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- Data Updates
- Upcoming Postcode Profiler Refresh
The updated Postcode Profiler is due for release to the database in April 2026, improving data accuracy and accessibility to support with effective targeting
We are pleased to announce that we plan to release the updated version of the Postcode Profiler to the HEAT database in April. As well as updating the source data, we have made additional changes to enhance usability, which are listed below:
- The Indices of Deprivation for England and Wales will be updated to the most recent available versions, which were published in 2025
- Each postcode is populated with information from the Office for Students (OfS) postcode file. Where it does not exist within this file, mapping to the OfS aggregated datasets, either at LSOA or MSOA level, is applied
- All Postcode Profiler language has been updated to reflect current Uni Connect terminology and where requested, Uni Connect Partnership names have been updated
- Following guidance from the OfS, postcodes which are flagged as Uni Connect in the OfS postcode lookup file, but which could not be mapped using their OfS or ONSPD casward codes, have been mapped to a Uni Connect Consortia using a best fit matching exercise, based on their LSOA11 Code
- The report meets accessibility standards
Indices of Deprivation Releases
As per our Postcode Profiler Data Update detailing the incorporation of new English and Welsh Indices of Deprivation data, this refresh of the Postcode Profiler will see the relevant data points within the Postcode Profiler updated from the 2019 versions of the data to the new 2025 versions. This will impact the following metrics for both England and Wales:
- Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)
- Education, Skills and Training (EST)
In addition, the following metric will also be impacted for England:
- Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI)
The Postcode Profiler contains both a ‘Current’ and an ‘Archived’ version of the Indices of Deprivation fields, with the latter providing the metrics sourced from the second most recent version of the Indices of Deprivation. As such, in addition to the above, this update will also see the ‘Archived’ Indices of Deprivation be updated from the 2015 to the 2019 version for England, and from the 2014 to the 2019 version for Wales.
The planned update to the Scottish Indices of Deprivation is currently expected in late 2026, as per the following update: Our plans to update the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.
Changes to the Office for Students Postcode File
As part of the February 2026 changes to the postcode look-up, the OfS have discontinued the following fields from their annual dataset refresh:
- Gaps GCSE quintile
- Gaps GCSE Ethnicity quintile
- Reason removed Gaps
- Uni Connect target ward
- CAS ward current
- CAS ward name
- CAS ward measures
- ITL2 code
- ITL2 name
These fields can still be accessed in previous versions of the look-up data, and for the upcoming 2026 refresh of the HEAT Postcode Profiler the following fields will be populated using the September 2024 version of the OfS postcode-lookup file:
- OfS Casward: Populated via the OfS CAS_ward_current field
- Gaps GCSE Quintile: Populated via the OfS Gaps_GCSE_quintile field
- Uni Connect Target Ward Code: Identified for mapping via the OfS Uni_Connect_target_ward field
We will publish plans and further details in due course, however if you have any queries concerning the Postcode Profiler, please contact HEAT Support and we will be happy to assist.
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