Code-Point Documentation

Here you will find all documentation for the Code-Point product.

Code-Point is a postcode locator that locates over 1.7 million postcode units in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Code-Point provides users with information about delivery points within the postcode, positional quality, type, and district codes amongst other key points of postcode-level data.

This product is updated quarterly in February, May, August and November.

Representation of Code-Point data

Benefits

Authoritative data

Coverage of over 1.7 million postcodes in Great Britain and Northern Ireland updated quarterly – accurate depiction of all live postcodes in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Get more from your postcode data

Understand the split of residential and commercial delivery points within a postcode area for a greater depth of analysis.

Interoperable data

Combine your statistical and health datasets with postcode data by linking to ONS administrative codes and Health Authority codes provided with Code-Point.

Code-Point data provides:

• Information about the number and type of postal delivery points in the postcode

• A positional quality indicator (PQI), indicating the quality of the data underlying the Code-Point location coordinate (CPLC)

• The country indicator (either England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland)

• The postcode type

• The National Health Service region and area codes

• The local government county, district and ward codes

Use Cases

Code-Point can be used in a variety of applications, including:

• Site location

• Enabling web searches

• Market analysis and profiling

• Health and epidemiology

• Resource allocation

• End-to-end journey route planning

• Socio-economic profiling

• Sales targeting

Summary

• Access: Download via the OS Data Hub

• Data theme: Postcodes

• Data structure: Vector – Points

• Coverage: Great Britain and Northern Ireland

• Scale: 1:1 250 to 1:10 000

• Format: GeoPackage, CSV

• Ordering area: All of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

• Publication months: February, May, August, November

Additional Information

Code-Point postcode coverage

Code-Point includes 121 postcode areas in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but does not include the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.

It can take some time for a new postcode to work its way through the system into Code-Point

Until our surveyors have visited the area to complete the very precise large-scale mapping, we allocate a calculated map reference to the postcode that, depending on the level of development in the area, can be somewhat inaccurate. When this has been done, a positional quality indicator in the Code-Point record makes it clear that the coordinates provided are temporary, and will be improved to a full quality match as soon as possible.

Code-Point accuracy and resolution

Code-Point is created by taking the average of the coordinates of all the individual addresses in a postcode (provided they are of sufficient quality), then snapping to the nearest of those addresses. Code-Point then delivers the coordinates of that address, as representative of the whole postcode, to a resolution of 1metre.

The accuracy of a Code-Point Open record could be expressed as, that the coordinated position will always be within the notional geographical extent of the postcode. The accuracy of each postcode unit coordinate pair is defined by the positional quality indicator (PQI) which provides a quality statement of a Code-Point record.

Code-Point contains five admin ward codes for postcodes on the Isles of Scilly

These have been issued by ONS for statistical purposes only, because there are no wards on the Isles of Scilly. The Codelist.xls file supplied with Code-Point is generated from Boundary-Line. Boundary-Line does not contain these ward codes as they do not exist for political purposes. Therefore, these codes are not available in the Codelist.xls file supplied in the Doc folder with Code-Point. All other ward codes should exist in both Code-Point and the Codelist.xls file.

What administrative and NHS codes are included in each Administrative and NHS field?

Column	Object definition
Administrative County	Counties
Administrative District	Unitary Authorities Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Districts London Boroughs Scottish Council Areas
Administrative Ward	Electoral Wards/Divisions
NHS Regional Health Authority	English Pan Strategic Health Authorities
NHS Health Authority	English Strategic Health Authorities Scottish Health Board areas

How to get this product

Access to this product is free for PSGA (Public Sector Geospatial Agreement) Members. You can check if your organisation is a member of the PSGA on the OS website.

The Code-Point product page on the OS website has advice on how to get the product for businesses, developers, Partners and PSGA Members (i.e. government and the public sector).

Sample data

Visualise Code-Point sample data online

This product is available to try out free online using one of our three sets of sample data (Exeter, Newport and Inverness) through the OS MasterMap Product Viewer:

OS MasterMap Product Viewer

Interactive demonstrator of OS MasterMap Generation data

Other ways to access this data

API

OS National Geographic Database (OS NGD) postcode point (and polygon) data for Great Britain is available via an API: OS NGD API – Features. Visit the OS API docs site to unlock programmatic access to rich geospatial data and integrate OS data and services into your applications.

OS NGD

The OS NGD provides complete, analytical and authoritative postcode point data for Great Britain and Northern Ireland through the Postcode Unit Point Feature Types. When used together, these feature types include every postcode in the Royal Mail's PAF content with Ordnance Survey’s and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland's geospatial attribution. The identical schemas for the feature types enable compatibility and let you achieve full UK postcode coverage.

You may find OS NGD data more accessible and easier to use with databases and GIS software than Code-Point. Visit the OS NGD docs site to discover how to access the OS NGD and learn what's available.

What's next?

To access documentation and resources relating to this product, please refer to the following:

Overview

The overview introduces Code-Point and gives context for all users – highlighting key features, providing examples of potential uses, and listing details such as file sizes, supply formats.

Getting Started Guide

The getting started guide provides instructions for using Code-Point in different software applications. Users with limited technical knowledge will be able to follow this guide

Technical Specification

The technical specification provides detailed technical information about Code-Point. It is targeted at technical users and software developers.

Downloads

The downloads page provides links and resources to support the application of Code-Point within your environment.

Ordnance Survey Website

View Code-Point product information and find out how to get this product on the OS website.

New users should start with the Overview to gain high-level insight into the product. The Getting Started Guide will help you to begin using product data in different software systems. The Technical Specification contains detailed technical insights.