Code-Point^® FAQs

I've just moved into a new house and the point shown for my postcode is wrong; it is a couple of streets away from my address. Why is this?

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.

Does Code-Point include postcodes in the Isle of Man?

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

How often is Code-Point updated?

The product is updated every three months (February, May, August and November). 

 What is Gridlink^®?

Gridlink is the joint consortium dataset that provides geo spatial referenced postcode data. Consisting of UK postcodes, administration areas and health authorithy codes.

Each consortium member; Royal Mail Group^®, the Office for National Statistics, General Register Office for Scotland, Ordnance Survey^® Northern Ireland and Ordnance Survey^®, supplies component data to ceate the Gridlink dataset.

I cannot find a particular postcode in Code-Point.

More often than not, this is the result of the recoding of an area by Royal Mail. This can happen for various reasons, usually because there are more postcodes required than there is capacity within the higher-level aggregations of postcodes, known as postcode sectors, districts and areas. The postcodes will therefore change, for example, from RG1 1AA to RG10 1AA.

 Changes to Royall Mail postcodes may result in some postcodes being deleted  and therefore no longer represented in the product. 

How accurate is Code-Point?

This is how the question is usually asked, but it is important to understand the difference between accuracy and resolution. Usually, the question is really asking about 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 1 metre.

The accuracy of that Code-Point record could be expressed as that the coordinated position will always be within the notional geographical extent of the postcode.

When I draw up Northern Ireland Code-Point data within my GIS to view the Belfast (BT) postcode area, it appears to be in north-west England. Why is this?

Northern Ireland postcode information within Code-Point includes Irish Grid co-ordinates, as used by Ordnance Survey Ireland and Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland, rather than British Grid co-ordinates. Thus the BT postcode area will need to be geo-referenced to the Irish Grid within a GIS. For more information, please follow either of the links below:

• The Irish Grid