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List of postcode areas in the United Kingdom facts for kids

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The list of postcode areas in the United Kingdom is a tabulation of the postcode areas used by Royal Mail for the purposes of directing mail within the United Kingdom. The postcode area is the largest geographical unit used and forms the initial characters of the alphanumeric UK postcode. There are currently 121 geographic postcode areas in use in the UK and a further three often combined with these covering the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man.

Subdivision

Each postcode area is further divided into post towns and postcode districts. There are on average 20 postcode districts to a postcode area. The London post town is instead divided into several postcode areas.

Scope

The single or pair of letters chosen for postcode areas are generally intended as a mnemonic for the places served. Postcode areas, post towns and postcode districts do not follow political boundaries and usually serve much larger areas than the place names with which they are associated. For example, within the PA postcode area the PA1 and PA78 postcode districts are 140 miles (225 km) apart; and the eight postcode areas of the London post town cover only 40% of Greater London. The remainder of its area is covered by sections of twelve adjoining postcode areas: EN, IG, RM, DA, BR, TN, CR, SM, KT, TW, HA and UB.

United Kingdom postcode areas

AB postcode area AL postcode area B postcode area BA postcode area BB postcode area BD postcode area BH postcode area BL postcode area BN postcode area BR postcode area BS postcode area BT postcode area BT postcode area CA postcode area CB postcode area CF postcode area CH postcode area CM postcode area CO postcode area CR postcode area CT postcode area CV postcode area CW postcode area DA postcode area DD postcode area DE postcode area DG postcode area DH postcode area DL postcode area DN postcode area DT postcode area DY postcode area E postcode area EC postcode area EH postcode area EN postcode area EX postcode area EX postcode area FK postcode area FY postcode area G postcode area GL postcode area GU postcode area GY postcode area HA postcode area HD postcode area HG postcode area HP postcode area HR postcode area HS postcode area HU postcode area HX postcode area IG postcode area IM postcode area IP postcode area IV postcode area JE postcode area KA postcode area KA postcode area KT postcode area KW postcode area KW postcode area KY postcode area L postcode area LA postcode area LD postcode area LE postcode area LL postcode area LN postcode area LS postcode area LU postcode area M postcode area ME postcode area MK postcode area ML postcode area N postcode area NE postcode area NG postcode area NN postcode area NP postcode area NR postcode area NW postcode area OL postcode area OX postcode area PA postcode area PA postcode area PA postcode area PE postcode area PH postcode area PH postcode area PH postcode area PH postcode area PL postcode area PO postcode area PR postcode area RG postcode area RH postcode area RM postcode area S postcode area SA postcode area SE postcode area SG postcode area SK postcode area SL postcode area SM postcode area SN postcode area SO postcode area SP postcode area SR postcode area SS postcode area ST postcode area SW postcode area SY postcode area TA postcode area TD postcode area TF postcode area TN postcode area TQ postcode area TR postcode area TR postcode area TS postcode area TW postcode area UB postcode area W postcode area WA postcode area WC postcode area WD postcode area WF postcode area WN postcode area WR postcode area WS postcode area WV postcode area YO postcode area ZE postcode area ZE postcode area ZE postcode area ZE postcode area AL postcode area BR postcode area CM postcode area CR postcode area DA postcode area E postcode area EC postcode area EN postcode area GU postcode area HA postcode area IG postcode area KT postcode area N postcode area NW postcode area RM postcode area SE postcode area SL postcode area SM postcode area SW postcode area TN postcode area TW postcode area UB postcode area W postcode area WC postcode area WD postcode area WD postcode area BB postcode area BD postcode area BL postcode area CH postcode area CW postcode area DE postcode area DN postcode area FY postcode area HD postcode area HG postcode area HX postcode area L postcode area LA postcode area LL postcode area LL postcode area LS postcode area M postcode area NG postcode area OL postcode area PR postcode area S postcode area SK postcode area ST postcode area WA postcode area WF postcode area WN postcode area YO postcode areaBritish postcode areas map
Map of postcode areas in the United Kingdom and Crown dependencies, with links to each postcode area
Postcode area Postcode area name Code formation Number of postcode districts within area
AB Aberdeen 33 (Highest number 56)
AL St Albans 10
B Birmingham 79 (Highest number 98)
BA Bath 19 (Highest number 22)
BB Blackburn 13 (Highest number 18)
BD Bradford 27 (Highest number 99)
BH Bournemouth 26 (Highest number 31)
BL Bolton 10 (Highest number 9)
BN Brighton 30 (Highest number 45)
BR Bromley 8
BS Bristol 37 (Highest number 49)
BT Belfast 81 (Highest number 94)
CA Carlisle 28
CB Cambridge 16 (Highest number 25)
CF Cardiff 35 (Highest number 83)
CH Chester 37 (Highest number 66)
CM Chelmsford 25 (Highest number 77)
CO Colchester 16
CR Croydon 9 (lowest number 0)
CT Canterbury 21
CV Coventry 24 (Highest number 47)
CW Crewe 12
DA Dartford 18
DD Dundee 11
DE Derby 23 (Highest number 75)
DG Dumfries Dumfries and Galloway 15 (Highest number 16)
DH Durham 9
DL Darlington 17
DN Doncaster 32 (Highest number 41)
DT Dorchester 11
DY Dudley 14
E East London 20 (Includes E1W)
EC East Central London 23 (Layout for EC is different, e.g.: EC2R 8AH, highest number 4/4Y)
EH Edinburgh 54 (Highest number 55)
EN Enfield 11
EX Exeter 33 (Highest number 39)
FK Falkirk 21
FY Blackpool The Fylde 8
G Glasgow 52 (Highest number 84)
GL Gloucester 27 (Highest number 56)
GU Guildford 38 (Highest number 52)
HA Harrow 10 (Highest number 9)
HD Huddersfield 9
HG Harrogate 5
HP Hemel Hempstead 24 (Highest number 27)
HR Hereford 9
HS Hebrides 9
HU Hull 20
HX Halifax 7
IG Ilford Possibly Ilford and Gants Hill (or Barking) 11
IP Ipswich 33
IV Inverness 52 (Highest number 63)
KA Kilmarnock Possibly Kilmarnock and Ayr or Kilmarnock 30
KT Kingston upon Thames 24
KW Kirkwall 16 (Highest number 17)
KY Kirkcaldy 16
L Liverpool 40
LA Lancaster 23
LD Llandrindod Wells 8
LE Leicester 21 (Highest number 67)
LL Llandudno 67 (Highest number 78)
LN Lincoln 13
LS Leeds 29
LU Luton 7
M Manchester 43 (Highest number 90)
ME Medway 20
MK Milton Keynes 26 (Highest number 46)
ML Motherwell 12
N North London 23 (Includes N1C, Highest number 22)
NE Newcastle upon Tyne 61 (Highest number 71)
NG Nottingham 29 (Highest number 34)
NN Northampton 19 (Highest number 29)
NP Newport 18 (Highest number 44)
NR Norwich 35
NW North West London 11
OL Oldham 16
OX Oxford 27 (Highest number 49)
PA Paisley 67 (Highest number 80)
PE Peterborough 38
PH Perth 43 (Highest number 50)
PL Plymouth 35
PO Portsmouth 34 (Highest number 41)
PR Preston 11 (Highest number 26)
RG Reading 30 (Highest number 45)
RH Redhill 20
RM Romford 20
S Sheffield 45 (Highest number 81)
SA Swansea 51 (Highest number 73)
SE South East London 28
SG Stevenage 19
SK Stockport 19 (Highest number 23)
SL Slough 10 (Highest number 9)
SM Sutton Possibly Sutton and Morden, the two post towns that are within the SM area 7
SN Swindon 18 (Highest number 26)
SO Southampton 23 (Highest number 53)
SP Salisbury Salisbury Plain 11
SR Sunderland 8
SS Southend-on-Sea 17
ST Stoke-on-Trent 21
SW South West London 27 (SW1 is represented by SW1A, -E, -H, -P, -V, -W, -X & -Y, Highest number 20)
SY Shrewsbury 25
TA Taunton 24
TD Galashiels Tweeddale 15
TF Telford 13
TN Tunbridge Wells 40
TQ Torquay 14
TR Truro 27
TS Teesside 29
TW Twickenham 20
UB Southall Uxbridge 11
W West London 26 (W1 is split into W1A to W1D, -F to -H, -J, -K, -S to -U and -W, highest number 14)
WA Warrington 16
WC West Central London 14 (WC1 is split into eight, WC2 is split into six, highest number 2/2R)
WD Watford 11 (Highest number 25)
WF Wakefield 17
WN Wigan 8
WR Worcester 15
WS Walsall 15
WV Wolverhampton 16
YO York 29 (Highest number 47)
ZE Lerwick Zetland 3

Crown dependencies

The Crown dependencies (which are not part of the United Kingdom) did not introduce postcodes until later, but use a similar coding scheme. They are separate postal authorities.

Postcode area Postcode area name
GY Guernsey
JE Jersey
IM Isle of Man

Defunct postcode areas

London NE and S

Glasgow

Glasgow, like London, was divided into compass districts: C, W, NW, N, E, SE, S, SW. When postcodes were introduced, these were mapped into the new G postcode: C1 became G1, W1 became G11, N1 became G21, E1 became G31, S1 became G41, SW1 became G51, and so on. As NW and SE had never been subdivided they became G20 and G40 respectively.

Norwich and Croydon

Norwich and Croydon were used for a postcode experiment in the late 1960s, which was replaced by the current system. The format was of the form NOR or CRO followed by two numbers and a letter, e.g. NOR 07A. They were later changed to CR0 (digit '0') and NR1.

Dublin, Ireland

When Ireland was a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland a postal district system was introduced in 1917 by the UK government. The letter D was assigned to Dublin. Upon the establishment of the Irish Free State and later, the Republic of Ireland, the Irish government retained the designation and today it forms part of the Eircode system, a postcode format slightly different from the UK format and identifying individual addresses. Since Irish independence, D has never been reassigned as a postcode area in the UK.

Non-geographic postcodes

Some postcode areas do not correspond to geographical areas. A number of non-geographic postcode sectors are also contained within geographic postcode areas.

BF

The BF postcode area was introduced in 2012 to provide optional postcodes for British Forces Post Office addresses, for consistency with the layout of other UK addresses. It uses the national non-geographic post town "BFPO" and, as of 2012, the postcode district "BF1".

BX

The non-geographic postcode area BX has been introduced for addresses which do not include a locality; this allows large organisations long-term flexibility as to where they receive their mail. This postcode area is used by Lloyds Banking Group (BX1 1LT), HSBC (BX8 0HB) and parts of HM Revenue and Customs like VAT (BX5 5AT) and Pay As You Earn (BX9 1AS). Lloyds Bank also use BX4. After splitting from Lloyds, TSB Bank uses BX4 7SB, the latter part of which, when written, looks similar to "TSB".

GIR

GIR 0AA is a postcode created for Girobank in Bootle. It remained in use by its successors when Girobank was taken over by Alliance & Leicester and subsequently by Santander UK.

XM

XM4 5HQ is a postcode created for Father Christmas.

XX

The non-geographic postcode area XX is used by online retailers for returns by Royal Mail, and for COVID-19 test samples.

Retailer
(or other user)
XX Postcodes
Adidas XX40 4AA
Amazon XX10 1DD (Scottish Distribution Centre)
XX10 1ZZ (Yorkshire Distribution Centre)
XX30 1FF (South West Distribution Centre)
XX40 2PP (National Distribution Centre)
XX50 1DD (Scottish Distribution Centre)
XX50 9SS (Scottish Distribution Centre)
XX60 1XX (Princess Royal Distribution Centre)
ASOS XX10 1AA
Boohoo.com XX10 1BB
BT Group XX10 1BT
John Lewis XX10 1EE
XX40 1EE
Marks & Spencer XX10 1SS
Very XX20 1DD
musicMagpie XX10 1FF
XX20 1BF
XX20 1FF
HP / Cycleon Retail Returns XX40 1EH
XX40 2HH (toner cartridge recycling)
Nike XX40 2HH
Zara XX40 1EJ
Mango XX40 1EN
Monsoon Accessorize XX40 1EP
Boden XX40 1EG
H&M XX40 1HN
Oasis XX40 1YY
Shein XX40 3SS
Temu XX40 1ZZ
Sky XX40 4UU
Biocentre (COVID-19 testing) XX40 4FL
AstraZeneca (COVID-19 testing) XX40 8AZ
Biocentre (COVID-19 testing) Scotland XX50 5FL

Overseas territories

Certain British Overseas Territories introduced single postal codes for their territory or major sub-sections of it. These are not UK postcodes, even though many are formatted in a similar fashion:

Territory Postcode
 Anguilla AI-2640
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha:
 Ascension Island
 Saint Helena
 Tristan da Cunha

ASCN 1ZZ
STHL 1ZZ
TDCU 1ZZ
 British Indian Ocean Territory BBND 1ZZ
 British Antarctic Territory BIQQ 1ZZ
 Falkland Islands FIQQ 1ZZ
 Gibraltar GX11 1AA
 Pitcairn Islands PCRN 1ZZ
 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands SIQQ 1ZZ
 Turks and Caicos Islands TKCA 1ZZ

Other overseas territories have introduced their own more extensive postcode systems:

Overseas Territory Further information
 Bermuda Postal codes in Bermuda
 Cayman Islands Postal codes in the Cayman Islands
 British Virgin Islands Postal codes in the British Virgin Islands
 Montserrat Postal codes in Montserrat

Civilian residential and business addresses in Akrotiri and Dhekelia are served by Cyprus Postal Services and use Cypriot postal codes.

Mail to Overseas Territories is treated as international if posted in the UK.

See also

  • List of postcode areas in the United Kingdom by population
  • List of postcode districts in the United Kingdom
  • Postcodes in the United Kingdom
  • UK Postcode Regions by Population
  • List of Eircode routing areas in Ireland
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