Postcode FAQ
If questions like 'what is a postcode?' and 'how many postcodes are there?' keep you awake at night then you have come to the right place!• postcode - a coding system created by the Royal Mail for defining geographic units within the UK at four different levels.
• royal mail - the national postal service of the UK.
• postcode area - e.g WA refers to the postcode area of Warrington. There are approx 125 different postcode areas in the UK.
• postcode district - e.g. WA6 refers to the postcode district within the postcode area of Warrington. There are approx 2900 different postcode districts within the UK.
• postcode sector - e.g. WA6 8 refers to the postcode sector within the Warrington postcode district. There are under 10,000 postcode sectors in the UK.
• full postcode / unit postcode - e.g. WA6 8DE is the most accurate / detailed geographic unit that can be described using a postcode. There are an average of between 10 - 20 delivery addresses within a full postcode giving between 1.5 and 2 million unit postcodes in the UK.
• outcode / outward postcode - each full postcode consists of two halves separated by a space, the outcode / outward code is the first half of the postcode e.g. WA6 and comprises the postcode area and postcode district information.
• incode / inward postcode - each full postcode consists of two halves separated by a space, the incode / inward code is the second half of the postcode e.g. 8DE.
To correct / update or suggest an addition to our Postcode FAQ then please contact us.
• royal mail - the national postal service of the UK.
• postcode area - e.g WA refers to the postcode area of Warrington. There are approx 125 different postcode areas in the UK.
• postcode district - e.g. WA6 refers to the postcode district within the postcode area of Warrington. There are approx 2900 different postcode districts within the UK.
• postcode sector - e.g. WA6 8 refers to the postcode sector within the Warrington postcode district. There are under 10,000 postcode sectors in the UK.
• full postcode / unit postcode - e.g. WA6 8DE is the most accurate / detailed geographic unit that can be described using a postcode. There are an average of between 10 - 20 delivery addresses within a full postcode giving between 1.5 and 2 million unit postcodes in the UK.
• outcode / outward postcode - each full postcode consists of two halves separated by a space, the outcode / outward code is the first half of the postcode e.g. WA6 and comprises the postcode area and postcode district information.
• incode / inward postcode - each full postcode consists of two halves separated by a space, the incode / inward code is the second half of the postcode e.g. 8DE.