Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Answers to commonly asked questions about Get Information about Schools.

General

Where is the Get Information About Schools (GIAS) guidance?

The Get Information About Schools (GIAS) guidance can be found here.

Why does Get Information about Schools (GIAS) not register early years providers

Get Information about Schools (GIAS) does not register or hold details of private, voluntary and independent (PVI) childcare providers, including pre-schools and day nurseries in England.

These providers are registered by Ofsted. Details of these providers can be found on the Ofsted website.

When is the Ofsted rating and date of the last full inspection updated?

The Ofsted rating and the date of the last full inspection on Get Information about Schools (GIAS) is updated monthly using the management information published by Ofsted reflecting the last full Ofsted inspection date and rating.

The Ofsted data includes details of inspection reports published in the last month, for example a report that is published in January will be included in the data published in February.

This update to GIAS is usually undertaken in the middle of each month.

Where is the statutory guidance about making organisation changes to local authority maintained schools, including school closure

The statutory guidance about making organisation changes to local authority-maintained schools, including school closure can be found here.

Where is the statutory guidance about making organisation changes to academies and free schools, including school closure?

The statutory guidance about making organisation changes to academies and free schools, including school closure can be found here.

What personal data is held in Get Information about Schools (GIAS) and security

What personal data is held in Get Information about Schools (GIAS)?

Most of the data held on Get Information about Schools (GIAS) is non-personal. However, some data is considered personal, such as the headteacher/principle/manager email address, independent school proprietor personal information and governance roles personal information which are stored in a secure part of the service. They can only be viewed by authorised users with a DfE Sign-in (DSI) account.

The department provides education establishments with model privacy notices which can be used to inform anyone in a governance role how the data they collect will be used. This will also provide a list of the type of governance roles data collected.

Who can access personal data in Get Information about Schools (GIAS)?

As public appointees, headteacher names, proprietor names and governance roles name and appointment dates are available via the public site on Get Information about Schools (GIAS). All other personal information is held securely, and access can only be obtained by authorised users with a DfE Sign-in (DSI) account.

What does DfE do with the personal data held in Get Information about Schools (GIAS)?

Holding this data enables DfE to meet their statutory requirements. The section, ‘How Government Uses Your Data’ within the model privacy notice explains how DfE uses governance roles data.

Contact details are used to help us to improve the site by monitoring how you use it and respond to any feedback you send us. Contact details are also used to send important messaging from the department.

Is the GIAS site secure?

There are several security management protocols in place to ensure the site is secure, including data encryption, system security checks, audit trails of user actions and processes to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure of the data.

Updating your establishment details

How often do I need to update and/or confirm my GIAS record?

An establishment’s record should be updated as changes occur, and at a minimum of once a month if required. This is for the details tab and the governance tab.

If establishment users have no changes to make to the establishment’s record but wish to confirm their record is up to date this can be undertaken by selecting the green confirm details button next to the edit button on the details tab and the green confirm governance information button next to the edit button on the governance tab. By selecting these buttons, establishments are confirming all their establishment’s record information is correct. The last confirmed or updated field on the details tab will then reflect todays’ date.

If you do not update one or more detail tab fields or select the confirm details button on the details tab within 60 days since the last confirm was made or field update was completed all GIAS users in your establishment, the headteacher/principal/manager, the main school email address, and the alternative school email address will receive the reminder email to review and update or confirm your establishment’s record. This message will be resent weekly until the establishment’s record is reviewed and confirmed or updated.

A confirm details notification banner will also appear at the top of your establishment’s record. This banner will remain until the confirm button is selected or an update to one or more fields is undertaken and saved. Once completed the last confirmed or updated field will show today’s date and the day count since the last confirm or update will restart.

Why has our establishment record not been updated?

If a particular field or fields on your establishment record have not been updated it is because when an establishment updates it's Get Information About Schools (GIAS) establishment record some fields require local authority or departmental approval (establishment type dependent). Once these change requests are approved the record will automatically be updated.

If the change requests are not approved your establishment may need to provide supplementary evidence to the relevant local authority approver or departmental policy team.

Why is there is no edit button and therefore why am I unable to amend my record?

If your establishment is due to close within 28 days, you will not be able to edit the record. In this scenario you should send a service request here and the GIAS Support team will liaise with the relevant departmental colleagues to make the changes on your behalf if we have sufficient evidence.

Where does the pupil number information and free school meal information on Get Information about Schools (GIAS) come from and when is it updated?

The figures for number of pupils, number of boys, number of girls, number of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSMs) and percentage of children eligible for free school meals (FSMs) are updated annually in July or August from the underlying data of the schools, pupils and their characteristics publication, usually published in July.

This is a link to the publication here.

The number of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSMs) and percentage of children eligible for free school meals (FSMs) fields use the data from the following columns in the underlying data file: number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals (Performance Tables) and % of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals (Performance Tables).

This information comes from the January school census, the school level annual school census (SLASC) and the general hospital schools (GHS) data collections, respectively.

We currently have data from the January 2024 census data collections on Get Information about Schools.

Online providers

What is an online provider?

The term online provider refers to a provider of online education services which is provided remotely through digital technologies. Online providers operate online-only on a permanent basis, delivering a full-time education, a full curriculum, and representing at least one child’s main source of education.

For further details please see glossary.

How do I register as an online provider?

To become accredited as an online provider, you will need to apply via the website. Visit Accreditation for online education providers (opens in new tab) for the latest information about applying to become an accredited provider.

What age group can attend an online provider establishment?

An online provider can have a child of any age. However, they can only apply to the department for the online education accreditation scheme if they have a child of compulsory school age, in England on their roll.

Who is the accreditation body for online providers?

The accreditation body for this scheme is the Department for Education.

Governance

Why have I received a governance role term of office expiry email telling me that a governance role term of office at my establishment is coming to an end?

GIAS issues two alert warning emails for the governance role term of office expiry date. The first is sent 180 days before the term of office expiry date and the second is sent on the day the term of office expires.

How does DfE ensure that governance roles personal data is kept secure?

Access to governance roles personal data is restricted to authorised DfE and education establishment users with a DfE Sign-in (DSI) account. The data is stored in a secure, encrypted database. We have set up systems and processes to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure of this data.

Do educational establishments need consent to collect governance roles personal data?

Yes, further information can be found in the model privacy notice developed for use by educational establishments.

Who can access a governance role personal data?

As public appointees, all governance roles name and appointment date are available via the public site on GIAS. All other personal information is held securely, and access can only be obtained by authorised users.

Address and postcode

Why is my postcode not recognised?

Get Information about Schools (GIAS) uses the Ordnance Survey OS Places API, our postcode data provider, to validate postcodes. There may be a delay between a new postcode being created and appearing on OS Places. If your school is a new build, please check with the local gazetteer at your local authority that the postcode has been set up.

How do I check my establishment’s unique property reference number (UPRN) value on the system?

1. Sign into your establishment’s Get Information about Schools (GIAS) record;

2. Select the 'Edit details' button on the details tab of your establishment's record;

3. Select the 'Replace this address' link;

4. Enter or re-enter your establishment's correct postcode and then select the 'Find address' button;

5. Select your establishment’s correct address from the 'Pick an address' drop-down list.

For information, this list is populated with data from the Ordinance Survey (OS). If there is no obvious match for your establishment or you are unsure of the correct choice to make please contact the service desk to seek further guidance.

6. Select the 'Replace address' button which will take you back to the main details tab page;

7. Select the 'Continue' button;

8. Select the ‘Accept and Save’ button;

9. You will receive an update confirmation at the top of the page.

Downloads

Why do some dates download with a '-' rather than a '/' as the separator?

This is the result of a known issue with the way in which MS Excel processes dates prior to 1900.

For further information about date formats in MS Excel please see the Microsoft support website here.

DfE Sign-in (DSI)

How do I get access to Get Information about Schools (GIAS) through DfE Sign-in (DSI)?

Information on how you can get access to Get Information about Schools (GIAS) and any other relevant DfE Sign-in (DSI) service can be found here.

How do I contact the DfE Sign-in (DSI) service desk?

To contact the DfE Sign-in (DSI) service desk please submit a service request
here.

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Tax Free Childcare (TFC) service

Why is our establishment’s Get Information about Schools (GIAS) information not present on His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) service?

The Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) service uses the open registered establishment information from the GIAS service to ensure only those establishments can sign-up for TFC. This enables parents to instruct for payments to be made to their childcare provider when it is an open registered establishment.

If your establishment (subject to GIAS being the place of registration) is not registered on GIAS as open or open, but proposed to close, if your establishment address and contact details are not completed or up-to-date, and if your headteacher, principal or manager details, including email address, are not completed or up-to-date this will prevent you from being able to sign-up for TFC.

If the details noted above change between the provision of data from GIAS to the TFC service this will also prevent you from being able to sign-up for TFC or access your existing account on the TFC service.

The data is provided by GIAS to the TFC service just after the beginning of each academic term to give establishment’s time to make any required changes to their GIAS records at the start of each term. Please see below for details:

• first week of February;
• first week of May;
• first week of October.

The latest upload is now complete. This is based on 8th October 2024 data.

If you have not updated your establishment record prior to the data being transferred your information will be updated on the TFC service after the next data transfer. Please make sure your GIAS record is always up-to-date and correct.

Contact points and further details about the TFC service and how tax free childcare providers can access their account can be found here