News

System updates for each development release, such as new functionality, features and bug fixes and other non development news items relating to Get Information about Schools (GIAS).

All news items show what was originally displayed at the time of publication, therefore some links in these news items may no longer work.

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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

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



System update
11 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: 297601
    • 297078 – allow the field, date last changed/confirmed to be updated when an establishment joins a group on its effective date (future date) – bug fix
    • 257522 – update validation regarding establishment types that can be bulk created in the bulk create new academies tool – internal - update

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) for May will take place shortly.

Kind regards

GIAS support team



System update
2 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: 309733; 236584; 236595; 237207; 237212; 237214; 238605; 297597; 297598; 297599; 297600; 297603; 297606
    • Addition of feature flags: 306983; 307087; 290945; 310617
    • 290860 - post-run job to auto-retry failed extracts and notify support - internal - new
    • 290539 - email notification to be sent when external services fail: Companies House – internal – new
    • 295906 – email notification to be sent when external services fail: Ordnance Survey (address lookup) – internal - new
    • 290810 – update a section of content in the public API repository – update
    • 290802 – allow the more filters section to expand for non-JavaScript users in the search results – update
    • 295048 – search functionality: user not able to re-add a previously removed local authority from the local authority search – bug fix
    • 275049 - correct validation on the religious character field to allow city technology colleges (CTCs) to edit their religious character for a change request approval by DfE staff based on documentary evidence provided – bug fix
    • 300547 - reinstate the removal of telephone numbers from closed establishments after 6 months – bug fix
    • 301170 - exception error when a relevant local authority-maintained school type establishment user attempts to create a federation – bug fix
    • 305208 - extend the character limit for the corporate contact field to allow users to add all relevant contact information – update
    • 303563 – some created governance roles are not displaying when saved – bug fix
    • 244588 – add the “Ofsted Report and Ratings" field to the edit screen and make it greyed out and non-editable for authenticated users – update
    • 253228 – update the bulk update establishment documentation to be clear how to add type of SEN provision when using the bulk update tool – update
    • 189364 - bulk update establishments tool: allow the official sixth form field to be updated with all options for other independent special schools - bug fix
    • 304907 – GIAS acceptable use policy – new

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 February 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 shortly.

Kind regards

GIAS support team



Further Information update
28 April 2026

As mentioned in the release note on Tuesday 21/04/2026 the removal of out-of-date special education needs (SEN) provision type data from Get Information about Schools (GIAS) for other independent schools, other independent special schools, and non-maintained special schools was due to take place on Wednesday 29/04/2026. This has been postponed due to some feedback from Ofsted that the GIAS support team and the Independent Education Unit (IEU) need to review. We will provide a further update when this work will take part in due course.

Kind regards

GIAS support team



System update
21 April 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. bug fixes, fine-tuning and changes to improve the overall user experience:
    1. 286556 - edit server.properties - update
    2. 300740 - blob storage client execution - update
    3. 293703 - convert UKRLP service requests - update
  2. The following should resolve issues some academies and free schools have been having accessing their records:
    1. 287480 - view historic governance roles (left within the last 12 months) regardless of governance sharing option for an establishment in a multi-academy trust (MAT) - bug fix
    2. 287481 - edit historic governance roles (left within the last 12 months) based on governance sharing option for an establishment in a multi-academy trust (MAT) - 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 February update.

The relevant fields updated (where applicable) are:

  1. Government Statistical Service (GSS) local authority (LA) code (also known as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) local authority (LA) number) name
  2. Government Statistical Service (GSS) local authority (LA) code (also known as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) local authority (LA) number) code
  3. administrative district name
  4. administrative district code
  5. ward name
  6. ward code
  7. parliamentary constituency name
  8. parliamentary constituency code
  9. urban/rural description name
  10. urban/rural description code
  11. middle super output area (MSOA) name
  12. middle super output area (MSOA) code
  13. lower super output area (LSOA) name
  14. lower super output area (LSOA) code

The next quarterly update will take place sometime in or after May 2026.

2. Removal of special education needs (SEN) provision type data from Get Information about Schools (GIAS) for other independent schools, other independent special schools and non-maintained special schools only

The establishment types:

  1. other independent schools
  2. other independent special schools
  3. non maintained special schools

have not had the ability to update their type of special educational needs (SEN) provision type since 2017 on the Get Information about Schools (GIAS) user interface (UI), therefore the data in the system is significantly out of date.

The data is not visible on the UI, however where these fields are present in the search filtering, downloads, extracts, and scheduled extracts for the webservice functionality the information is displayed.

The field names are displayed as follows:

SEN1 (code)
SEN1 (name)

SEN2 (code)
SEN2 (name)

SEN3 (code)
SEN3 (name)

SEN4 (code)
SEN4 (name)

SEN5 (code)
SEN5 (name)

SEN6 (code)
SEN6 (name)

SEN7 (code)
SEN7 (name)

SEN8 (code)
SEN8 (name)

SEN9 (code)
SEN9 (name)

SEN10 (code)
SEN10 (name)

SEN11 (code)
SEN11 (name)

SEN12 (code)
SEN12 (name)

SEN13 (code)
SEN13 (name)

Changes to be made

Given that this data is significantly out of date due to the SEN provision type not being updatable via the GIAS UI since 2017, it will be removed from all open records following a request from the Independent Education Unit (IEU).

Please note that closed records will not be changed.

This task will be undertaken on the evening of Wednesday 29 April 2026.

Kind regards

GIAS support team



System update
3 February 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. bug fixes, fine-tuning and changes to improve the overall user experience:
    1. 294683 - update to privacy notice page - update
    2. 268415 - upgrade Quartz Scheduler - update
  2. The following should resolve issues some local authority-maintained schools regardless of membership of a federation have been having accessing their records:
    1. 289025 - edit historic governance roles (left within the last 12 months) regardless of establishment’s federation membership or not – bug fix
    2. 289072 - view historic governance roles (left with the last 12 months) regardless of establishments federation membership or not – bug fix
    3. 275588 - validation required before adding to or removing from a federation an establishment with a governance professional role – update and bug fix
    4. 289442 – data correction: apply a stepped down date for governance professional roles when the establishment is added or removed from a federation when incorrectly active – data update

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 November update. The relevant fields updated (where appliable) are:

  1. Government Statistical Service (GSS) local authority (LA) code (also known as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) local authority (LA) number) name
  2. Government Statistical Service (GSS) local authority (LA) code (also known as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) local authority (LA) number) code
  3. administrative district name
  4. administrative district code
  5. ward name
  6. ward code
  7. parliamentary constituency name
  8. parliamentary constituency code
  9. urban/rural description name
  10. urban/rural description code
  11. middle super output area (MSOA) name
  12. middle super output area (MSOA) code
  13. lower super output area (LSOA) name
  14. lower super output area (LSOA) code

The next quarterly update will take place sometime in or after February 2026.

Kind regards

GIAS support team

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