GET /api/v1/schools/nearby ~27,000 schools Starter plan required

Nearby Schools with Ofsted Ratings — for Any UK Property

Find schools near any UK property or postcode — with Ofsted ratings, age range, phase, pupil numbers, and straight-line distance. Data sourced directly from the DfE's GIAS register (~27,000 open establishments in England). PropertyData charges per call. We include it from Starter.

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School catchment data for any postcode.

One API call returns a ranked list of nearby schools — sorted by distance, filterable by phase or Ofsted rating. Each result includes the full DfE record: type, age range, pupil capacity, free school meals percentage, head teacher, and trust name.

Accepted lookup methods: postcode or lat + lng. Radius up to 5 miles. Results capped at 50 per call.

Pass a postcode or lat/lng

Set your radius (default 0.5 miles, max 5.0 miles).

Filter by phase or Ofsted grade

Optionally narrow to Primary, Secondary, Outstanding, etc.

Get ranked results with full DfE data

Distance, Ofsted rating, age range, pupil count — ready to render.

curl "https://homedata.co.uk/api/v1/schools/nearby?postcode=SW1A+2AA&radius=1.2" \
  -H "Authorization: Api-Key YOUR_API_KEY"

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://homedata.co.uk/api/v1/schools/nearby",
    params={
        "postcode": "SW1A 2AA",
        "radius": 1.2,
        "phase": "Primary",   # optional
        "ofsted": "Outstanding",  # optional
    },
    headers={"Authorization": "Api-Key YOUR_API_KEY"}
)

data = response.json()
for school in data["schools"]:
    print(school["name"], school["ofsted"]["rating"],
          f"{school['distance_km']} km")

const res = await fetch(
  "https://homedata.co.uk/api/v1/schools/nearby?postcode=SW1A+2AA&radius=1.2",
  { headers: { "Authorization": "Api-Key YOUR_API_KEY" } }
);
const { schools } = await res.json();

schools.forEach(s => {
  console.log(s.name, s.ofsted.rating, `${s.distance_km}km`);
});

Response

{
  "query": {
    "lat": 51.5014,
    "lng": -0.1419,
    "radius_miles": 1.2,
    "postcode": "SW1A 2AA",
    "phase": null,
    "ofsted": null
  },
  "count": 1,
  "total_in_radius": 12,
  "ofsted_summary": {
    "Outstanding": 4,
    "Good": 7,
    "Not yet inspected": 1
  },
  "schools": [
    {
      "urn": 100044,
      "name": "St James's Catholic Primary School",
      "type": "Voluntary aided school",
      "type_group": "Local authority maintained schools",
      "phase": "Primary",
      "gender": "Mixed",
      "religious_character": "Roman Catholic",
      "admissions_policy": "Non-selective",
      "age_range": "3-11",
      "number_of_pupils": 210,
      "school_capacity": 225,
      "percentage_fsm": 12.4,
      "ofsted": {
        "rating": "Outstanding",
        "last_inspection": "2023-06-14"
      },
      "address": {
        "street": "Endsleigh Street",
        "locality": null,
        "town": "London",
        "county": null,
        "postcode": "WC1H 0DX"
      },
      "local_authority": "Westminster",
      "contact": {
        "website": "https://stjamesprimary.org",
        "telephone": "02071234567",
        "head_teacher": "Mrs Sarah Jones"
      },
      "trust": null,
      "location": {
        "lat": 51.5241,
        "lng": -0.1307
      },
      "distance_km": 0.43,
      "distance_miles": 0.267
    }
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "source": "GIAS — DfE Get Information About Schools",
    "coverage": "England (~27,000 open schools)",
    "note": "Distance is straight-line (as the crow flies)"
  }
}

~27,000

Open schools

DfE GIAS

Official government data

5 miles

Maximum search radius

<100ms

PostGIS geo query

Query parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
postcode	string	One of two	UK postcode (e.g. "SW1A 1AA"). Resolved internally.
lat + lng	float	One of two	Decimal coordinates (WGS84).
radius	float	No	Search radius in miles. Default: 0.5. Max: 5.0.
phase	string	No	Filter by phase: Primary, Secondary, All-through, Nursery, 16 plus.
ofsted	string	No	Filter by Ofsted rating: Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, Inadequate.
limit	integer	No	Max results to return. Default: 20. Max: 50.

Response fields — every school object

Field	Type	Description
urn	integer	DfE Unique Reference Number — permanent stable ID
name	string	Official school name
type	string	Establishment type (e.g. Academy sponsor led, Voluntary aided school)
type_group	string	Broader DfE category: Local authority maintained schools, Academies, Independent schools, etc.
phase	string	Phase of education: Primary, Secondary, All-through, Nursery, 16 plus
gender	string	Pupil gender: Mixed, Boys, Girls
religious_character	string\|null	Religious denomination (e.g. Church of England, Roman Catholic) or null
admissions_policy	string\|null	Selective or Non-selective (or null for non-applicable types)
age_range	string	Statutory age range (e.g. "4-11")
number_of_pupils	integer	Current pupil roll
school_capacity	integer	Published admission number / total capacity
ofsted.rating	string\|null	Outstanding / Good / Requires Improvement / Inadequate / null (not yet inspected)
ofsted.last_inspection	date\|null	Most recent Ofsted inspection date (ISO 8601)
address.*	object	street, locality, town, county, postcode — all strings, may be null
local_authority	string	Local authority responsible for the school
contact.website	string\|null	School website URL
contact.telephone	string\|null	Main school telephone number
contact.head_teacher	string\|null	Head teacher's full name (title + surname)
trust	string\|null	Multi-Academy Trust name (if applicable)
location.lat	float\|null	School latitude (WGS84)
location.lng	float\|null	School longitude (WGS84)
distance_km	float	Straight-line distance from query point in km
distance_miles	float	Straight-line distance from query point in miles
percentage_fsm	float\|null	% of pupils eligible for free school meals

What developers build with this

School proximity is one of the top three factors in property search. Here's how teams use this endpoint.

🏠

Property portals

Show a 'Schools nearby' card on every listing — Outstanding schools within 1 mile, filterable by phase. Reduces time-to-decision for parents.

📊

Valuation models

Add school quality as a feature to your AVM. Outstanding primary school within 500m consistently correlates with 5–15% price premium.

🏢

Estate agent tools

Auto-populate property brochures with the nearest Outstanding school. Saves 10 minutes per listing and a common buyer question answered before it's asked.

📍

Area intelligence reports

Include an Ofsted summary breakdown for any neighbourhood — how many Outstanding, Good, and Requires Improvement schools within 2km.

🎓

Catchment zone tools

Build school catchment proximity features into relocation tools — filter properties by distance to specific schools or school types.

🔍

Compliance & lending

Lenders and surveyors use local school quality as a soft indicator in local market assessments — alongside deprivation, crime, and flood risk.

Often used together

GET /api/deprivation/

Deprivation Index

IMD 2019 score + 9 domain breakdowns for any postcode.

GET /api/crime/

Crime Data

Police.uk crime counts by category near any UPRN.

GET /api/risks/flood/

Flood Risk

Environment Agency flood zones, surface water, reservoir risk — all by UPRN.

Start querying schools in minutes

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