Privacy Policy

Schools in England does not require registration and does not collect personal data from visitors directly. We display publicly available school data published by the Department for Education (DfE) under the Open Government Licence.

When you visit our site, the following may be collected automatically:

• Browser type and version
• Pages visited and time spent
• Approximate geographic location (country/city — not precise)
• Referring website or search query
• Device and screen resolution

This data is collected in aggregate and anonymised through Google Analytics (described below) and standard server access logs retained for up to 30 days.

We use the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies — Used for theme preferences (light/dark mode) and session caching. These do not track you and are always enabled.
• Analytics cookies — Set by Google Analytics to measure traffic and user behaviour in anonymised form (only if you accept).
• Advertising cookies — Set by Google AdSense to show relevant advertisements (only if you accept).

Under the UK PECR 2003 and UK GDPR, non-essential cookies require your consent before being set. Our cookie banner allows you to choose whether to accept or decline analytics and advertising cookies.

Google Analytics (GA4)

We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors interact with Schools in England. This service collects anonymised data including page views, session durations, bounce rates, and device information to help us improve the site.

What Google Analytics does:

• Sets cookies named _ga, _ga_XXXXXX for up to 2 years
• Collecting aggregated traffic statistics — no personally identifiable information
• IP addresses are anonymised before storage
• Data is processed by Google LLC in the USA under Standard Contractual Clauses

View Google's Privacy Policy.

Google AdSense

Schools in England uses Google AdSense to display advertisements that help fund the running of this free directory. Google AdSense uses cookies to serve ads that are relevant to your interests, based on browsing activity.

What Google AdSense does:

• May set advertising cookies to personalise ads shown on this site and others
• Uses the DoubleClick cookie (IDE) to track ad interactions
• No personal data is collected or shared by Schools in England directly
• Google may use this data according to its own privacy policy

View Google's Advertising Privacy Policy.

Google Search Console

We use Google Search Console to monitor how Schools in England appears in Google Search results. This tool provides us with:

• Search query data (what users searched to find us) — anonymous and aggregated
• Crawl errors and site health reports
• Page indexing status

Google Search Console does not set cookies on our site and does not track individual visitors. It only processes data from Google's own search systems. No consent is required for its use.

The "Schools Near Me" feature and the Interactive School Map may request your browser's geolocation to find nearby schools. Your precise location is:

• Only requested with your explicit browser permission
• Used purely in real time to query nearby schools
• Never stored on our servers
• Never shared with third parties

All school data displayed on this site is sourced from the public DfE GIAS register and contains no personal information about pupils or parents. We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect our infrastructure from unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure.

Server access logs are retained for a maximum of 30 days and are not shared with third parties except where required by law.

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to:

• Access — Request a copy of any personal data we hold about you
• Erasure — Request deletion of your data ("Right to be Forgotten")
• Rectification — Request correction of inaccurate data
• Objection — Object to processing of your data for analytics or advertising purposes
• Withdraw consent — Withdraw cookie consent at any time (see Cookies section above)

Since we hold minimal personal data (only anonymised analytics gathered by third parties), most of these rights should be exercised directly with Google via their privacy controls. You may also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

This website also uses the following open-source, non-tracking services:

• Leaflet.js — Open-source mapping library (no tracking)
• Chart.js — Open-source chart library (no tracking)
• Font Awesome — Icon fonts served via CDN (Cloudflare)
• Carto / OpenStreetMap — Map tile servers (see their respective policies)
• Google Fonts — Font delivery; Google may log request metadata per their privacy policy

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us via the details on our About Us page.

This policy was last updated in March 2026 and will be reviewed regularly to reflect changes in law or our use of services.