Methodology
Evidence in. Explainable result out.
SchoolRange does not guess an admission probability. It applies reviewed policy rules to the facts you provide, then compares only compatible published history.
1. We start with official sources
SchoolRange’s London directory is generated from a dated Department for Education Get Information about Schools snapshot. School registers, determined admissions policies, allocation reports, and official geographic definitions are recorded with their publisher, year, URL, and last-check date.
An official establishment profile is not the same as verified admissions analysis. New baseline schools remain clearly labelled research-only until their September 2027 policy has completed source-to-rule review.
Baseline classifications keep separate meanings
Funding sector, academic selection, religious character, governance type, and gender are imported as separate facts from the dated GIAS snapshot. SchoolRange retains the official source code and wording, represents missing values explicitly, and never infers a classification from a school name.
A religious-character value does not by itself establish an annual faith-admissions requirement. A selective value does not establish the current entry-year test, deadline, places, ranking rules, or reviewed eligibility.
2. A human reviews every executable rule
Software can help extract clauses, but a policy is not marked verified until its priority order, eligibility conditions, pools, tie-breaks, distance method, and exceptions have been reviewed.
3. The engine follows the published order
The evaluator is deterministic TypeScript, not a chat model. Given the same policy version and family facts, it returns the same route, criterion, missing information, and evidence trace.
4. History must be comparable
Straight-line outcomes are never mixed with walking-route outcomes. Results from a different criterion or admission pool are excluded. A spread of at least 20% between recent compatible distance cutoffs is labelled variable before SchoolRange counts how many years were within range. If there is not enough compatible evidence, SchoolRange says so.
5. Some decisions belong to the authority
Medical, social, pastoral, selective, aptitude, and other evidence-assessed routes may require an official decision. SchoolRange identifies that route but does not impersonate the decision-maker.
How to read your result
Labels describe evidence, not an offer
Results use bounded language: stronger priority position, historically within range, borderline or variable, historically outside range, cannot assess yet, or official assessment required. Past allocations do not guarantee future offers.