Code-Point Open
An open dataset of all the current postcode units in Great Britain. For each postcode, Code-Point Open provides a positional quality indicator (PQI), country code, NHS area code along with local government county, district, and ward codes.
Locate your analysis
Link any dataset that includes postcode data to the postcode location in a GIS and build up a spatial picture of your data.
Additional attributes
To give you extra analytical power, Code-Point Open includes NHS authority and administrative unit codes.
Authoritative data
Code-Point Open provides accurate coverage of the 1.7 million postcodes in Great Britain that is updated quarterly.
Access: Download
Data theme: Administrative and Statistical Units
Data structure: Vector – Points
Coverage: Great Britain
Scale: 1:1 250 to 1:10 000
Format: CSV, GeoPackage
Ordering area: All of Great Britain
Publication months: February, May, August, November
OS Data Hub plan: OS OpenData Plan (FREE), Public Sector Plan, Premium Plan, Energy & Infrastructure Plan
Northern Ireland coverage
Northern Ireland postcodes aren’t included in Code-Point Open, but they are present in Code-Point.
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 we have any 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.
How to get this product
Access to this OS OpenData product is free through the OS Data Hub.
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