Data Sources & Methodology

Every dataset used on MapTools.uk comes from an official or well-established open data source. This page explains where the data comes from, how often it is updated, and any limitations you should be aware of.

Maps and Location Search

All map tiles come from OpenStreetMap (OSM), a collaborative mapping project maintained by volunteers worldwide. When you search for a place name or postcode, the query goes through our server-side proxy to Nominatim, OpenStreetMap's geocoding service. We use a proxy rather than calling Nominatim directly from your browser because their usage policy requires proper User-Agent headers.

We do not log or store search queries that pass through this proxy.

UK Postcode Data

Postcode locations are sourced from Ordnance Survey open data (Code-Point Open). The raw dataset maps every UK postcode to a latitude and longitude. We process this into individual JSON files grouped by outward code (the first part of the postcode, e.g. "SW1A"), so the browser only needs to load the relevant file rather than the entire national dataset.

This data covers all current postcodes in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Terminated postcodes are not included, and very newly created postcodes may take time to appear.

Crime Statistics

Crime data comes from data.police.uk, the official open data portal run by the Home Office. This covers police-recorded crime in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Police Scotland does not publish data to this service, so only British Transport Police crimes (at train stations) are available for Scottish locations.

Update frequency: Police.uk publishes new data monthly, typically with a two-month delay. We download and process the latest data weekly.

Location accuracy: To protect victims, crime locations are anonymised by the police. Each crime is snapped to a nearby map point rather than the exact address where it occurred. This means "on or near" is as precise as the data gets.

Limitations: Not all crimes are reported or recorded. The data shows police-recorded crime, which is only a subset of all crime that actually takes place. Crime levels should be treated as a rough guide, not a precise measurement of safety.

Flood Risk

Flood risk ratings come from the Environment Agency's "Risk of Flooding from Rivers and Sea" dataset, published as open data on data.gov.uk. This is the same dataset used by the official GOV.UK flood risk checking service.

Update frequency: The Environment Agency updates this dataset quarterly. We download the latest version after each release.

What it covers: Risk from rivers (fluvial flooding) and the sea (coastal flooding). It does not cover surface water flooding, groundwater flooding, or sewer flooding. For a complete picture, the GOV.UK long-term flood risk service covers all flood types.

Risk categories: Each location is rated as High (greater than 1 in 30 annual chance), Medium (between 1 in 100 and 1 in 30), Low (between 1 in 1000 and 1 in 100), or Very Low (less than 1 in 1000). Locations not in the dataset have no identified significant flood risk from rivers or sea.

Schools and Exam Results

England

English school data comes from two Department for Education (DfE) sources:

• Get Information About Schools (GIAS) provides the register of all schools in England, including name, address, type, age range, religious character, and Ofsted rating.
• School performance tables provide KS2 SATs results for primary schools and GCSE results for secondary schools, including Attainment 8, Progress 8, and the percentage of pupils achieving grade 5 or above in English and Maths.

Update frequency: School performance data is published annually, typically in the autumn. We update our dataset after each release. Ofsted ratings are updated as new inspection reports are published.

Scotland

Scottish school data comes from two Scottish Government sources:

• School contact details provides the register of all publicly funded schools in Scotland, including name, address, type, and denomination.
• Education Scotland (HMIE) inspection grades are included where available, using the six-point scale from Excellent to Unsatisfactory.

Update frequency: School contact details are updated termly by the Scottish Government. HMIE inspection data is sourced from published FOI releases.

Coverage: England and Scotland. Wales and Northern Ireland have separate education systems and are not currently included. National averages shown for English schools are calculated from the published DfE data.

Food Hygiene Ratings

Food hygiene ratings come from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) open data API. This covers restaurants, takeaways, pubs, cafes, supermarkets, and other food businesses in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Food Standards Scotland operates a separate scheme for Scottish businesses.

Update frequency: The FSA API reflects the latest published ratings. We refresh our data regularly to capture new inspections and rating changes.

How ratings work: Local authority food safety officers inspect businesses and rate them from 0 (urgent improvement required) to 5 (very good). The rating reflects standards at the time of inspection. Businesses can request a re-inspection if they have made improvements.

Fuel Prices

Fuel price data comes from the government's fuel price transparency initiative, which requires large retailers to publish daily prices as open data. Participating retailers include Asda, BP, Esso, Morrisons, MFG, Motor Fuel Group, Rontec, Sainsbury's, SGN, Shell, Tesco, and Ascona.

Update frequency: Retailers update prices daily. We download the latest data every day.

Limitations: Only retailers participating in the government scheme are included. Independent stations, smaller chains, and many local garages do not provide data to this scheme and will not appear in our results. There may also be a short delay between a price change at the pump and the data feed updating.

EV Charging Stations

EV charging station data comes from Open Charge Map (OCM), a community-maintained open data registry of electric vehicle charging locations worldwide. The data is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

Update frequency: We periodically re-download the full UK dataset. Because the data is community-maintained, some entries may be outdated if a charger has been removed or had its details changed.

Coverage: Over 32,000 charging locations across the UK, including all major networks (BP Pulse, Pod Point, Tesla, Osprey, InstaVolt, GRIDSERVE, and many others) as well as smaller independent chargers.

Limitations: Real-time availability is not shown. Chargers may be temporarily out of service, occupied, or have restricted access. Always check the relevant network's app for live status before travelling to a charger.

Public Toilets

Toilet locations come from the Great British Public Toilet Map, a community-maintained dataset of public toilet facilities across the UK. The data includes opening hours, accessibility information, baby changing facilities, and whether the toilet requires payment or a RADAR key.

Update frequency: We periodically re-download the full dataset. Because the data is community-maintained, some entries may be outdated if a facility has closed or changed its hours.

Dark Sky Discovery Sites

Dark sky site locations come from the Dark Sky Discovery programme, a UK partnership that registers and classifies locations suitable for stargazing. Sites are categorised as Milky Way class (the darkest sites where the Milky Way is visible), Orion class (sites dark enough to clearly see the constellation Orion), Dark Sky Parks (internationally designated reserves), and associated sites (observatories and event venues).

Update frequency: Site data is updated periodically as new locations are registered with the Dark Sky Discovery programme.

The light pollution map overlay uses 2024 VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) satellite data processed by David Lorenz. VIIRS is a sensor on NASA/NOAA weather satellites that measures artificial light emissions from the Earth's surface at night. The data is colour-coded by Bortle scale class.

How We Process the Data

All datasets are downloaded by server-side scripts and converted into static JSON files. These files are served directly to your browser as part of the website. There is no database and no live API queries when you use most tools.

This approach has two advantages. First, it is fast. Your browser loads a small JSON file rather than waiting for a server to query a database. Second, it is reliable. The tools continue to work even if the original data source is temporarily unavailable.

The trade-off is that data is only as fresh as our last update. For time-sensitive information like active flood warnings or current fuel prices, we recommend checking the original source as well.

Corrections and Feedback

If you spot incorrect data or have questions about our sources, please get in touch. We take data accuracy seriously and will investigate any issues raised.