System update 25 June 2026

An updated version of the Get Information about Schools (GIAS) service has been released to all users.

This release includes the following improvements:

  • bug fixes, fine-tuning and changes to improve the overall user experience:
    • Internal security fixes: 296879
    • 291941 - validate special educational needs (SEN) provision selection when saving an establishment so the not applicable option is not available when a SEN provision is selected and vice versa - update
    • 291951 – validate special educational needs (SEN) provision selection when saving an establishment using the bulk update tool so the not applicable option is not available when a SEN provision is selected and vice versa - update
    • 301750 – allow the date last changed/confirmed field to be updated when a multi academy trust (MAT) user confirms the establishment details – bug fix
    • 131262 – allow the review and confirm banner to clear when the establishment details are updated when an establishment joining a group date is updated – bug fix

Users are not expected to need to take any specific action unless otherwise indicated.

Further information

1. Office for National Statistics (ONS) updates

The update to the geo spatial fields that are updated quarterly from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has now taken place for the May update.

The relevant fields updated (where applicable) are:

  • Government Statistical Service (GSS) local authority (LA) code (also known as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) local authority (LA) number) name
  • Government Statistical Service (GSS) local authority (LA) code (also known as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) local authority (LA) number) code
  • administrative district name
  • administrative district code
  • ward name
  • ward code
  • parliamentary constituency name
  • parliamentary constituency code
  • urban/rural description name
  • urban/rural description code
  • middle super output area (MSOA) name
  • middle super output area (MSOA) code
  • lower super output area (LSOA) name
  • lower super output area (LSOA) code

The next quarterly update will take place in or around August 2026.

2. Changes to the web services functionality (SOAP API) – advance warning

We are looking to implement the following shortly and we wanted to give users advance warning of this work as it may impact your integration with the GIAS service if you use the web services functionality (SOAP API).

Following feedback from users, a new field, effectiveDate, will be added to the XML responses returned by the FindEstablishments and GetEstablishment methods. This field represents the date an establishment joined an establishment group.

For example:

Example - Establishment in a trust (URN:212684)


<Trusts>
   <Value>
     <Code>33919</Code>
     <DisplayName>THE BREAKDANCE ACADEMY LTD</DisplayName>
     <EffectiveDate>2017-02-01T00:00:00Z</EffectiveDate>
   </Value>    	  
</Trusts>

This will follow the same pattern for any establishment that is in any group.

To support this change, the XSD will also be updated to include the new element.

While this enhancement is backwards compatible from a schema perspective, we recognise that some integrations may not handle additional fields gracefully. If your implementation relies on a strict schema or does not allow for extensibility, the presence of this new element could cause issues.

What users of this functionality need to do:

  • review your integration to ensure it can handle additional fields in the response XML
  • update your local copy of the XSD where applicable
  • carry out testing ahead of the release to confirm there is no impact

If your integration already supports extensible XML structures, no action should be required.

We recommend validating your implementation in advance to avoid any potential disruption.

If you have any questions or require support, please contact us via a service request.

Kind regards

GIAS support team



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