UK postcodes - format

Last modified: 1997-04-28

UK postcodes consist of two alphanumeric groups, separated by a space; for example N3 2QQ. The first group is called the outward code: it describes a small town, a district of a large town, or a rural area, such that the outward code is sufficient (with a few exceptions) to determine the sorting office that will deliver the mail. The second group is called the inward code: it represents a small group of addresses - from 70 houses down to a single business - that would always form part of the same delivery round. Typically the inward code covers one side of a short street, or a natural section of a longer one.

The outward code consists of an area and a district; in 8 cases the district is then divided into sub-districts. The UK (here including the independent authorities) is divided into 121 areas and 2900 districts and sub-districts. Each area is represented by a one- or two-letter code, and the district by a number from 0 to 99; sub-districts have a single letter. For example, N23 is district 23 of area N, and W1A is sub-district A of district 1 of area W.

The inward code consists of a sector and a group. The sector is indicated by a digit, and the group by two letters; for example, 2QQ is group QQ of sector 2. Only 20 letters are used in groups (C, I, K, M, O, and V are not used), and so there are 400 groups in each sector and 4000 groups in each district or sub-district.

Data about postal districts

This table gives the number of postal areas and districts in each region of the UK. 8 of the London Postal districts are split into a total of 63 sub-districts.

Region	Areas	Districts	Outward codes
Total	124	2845	2900
England	99	2102	2157
London Postal Areas	8	124	179
Outer London	10	142	142
Rest of England	81	1836	1836
Scotland	16	453	453
Wales	5	185	185
Northern Ireland	1	80	80
Independent	3	25	25

The next table lists the 124 postal areas.

	Code	Location
S	AB	Aberdeen
rE	AL	Saint Albans
rE	B	Birmingham
rE	BA	Bath
rE	BB	Blackburn
rE	BD	Bradford
rE	BH	Bournemouth
rE	BL	Bolton
rE	BN	Brighton
OL	BR	Bromley
rE	BS	Bristol
NI	BT	Belfast
rE	CA	Carlisle
rE	CB	Cambridge
W	CF	Cardiff
rE	CH	Chester
rE	CM	Chelmsford
rE	CO	Colchester
OL	CR	Croydon
rE	CT	Canterbury
rE	CV	Coventry
rE	CW	Crewe
rE	DA	Dartford
S	DD	Dundee
rE	DE	Derby
S	DG	Dumfries and Galloway
rE	DH	Durham
rE	DL	Darlington
rE	DN	Doncaster
rE	DT	Dorchester
rE	DY	Dudley
LP	E	London east
LP	EC	London east central
S	EH	Edinburgh
OL	EN	Enfield
rE	EX	Exeter
S	FK	Falkirk
rE	FY	Fylde (Blackpool)
S	G	Glasgow
rE	GL	Gloucester
rE	GU	Guildford
Ind	GY	Guernsey
OL	HA	Harrow
rE	HD	Huddersfield
rE	HG	Harrogate
rE	HP	Hemel Hempstead
rE	HR	Hereford
S	HS	Outer Hebrides
rE	HU	Hull
rE	HX	Halifax
OL	IG	Ilford and Barking
Ind	IM	Isle of Man
rE	IP	Ipswich
S	IV	Inverness
Ind	JE	Jersey
S	KA	Kilmarnock and Ayr
OL	KT	Kingston-upon-Thames
S	KW	Kirkwall
S	KY	Kirkcaldy
rE	L	Liverpool
rE	LA	Lancaster
W	LD	Llandrindod Wells
rE	LE	Leicester
W	LL	Llandudno
rE	LN	Lincoln
rE	LS	Leeds
rE	LU	Luton
rE	M	Manchester
rE	ME	Medway
rE	MK	Milton Keynes
S	ML	Motherwell
LP	N	London north
rE	NE	Newcastle-upon-Tyne
rE	NG	Nottingham
rE	NN	Northampton
W	NP	Newport Gwent
rE	NR	Norwich
LP	NW	London northwest
rE	OL	Oldham
rE	OX	Oxford
S	PA	Paisley
rE	PE	Peterborough
S	PH	Perth
rE	PL	Plymouth
rE	PO	Portsmouth
rE	PR	Preston
rE	RG	Reading
OL	RH	Redhill
OL	RM	Romford
rE	S	Sheffield
W	SA	Swansea
LP	SE	London southeast
rE	SG	Stevenage
rE	SK	Stockport
rE	SL	Slough
OL	SM	Sutton and Merton
rE	SN	Swindon
rE	SO	Southampton
rE	SP	Salisbury plain
rE	SR	Sunderland
rE	SS	Southend-on-Sea
rE	ST	Stoke-on-Trent
LP	SW	London southwest
rE	SY	Shrewsbury
rE	TA	Taunton
S	TD	Tweeddale
rE	TF	Telford
rE	TN	Tonbridge
rE	TQ	Torquay
rE	TR	Truro
rE	TS	Teeside
rE	TW	Twickenham
OL	UB	Uxbridge
LP	W	London west
rE	WA	Warrington
LP	WC	London west central
rE	WD	Watford
rE	WF	Wakefield
rE	WN	Wigan
rE	WR	Worcester
rE	WS	Walsall
rE	WV	Wolverhampton
rE	YO	York
S	ZE	Shetlands

The codes in the left column give the region this code is allocated to in the previous table:

LP	London postal areas
OL	Outer London
rE	Rest of England
S	Scotland
W	Wales
NI	Northern Ireland
Ind	Independent authorities

The London postal areas pre-date the introduction of postcodes, and it was found that some districts would require more than 4000 groups. These were therefore divided into sub-districts by adding a letter to the outward code. There are 12 different letters; there is no obvious logic behind the choices made.

District	Sub-districts
EC1	A	B			M	N	P	R	V			Y
EC2	A	B			M	N	P	R	V			Y
EC3	A	B			M	N	P	R	V
EC4	A	B			M	N	P	R	V			Y
SW1	A		E	H			P		V	W	X	Y
W1	A		E	H	M	N	P	R	V		X	Y
WC1	A	B	E	H		N		R	V		X
WC2	A	B	E	H		N		R

Finally, this table lists all 2845 postal districts.

To be written

Delivery point suffixes

The delivery point suffix or walk sort code is a two character code that is used only in bar codes and uniquely identify each address within a single postcode. The code consists of a digit (from 1 to 4) followed by a letter from the set of 20 used in inward codes.

The allocation of codes to addresses is not particularly obvious. For example, here is an actual street of 13 houses (shown stylized):

Special codes

A number of special codes have been created for various purposes.

The code GIR 0AA is used for the Post Office Girobank, physically located in the FY area (note the use of letter I, not digit 1).
The Royal Mail uses the imaginary FX ("Fairfax") area in training and testing.
BBC Radio 4 uses the equally imaginary AM for the town of Ambridge in The Archers.
Finally, the code SAN TA1 is used for you-know-who.

Back to

UK Postcodes or

the Postcodes index.

Back to Clive's home page.

Ignore this if you can see it



     AB  37  1-3 9-16 21-25 30-39 41-45 51-56
     AL  10  1-10
     B   77  1-21 23-38 40 42-50 60-80 90-98
     BA  19  1-16 20-22
     BB  12  1-12
     BD  27  1-24 97-99
     BH  26  1-25 31
     BL  12  0-9 78 80
     BN  31  1-3 5-18 20-27 41-45 99
     BR   8  1-8
     BS  42  1-29 32 34-41 48-49 98-99
     BT  80  1-49 51-57 60-71 74-82 92-94
     CA  28  1-28
     CB  11  1-11
     CF  32  1-5 31-48 61-64 71-72 81-83
     CH   9  1-8 99
     CM  25  0-9 11-24 99
     CO  16  1-16
     CR  20  0 2-20
     CT  21  1-21
     CV  23  1-13 21-23 31-37
     CW  12  1-12
     DA  18  1-18
     DD  11  1-11
     DE  24  1 3-7 11-15 21-24 45 55-56 65 72-75 99
     DG  15  1-14 16
     DH  11  1-9 98-99
     DL  17  1-17
     DN  32  1-12 14-22 31-41
     DT  11  1-11
     DY  14  1-14
     E   19  1-18 99
     EC   5  1* 2* 3* 4* 88
     EH  54  1-49 51-55
     EN  11  1-11
     EX  32  1-23 31-39
     FK  21  1-21
     FY   9  0-8
     G   56  1-5 9 11-15 20-23 31-34 40-46 51-53 58-84
     GL  27  1-20 50-56
     GU  37  1-35 46-47
     GY   9  1-9
     HA  10  0-9
     HD   8  1-8
     HG   5  1-5
     HP  24  1-23 27
     HR   9  1-9
     HS   9  1-9
     HU  20  1-20
     HX   7  1-7
     IG  11  1-11
     IM  12  1-9 86-87 99
     IP  33  1-33
     IV  48  1-28 30-32 36 40-49 51-56
     JE   4  1-4
     KA  30  1-30
     KT  24  1-24
     KW  16  1-3 5-17
     KY  17  1-16 99
     L   63  1-49 60-70 72-74
     LA  23  1-23
     LD   8  1-8
     LE  23  1-18 65 67 87 94 99
     LL  67  11-49 51-78
     LN  13  1-13
     LS  31  1-29 98-99
     LU   7  1-7
     M   44  1-9 11-35 38 40-41 43-46 60 90 99
     ME  20  1-20
     MK  27  1-19 40-46 98
     ML  12  1-12
     N   22  1-22
     NE  65  1-13 15-49 61-71 82-83 85 88 98-99
     NG  29  1-25 31-34
     NN  20  1-18 29 99
     NP  26  1-25 44
     NR  35  1-35
     NW  11  1-11
     OL  16  1-16
     OX  21  1-18 20 33 44
     PA  68  1-49 60-78
     PE  34  1-25 30-38
     PH  41  1-26 30-44
     PL  35  1-35
     PO  34  1-22 30-41
     PR  10  0-9
     RG  30  1-2 4-10 12 14 17-31 40-42 45
     RH  20  1-20
     RM  20  1-20
     S   52  1-14 17-21 25-28 30-36 40-45 49 60-66 70-75 80-81
     SA  52  1-20 31-48 61-73 99
     SE  29  1-28 99
     SG  19  1-19
     SK  17  1-17
     SL  10  0-9
     SM   7  1-7
     SN  22  1-17 38 42 86-87 99
     SO  23  14-24 30-32 40-43 45 50-53
     SP  11  1-11
     SR  12  1-9 43 88 99
     SS  18  0-9 11-17 99
     ST  21  1-21
     SW  21  1* 2-20 99
     SY  25  1-25
     TA  24  1-24
     TD  15  1-15
     TF  13  1-13
     TN  40  1-40
     TQ  14  1-14
     TR  27  1-27
     TS  30  1-29 90
     TW  20  1-20
     UB  11  1-11
     W   14  1* 2-14
     WA  16  1-16
     WC   3  1* 2* 99
     WD   7  1-7
     WF  17  1-17
     WN   8  1-8
     WR  17  1-15 78 99
     WS  15  1-15
     WV  16  1-16
     YO  23  1-8 10-18 20-22 25 31-32
     ZE   3  1-3

District	Sub-districts
EC1	A	B			M	N	P	R	V			Y
EC2	A	B			M	N	P	R	V			Y
EC3	A	B			M	N	P	R	V
EC4	A	B			M	N	P	R	V			Y
SW1	A		E	H			P		V	W	X	Y
W1	A		E	H	M	N	P	R	V		X	Y
WC1	A	B	E	H		N		R	V		X
WC2	A	B	E	H		N		R

District	Sub-districts
EC1	A	B			M	N	P	R	V			Y
EC2	A	B			M	N	P	R	V			Y
EC3	A	B			M	N	P	R	V
EC4	A	B			M	N	P	R	V			Y
SW1	A		E	H			P		V	W	X	Y
W1	A		E	H	M	N	P	R	V		X	Y
WC1	A	B	E	H		N		R	V		X
WC2	A	B	E	H		N		R

District	Sub-districts
EC1	A	B			M	N	P	R	V			Y
EC2	A	B			M	N	P	R	V			Y
EC3	A	B			M	N	P	R	V
EC4	A	B			M	N	P	R	V			Y
SW1	A		E	H			P		V	W	X	Y
W1	A		E	H	M	N	P	R	V		X	Y
WC1	A	B	E	H		N		R	V		X
WC2	A	B	E	H		N		R