What is catchment.school?
catchment.school is a free tool that helps parents and carers in England find schools in their local area, understand catchment area boundaries, and navigate the school admissions process.
We cover every open state-funded and independent school in England — over 26,500 schools across 178 local authorities and more than 1,000 towns and areas.
Where does the data come from?
All school data is sourced directly from the Get Information About Schools (GIAS) service, maintained by the Department for Education. GIAS is the official national register of schools in England.
The dataset is published under the Open Government Licence v3.0 and is updated by the DfE on a rolling basis. We refresh our data regularly to reflect school openings, closures and changes.
What is a school catchment area?
A catchment area is the geographic zone from which a school gives priority to applications. If you live within a school's catchment area, your child is more likely to be offered a place — though this is not guaranteed for oversubscribed schools.
Catchment areas are set by local authorities and individual schools. They can change each year depending on the number of applications received.
Read our full guide to how catchment areas work →
Important notice
Catchment area boundaries change annually. Always verify your address falls within a school's catchment by checking the school's official admissions policy or contacting your local authority directly. catchment.school is an independent information service and is not affiliated with any school, local authority or government body.
How to use this site
- Search by postcode — find schools within 5km of your home address
- Browse by council — see all schools in your local authority
- Browse by town — see all schools in your town
- Read our guides — understand admissions, catchment areas and application deadlines