Frequently Asked Questions

FindGreatSchools is a free school finder for the United Kingdom that helps families find schools based on location, academic performance, inspection ratings, and pupil demographics. We bring together official government data from all four UK nations in one easy-to-use platform so you can make informed decisions about your child's education.

Yes, FindGreatSchools is completely free. We believe every family should have access to clear, comprehensive school information regardless of their background.

We cover schools across all four UK nations — over 55,000 establishments in total:

• England — all schools from the GIAS register, including state schools, academies, free schools, and independent schools.

• Wales — ~1,450 schools with data from GIAS, DataMapWales, and StatsWales PLASC (pupil demographics and ethnicity).

• Scotland — ~2,460 schools with data from the Scottish Government school roll and annual census statistics.

• Northern Ireland — ~1,100 schools with data from the Department of Education Northern Ireland and OpenDataNI.

All our data comes from official government sources. For England this includes GIAS (school directory), the DfE performance tables (exam results and demographics), the School Census (ethnicity), and Ofsted (inspection ratings). For Wales we use DataMapWales and StatsWales PLASC. For Scotland we use the Scottish Government school roll and School Level Summary Statistics. For Northern Ireland we use the Department of Education NI and OpenDataNI. We do not use any unofficial or crowd-sourced data.

We update our data as soon as new official releases are available. School directory data is updated regularly. Exam results and demographic data are released annually, typically in the autumn term. Ofsted ratings are updated monthly. Devolved nations publish on their own schedules — Scottish and Welsh annual census data is typically released in the spring.

SUPP means the data has been suppressed by the government to protect pupil privacy. This happens when the number of pupils in a category is so small that individuals could potentially be identified. It is not an error — it is a standard practice in education statistics across all UK nations.

Exam result data varies by nation. GCSE and A-Level results (Attainment 8, Progress 8) are available for English schools. Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish schools use different qualification frameworks and their results are not directly comparable to English figures. Inspection ratings are also nation-specific: Ofsted inspects English schools, Estyn covers Wales, Education Scotland covers Scotland, and ETI covers Northern Ireland. Each inspectorate uses its own grading system.

Go to the Schools page and enter your postcode or area name. You can adjust the search radius and apply filters for school type, inspection rating, and more. You can also use the Map view to browse schools visually.

Progress 8 measures how much progress pupils make between primary school and their GCSEs, compared to the national average. A score of 0 is average, positive scores mean above-average progress. Many educators consider Progress 8 more meaningful than raw exam results because it shows the value a school adds, regardless of pupils' starting points. Progress 8 applies to English schools only. See our Glossary for more detail.

Catchment area mapping is a planned feature. Currently, you can search by distance from a location to find nearby schools. We are working on adding official catchment boundaries where they are available.