System update 21 July 2026

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

This release includes the following improvements:

  1. UKRLP data feed to GIAS: change from SOAP to REST API and amendment to edit rights of the UKPRN field (internal only – update):

    312238; 312239; 312385; 312427; 312995; 317745; 313446

The United Kingdom Register of Learning Providers (UKRLP) is being in-housed into the DfE and as part of this the application programming interface (API) is changing from simple object access protocol (SOAP) to representational state transfer (REST). This has meant that GIAS has had to make changes to accept this modification to continue to receive the data.

For reference GIAS takes UKPRNs from UKRLP for establishments and groups.

Establishment types:

  1. local authority nursery school
  2. community school
  3. community special school
  4. foundation school
  5. foundation special school
  6. voluntary aided school
  7. voluntary controlled school
  8. pupil referral unit
  9. academy converter
  10. academy sponsor led
  11. academy 16 to 19 converter
  12. academy 16 to 19 sponsor led
  13. academy alternative provision converter
  14. academy alternative provision sponsor led
  15. academy special converter
  16. academy special sponsor led
  17. academy secure 16 to 19
  18. free schools
  19. free schools 16 to 19
  20. free schools alternative provision
  21. free schools special
  22. studio schools
  23. university technical college
  24. city technology college
  25. non‑maintained special school
  26. service children’s education
  27. online provider
  28. secure units
  29. further education
  30. sixth form centres
  31. special post‑16 institution
  32. higher education institutions
  33. other independent school
  34. other independent special school
  35. institution funded by other government department
  36. miscellaneous
  37. offshore schools
  38. Welsh establishment

At the following status:

  1. pending approval
  2. proposed to open
  3. open
  4. open but proposed to close
  5. closed

Group types:

  1. single‑academy trust
  2. multi‑academy trust
  3. secure single‑academy trust

At the following status:

  1. open
  2. closed

UKRLP is the source of truth for UKPRNs, and GIAS only holds the information. Any data issues need to be resolved at source which will then feed through into GIAS. If anyone identifies any data issues, please send in a service request using GIAS’s service desk.

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

Further information

1. 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

  1. review your integration to ensure it can handle additional fields in the response XML
  2. update your local copy of the XSD where applicable
  3. 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.

2. Yearly update of data from the underlying data of the schools, pupils, and their characteristics statistical release

The yearly update of data from the underlying data of the schools, pupils and their characteristics statistical publication has been completed.

The fields that have been updated (where applicable) are the:

  1. total number of pupils
  2. total number of boys
  3. total number of girls
  4. number of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM)
  5. percentage of children eligible for free school meals (FSM)

Kind regards

GIAS support team

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