About SchoolFinder
We are building the clearest, most complete picture of schools in England — so that choosing one feels like an informed decision rather than a guess.
Why we exist
Choosing a school is one of the biggest decisions a family makes, and yet the information needed to make it well is scattered across half a dozen government services, council websites and PDF admissions booklets. Ofsted publishes inspection outcomes. The Department for Education publishes the register of schools. Local authorities publish admissions rules. None of them are designed to be read side by side by a parent with an hour to spare.
SchoolFinder pulls those official sources into one place. You can search by postcode, see every Primary and Secondary school within a radius you choose, filter by phase, inspection outcome, school type or faith character, and open a clear profile for any school in the country — with a direct link to its Ofsted report so you can always check the primary source yourself.
What we cover
The directory includes every currently open state-funded and independent Primary, Secondary and all-through school in England — more than 22,000 in total. That includes academies, community and foundation schools, free schools, grammar schools, voluntary aided and controlled schools, and independent schools.
We are honest about what we do not have. Key Stage 2 and GCSE performance measures are not currently part of our dataset, so rather than estimate them we link out to the Department for Education's own Compare School Performance service. England is our only coverage area for now; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use different inspectorates and data structures and would deserve to be done properly rather than approximated.
How we are funded
SchoolFinder is free for families. The service is funded by optional paid listings for schools that want a richer profile — photographs, open day information, a longer description and a direct enquiry route to their admissions team. Those upgrades change how a school presents itself; they never change the official data shown about it, and promoted placements are always visibly labelled.
Who runs it
If you have a question, a correction or a partnership idea, we would genuinely like to hear it — our contact form reaches a person, not a queue.
What we stand for
Official data only
Every school record comes from the Department for Education’s Get Information about Schools register and Ofsted’s published inspection data. If we cannot source a figure officially, we do not publish it.
Independent of schools
A school can pay to enhance its listing, but it can never pay to change an Ofsted grade, a pupil number or its position in a distance-based search. Paid placements are always labelled.
Free for families
Searching, comparing and reading profiles will always be free. Parents should never have to pay to understand their local schools.
Plain English
School admissions are full of jargon — catchments, banding, PAN, EHCPs, Progress 8. Our guides explain the process in language that makes sense the first time you read it.
Schools in England listed
Schools with a published Ofsted grade
Official government data sources