UK schools map
Where are the schools, who funds them, and how did they do at inspection? This map plots 28,937 UK schools — colour-coded so you can tell a state-funded school from an independent one at a glance — with Ofsted outcomes on every English state school that has one.
What the map shows
Turn on the Schools pin and every school appears as a dot. Hue encodes who pays: greens and orange for state-funded schools, purples for independent ones. Shade encodes phase — primary, secondary, all-through, nursery or special. Tap any school for its inspection record and a link to its own website.
State-funded vs independent
This distinction is usually buried. It matters most for special schools, where 879 of the roughly 1,555 in the register are independent rather than council-funded — on most maps they are painted identically. Independent schools are listed for England only: the Scottish and Northern Irish registers we use cover state-funded schools.
Ofsted outcomes
Each school carries whichever inspection record exists: a report card under the framework introduced in November 2025, graded from Exceptional to Urgent improvement across curriculum, achievement, behaviour, inclusion, personal development and leadership — or the older overall-effectiveness grade for the majority not yet reinspected. A live category of concern is shown as a warning. Scotland, Northern Ireland and most independent schools are inspected by other bodies, so they carry the inspectorate name instead of a grade.
Schools by council
Every local authority page now carries its own school count, split state-funded and independent, with the share rated Good or Outstanding among schools that have a published grade.
Common questions
How many schools are there in the UK?
This map plots 28,937 open schools across the UK, from the DfE register plus the Scottish and Northern Irish equivalents. That covers state-funded and independent schools, special schools, nurseries attached to schools and sixth forms.
How can I tell a state school from a private one?
By colour. Greens and orange are state-funded; purples are independent. The legend groups them under State-funded and Independent headings, each with primary, secondary, all-through, nursery and special entries.
Are Ofsted ratings still given as one word?
Not for schools inspected since November 2025. Ofsted replaced the single overall-effectiveness grade with a report card grading several areas separately, on a five-point scale from Exceptional to Urgent improvement. Most schools still show the older grade because they have not been reinspected yet; the map labels which is which.
Other layers
Nursery & pre-school map · Social housing & council homes map · Crime & anti-social behaviour map · Noise & sound pollution map · House prices per m² map · Deprivation map (whole UK) · Broadband speed map · Social housing by council