Platform Terms of Use

Effective Date: 1st September 2025
Last Updated: 5th August 2025

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the School Scout platform and services operated by School Scout Ltd (“School Scout”, “the Company”, “we”, “us”, “our” or “the Platform”). School Scout Ltd is a company incorporated in England and Wales under company number 16239948, with a registered office at 71–75 Shelton Street, London, WC2H 9JQ.

Please read these Terms carefully before using the Platform. By accessing, browsing, or using any part of the Platform, you confirm that you accept and agree to be bound by these Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any other legal policies referenced herein.

If you do not agree with these Terms, you must not use the Platform.

1. Platform Overview

The Platform, accessible at www.schoolscout.uk, provides tools and services to help parents, guardians, and carers research and make enquiries to UK independent schools. This includes School Scout AI, an artificial-intelligence feature designed to provide general information and guidance. Use of School Scout AI is subject to separate School Scout AI Terms of Use and School Scout AI Use Policy. The Platform also provides schools with the opportunity to present their information and communicate with prospective families.

All content on the Platform is provided for general information purposes only and may be updated or modified at any time without prior notice.

2. Eligibility and Scope of Use

You must be at least 18 years of age to use this Platform. You may use the Platform solely for personal, non-commercial use to support school research and enquiries for your own household only. Any use outside this scope requires prior written consent from School Scout.

3. Intellectual Property

All content and materials available on the Platform, including but not limited to the website design, layout, user interface, text, graphics, icons, images, videos, data compilations, software, source code, algorithms, trademarks, and trade names (collectively, “Content”), are the intellectual property of School Scout Ltd or its licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark, database right, and other applicable intellectual property and proprietary rights laws.

Certain public sector information displayed on the Platform is sourced from the Department for Education’s Get Information About Schools (GIAS) service and is used under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL). Such data is acknowledged and credited in accordance with the OGL terms. All adaptations, compilations, or enhancements of that data, including analytics, categorisations, user interface design, and presentation, are owned by School Scout Ltd and are protected by copyright and database rights.

  • Except as expressly permitted by these Terms or by prior written consent from School Scout, you must not:
  • Copy, reproduce, modify, adapt, distribute, transmit, publish, or create derivative works from any Content on thePlatform;
  • Use any part of the Platform’s Content or data for commercial purposes, automated data mining, or resale;
  • Remove, obscure, or alter any copyright, trademark, or proprietary notices;
  • Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the source code of any part of the Platform.

You acknowledge that all rights, title, and interest in and to the Platform, its Content, and any derivative data created by School Scout remain the exclusive property of School Scout Ltd and its licensors.

Any unauthorised use may give rise to civil and/or criminal liability, and School Scout reserves all rights to enforce its intellectual property and database rights to the fullest extent permitted by law.

4. User Conduct and Acceptable Use

You agree to use the Platform in a lawful, ethical, and respectful manner. You must not:

  • Use the Platform for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law or regulation;
  • Access or attempt to access any data, accounts, or systems you are not authorised to access;
  • Use automated tools (including bots, scrapers, spiders, or crawlers) to extract, collect or copy data, listings, or content from the Platform without written consent;
  • Submit false, misleading, or defamatory content or impersonate another person;
  • Upload or transmit any material that is offensive, harmful, or infringes the rights of others.

We reserve the right to suspend or permanently disable your access if we reasonably suspect that you have violated these Terms or applicable laws.

5. Use of School Scout AI Assistant

The Platform includes the School Scout AI assistant, an automated tool designed to support users in researching schools and generating general guidance. By using School Scout AI, you agree that your use is additionally governed by the School Scout AI Terms of Use and the School Scout AI Use Policy, which form part of these Platform Terms of Use by reference.

By using School Scout AI, you acknowledge and agree that:

  • Responses are generated automatically and may be incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate;
  • All information provided via School Scout AI must be independently verified before relying upon it;
  • You are solely responsible for the accuracy and legality of the content you submit;
  • You grant School Scout a royalty-free, perpetual licence to store, analyse, and process your prompts to improve the service;
  • We may share aggregated and anonymised insights from School Scout AI interactions with our School Partners.

Improper use of School Scout AI, including submitting unlawful, misleading, abusive, or harmful prompts, will result in suspension or termination of your access to School Scout AI and potentially to the entire Platform.

6. Accuracy of Information

While we take reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy and relevance of content on the Platform, including information about schools, we do not guarantee its completeness, reliability, or timeliness.

You understand and accept that:

  • School listings and profiles are provided for general guidance only and may contain errors or omissions;
  • You must verify any critical information (e.g. fees, admissions processes, academic results) directly with the relevant school;
  • School Scout is not liable for any inaccuracies or reliance placed on information found on the Platform.


7. Disclaimers

The Platform is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis without any representations, warranties, or guarantees, express or implied, including those relating to fitness for purpose, merchantability, accuracy, or non-infringement.

School Scout is not responsible for:

  • The conduct of schools, parents, or other users;
  • The outcome of communications initiated through the Platform;
  • Decisions made based on information or content on the Platform.


8. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

  • School Scout shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, data, goodwill, or other intangible losses;
  • Our total aggregate liability to any user in respect of all claims arising under or in connection with the use of the Platform shall be limited to £100.

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be lawfully excluded or limited.

9. Third-Party Links and Services

The Platform may contain links to third-party websites or services. These links are provided for your convenience only. We do not endorse and are not responsible for the content, accuracy, or privacy practices of third-party websites.

Accessing any third-party site is at your own risk and subject to that site’s own terms and policies.

10. User Generated Content

You may be invited to submit content to the Platform (including text, images, reviews, statistics, or multimedia). By submitting any such content, you grant School Scout a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to use, reproduce, adapt, publish, distribute, and otherwise exploit your contribution in any media, including for promotional and marketing purposes.

You warrant that:

  • You own or have permission to submit the content;
  • Your content does not infringe the rights of any third party or violate any laws;
  • Your content is not defamatory, unlawful, or offensive.

You agree to indemnify School Scout against any claims, legal fees, or damages arising from your breach of the above warranties.

You also waive any moral rights in your content, to the extent permitted by law.

11. Changes to These Terms

We reserve the right to revise or update these Terms at any time. If we make material changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify users (e.g. via email or website notice). Continued use of the Platform after such changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

Product-specific policies (such as the School Scout AI Terms of Use and School Scout AI Use Policy) may be updated separately to reflect evolving technology, regulation or functionality. 

You are advised to check this page regularly for the most current version.

12. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes arising from or relating to the Platform or these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

13. Data Protection

We are committed to protecting your personal data in compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018. Details of how we collect, use, store, and protect your information are available in our Privacy Policy, which forms an integral part of these Terms.

14. Contact

If you have questions, concerns or feedback about these Terms of Use, please contact:

Email: datacontroller@schoolscout.uk
Address: School Scout Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London, WC2H 9JQ

15. Data Attribution Licensing

Certain information on the Platform incorporates or adapts public sector data made available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL). 

This includes, without limitation, data obtained from the Department for Education’s Get Information About Schools (GIAS) service.

© Crown copyright. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

School Scout Ltd has adapted and supplemented this data to create proprietary compilations, visualisations, and analytical outputs. All such adaptations, combined data sets, metadata, and user interfaces are protected by copyright and database rights owned by School Scout Ltd.

You may view such public sector data through the Platform for personal use only, but you must not copy, republish, or reuse any adapted or compiled version of that data without written permission from School Scout Ltd.



These Platform Terms of Use were last updated on 29 October 2025.