PickMySchool

About PickMySchool

A free, independent school comparison platform for England — helping parents, carers, and researchers find the right school with real data.

What we do

PickMySchool brings together data from over a dozen official sources into one easy-to-use platform. We cover 27,000+ schools across England — primaries, secondaries, independent schools, special schools, nurseries, sixth forms, colleges, and universities.

Every school has a detailed profile with exam results, Ofsted/ISI inspection history, financial data, SEN provision, admissions information, and area intelligence including house prices, transport links, flood risk, crime data, broadband speeds, and local amenities.

Key features

PickMySchool includes tools no other school comparison platform offers:

Smart Search — 15+ filters including Ofsted, SEN, religion, grammar, boarding
AI Advisor — Ask questions in plain English, get personalised school recommendations
Schools Near Me — Postcode search with admission likelihood estimates
School Life — Sports, clubs, arts, STEM, outdoor learning — scanned from school websites
Compare Tool — Side-by-side comparison with transparent scorecard + PDF export
SEN Finder — Need matching, availability indicators, EHCP guide
Application Tracker — Deadline countdowns, document checklists, status tracking per school
Child Profiles — Age-appropriate school recommendations and key date reminders
Ofsted Alerts — Email notification when a tracked school's rating changes
Area Intelligence — House prices, transport, flood risk, broadband, amenities, noise
Specialist Finders — Grammar schools, boarding schools, sixth forms, nurseries
Commute Calculator — Walking, cycling, and driving times from your postcode

Our data

All data comes from publicly available government and open data sources, updated nightly or in real-time:

DfE GIAS — 27,000+ school records, synced nightly
Ofsted / ISI — Inspection ratings and full history
DfE Performance Tables — KS2, GCSE, A-Level results (2024-25)
DfE FBIT — Per-pupil spending across 6 categories
DfE SEN Dataset — EHCP and SEN support provision data
HM Land Registry — House prices near schools (live query)
Environment Agency — Flood risk monitoring (live)
Ofcom — Broadband coverage and speeds
OpenStreetMap — Transport, amenities, noise assessment
OSRM — Walking, cycling, driving route calculations

Free and independent

PickMySchool is completely free to use. We don't accept payment from schools to influence rankings or search results. We don't run ads. We don't sell your data. Schools can claim their profile for free to add photos and open day dates, but this never affects their position in search results or league tables.

Who built it

PickMySchool is built and maintained by Candour IT Services, a UK-based technology company. We believe every parent deserves clear, honest information when choosing a school for their child.

Have feedback, spotted an error, or want to get in touch? Contact us

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