Terms of Service

1. About PickMySchool

PickMySchool is a free school comparison and discovery platform for England, built and operated by Candour IT Services Ltd (Company No. 9393510, registered in England and Wales). We help parents, carers, and researchers find, compare and understand schools using publicly available data from the Department for Education (DfE), Ofsted, and other official sources listed on our Data Sources page.

2. Platform Development

PickMySchool is actively developed and improved. Features, data, and policies may change as we continue to enhance the platform. We welcome feedback from users.

3. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using pickmyschool.co.uk, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, please do not use the service.

4. Who Can Use PickMySchool

PickMySchool is available to anyone. You do not need an account to search and view school data. Creating an account is free and unlocks additional features including saving schools, comparing up to 4 schools side by side, exporting PDF comparison reports, unlimited AI Advisor messages, full admission predictor breakdowns, Ofsted change alerts, and deadline reminders. Some features are limited for non-registered users to encourage signup, for example, school comparisons are limited to 2 schools and AI Advisor to 2 messages without an account.

5. Data Accuracy

All school data is sourced from publicly available government datasets (DfE GIAS, Ofsted, HM Land Registry, HMCTS, Ofcom, Environment Agency, data.police.uk) and updated periodically. While we strive for accuracy, we cannot guarantee that all information is current or complete. Always verify important decisions directly with the school or local authority. PickMySchool accepts no liability for decisions made based on data shown on this platform.

6. Acceptable Use

You may use PickMySchool for personal, research, and educational purposes. You may not: scrape or systematically download data without written authorisation from us; attempt to reverse engineer, decompile or copy the platform; resell access to the service; use the service to harass or harm any school or individual; use automated means to submit content, reviews, or form data; impersonate another person or school; attempt to bypass rate limits or security controls.

7. Intellectual Property

The PickMySchool platform (including its design, code, layout, logos, and original written content such as our blog guides) is the copyright of Candour IT Services Ltd and protected under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. "PickMySchool" and our logo are trademarks of Candour IT Services Ltd. You may not reproduce, republish, or redistribute substantial portions of our original content without written permission. Links to our pages are welcomed and do not require permission.

8. School Data and Third-Party Sources

School data is sourced from third-party providers under their respective licences, most under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full attribution and licensing information is published on our Data Sources page. You are responsible for complying with the relevant source licence if you extract data from PickMySchool for onward use.

9. User-Generated Content

If you submit content to PickMySchool (including but not limited to reviews, SEN reviews, comments, school profile claims, photographs, or feedback), you grant PickMySchool and Candour IT Services Ltd a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable licence to host, store, display, reproduce, modify, moderate, translate, and distribute that content in connection with operating and promoting the service. You represent and warrant that you own or have the right to grant this licence, that your content is accurate to your knowledge, that it does not defame any person, school, or organisation, that it does not infringe any third party's rights, and that it complies with our community guidelines (no hate speech, no harassment, no illegal content, no content identifying specific pupils). We may moderate, edit, or remove content at our discretion, particularly where content is reported, appears false, or breaches these terms. You can request removal of your own content at any time.

10. School Claims

Schools may claim their profile to manage open day dates, add photographs, and respond to reviews. Claiming does not influence search rankings, league tables, or Ofsted/performance data. Schools must verify ownership before claims are approved. Schools are responsible for the accuracy of content they add and grant PickMySchool a licence to display it on the same terms as Section 9.

11. Accounts and Security

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials. You must notify us immediately of any unauthorised access. We may suspend or terminate accounts that breach these terms, attempt to abuse the service, or show signs of automated or fraudulent activity.

12. Reporting Errors, Infringement, and Takedowns

If you believe content on PickMySchool infringes your copyright, trademark, or other rights, or contains factually incorrect information, please contact us with (a) the specific URL and content in question, (b) a description of the issue, and (c) your contact details. We investigate all notices and typically respond within 7 working days. See our Contact page for details.

13. Limitation of Liability

PickMySchool is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranty of any kind, express or implied. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Candour IT Services Ltd shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive loss or damage arising from use of the platform, including but not limited to errors in school data, service downtime, loss of access, or decisions made based on information provided. Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be limited under English law.

14. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Candour IT Services Ltd and its directors, employees, and contractors from any claim, loss or damage (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your breach of these terms, your misuse of the service, or content you submit.

15. Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified via the platform or by email to registered users. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance. The date above shows when the current version took effect.

16. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes arising out of or in connection with these terms or your use of PickMySchool shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

17. Contact

For questions about these terms, data queries, takedown requests, or complaints, contact us at info@pickmyschool.co.uk or via our Contact page. Registered address: Candour IT Services Ltd, Reading, Berkshire, UK.