FAQ
Is this official, or affiliated with Ofsted?
No. School Choice Report is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by Ofsted or the Department for Education. What it does is gather their published data, the DfE schools register and Ofsted's inspection outcomes, into one comparison for your postcode. We use the word "Ofsted" only to describe whose inspection data a rating comes from.
Why do some schools have no grade, or an old one?
Because of a change in September 2024. Until then, an inspected state school got a single overall grade: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement or Inadequate. Ofsted stopped giving that single grade, and is bringing in report cards with separate judgements instead. So a school last graded years ago still carries that old word with an old date, some schools show only the outcome of a shorter check since then, and newer inspections may not produce a single word at all. That is why we always show the date next to the rating: it matters as much as the word.
Does it cover private schools?
No. The report covers state schools, the ones funded by government and open to local families through the normal admissions system. Private and independent schools are inspected differently and are not part of this report.
Does being closest guarantee my child a place?
No. Distance is only one factor, and it does not guarantee anything. Places are decided by each school's admission criteria, which usually include a defined catchment, siblings already at the school, faith or aptitude requirements at some schools, and how the applicants are ranked in a given year. A school can be the nearest to you and still be out of reach if its catchment does not include your address. Always check the school's and your local authority's admission arrangements.
How current is the data?
The report is built from the latest published DfE register and Ofsted inspection data available to us. Ofsted only inspects each school periodically, so a school's most recent rating can legitimately be several years old, and we show that date so you can judge how fresh it is. Treat every rating as a snapshot of the days it was made, not a live readout of the school today.
What if there are no schools near my postcode?
We check your postcode before you are charged. If we cannot find any state schools of the phase you chose within a sensible distance, we tell you rather than take your money for an empty report. In rural areas the nearest schools may simply be further out, and the report will still show them ranked by distance.
Do you offer refunds?
We check your postcode before you pay, so you are not charged for a postcode we cannot build a report for. Because the report is delivered instantly as a PDF the moment you have paid, it cannot be returned, so we do not refund a completed report after it has been generated. If something goes genuinely wrong on our side and you do not receive your PDF, get in touch and we will put it right.
Whatever the report shows, treat a rating as a starting point, not a promise. Visit the schools on your shortlist on a normal morning, and confirm the admission criteria and catchment for the ones you like, because that, not distance alone, decides whether you get a place.
