
Straight-line distance→
Distance in km from the lookup point — sorted nearest first. Radius up to 10km, results capped at 50 per call.
distance_km
Pupil data→
Published roll, school capacity, and percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals — a useful deprivation proxy for area analysis.
school_capacity, percentage_fsm
Age range→
Statutory age range (e.g. 4–11, 11–18) and gender admission policy — boys, girls, or mixed. Useful for filtering relevant results per family.
age_range, gender
Contact & trust→
Head teacher name, telephone, website, and multi-academy trust affiliation. Enough to build a full school directory without a separate data source.
contact, trust.name
The API
Try it in one line
Lookup by postcode or lat/lng. Set your radius (default 0.5 miles, max 5 miles) and filter by phase. Ofsted rating filter available once inspection data loads.
Results cached 24h — fast on warm lookups.
Nearby schools1 token
Pass a postcode or lat/lng — get back a ranked list of nearby schools with the full DfE record.
curl "https://api.homedata.co.uk/schools/nearby" \ -H "Authorization: Api-Key YOUR_KEY" \ -G \ -d "postcode=SW17+9BU" \ -d "radius=0.5" \ -d "phase=Secondary"
import requests
r = requests.get(
"https://api.homedata.co.uk/schools/nearby",
headers={"Authorization": "Api-Key YOUR_KEY"},
params={"postcode": "SW17 9BU", "radius": 0.5, "phase": "Secondary"}
)
schools = r.json()["schools"]
{
"schools": [
{
"urn": 101086,
"name": "Graveney School",
"type": "Community school",
"type_group": "Local authority maintained",
"phase": "Secondary",
"gender": "Mixed",
"age_range": "11-18",
"number_of_pupils": 1380,
"school_capacity": 1450,
"percentage_fsm": 14.2,
"ofsted": null,
"address": {
"street": "Welham Road",
"locality": "Tooting",
"town": "London",
"county": "Greater London",
"postcode": "SW17 9BU"
},
"local_authority": "Wandsworth",
"contact": {
"website": "graveney.org",
"telephone": "020 8682 7000",
"head_teacher": "Mr A. Compton"
},
"trust": null,
"location": { "lat": 51.4286, "lng": -0.1641 },
"distance_km": 0.84,
"distance_miles": 0.522
}
],
"ofsted_summary": {},
"meta": {
"total": 18,
"total_in_radius": 18,
"radius_miles": 0.5,
"source": "DfE GIAS — Get Information About Schools",
"coverage": "England (~27,000 open schools)"
}
}
Built for
Who uses schools data
School catchment is one of the most searched-for property criteria. Any platform where buyers, renters, or parents make location decisions needs it.
Property portals
Display catchment schools on every listing. Filter search results by Ofsted rating or secondary school. Buyers consistently rank schools in their top 3 search criteria.
Conveyancers
Generate property reports that include schools as part of local area intelligence. One API call per UPRN gives you everything a buyer needs to make an informed decision.
Mortgage brokers
Validate family suitability for a property at application stage. Combine with crime, flood, and transport data for a complete area due-diligence pack.
Property analytics
Study the relationship between Outstanding school proximity and price premium in any postcode district in England. Premium school catchment areas command 10–25% over comparable non-catchment streets.
Relocation services
Help families shortlist areas by school options. Surface Outstanding secondaries within a defined commute radius of a workplace postcode — in a single compound query.
Rental platforms
Apply school quality filters to rental search — families paying premium rent want to know why a postcode commands that price. Outstanding schools are often the answer.
Data sources
DfE GIAS — the authoritative source
Get Information About Schools (GIAS) is the Department for Education's official register. It's what Ofsted, the BBC, and every major school comparison site uses. We query it directly — no third-party resellers.
Coverage is England only (~27,000 open establishments). Schools in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland have separate registers — contact us if you need devolved nation coverage.
- Get Information About Schools ↗ — the DfE register of ~27,000 open establishments in England.
Related data
Pair it with
All eight data groups
Schools data for every account
Every account reaches schools alongside all core and risk data — pay as you go, 100 tokens = £1, first top-up matched 100%.
100 tokens = £1 • First top-up matched 100% • Tokens never expire