Postcodes in Britain Addresses

Postcodes in Britain

Postcodes in the UK are derived from the letters of the name of each town or city and usually have one or two digits. The letters chosen are intended as a mnemonic (way of remembering them).

These are used for delivering mail and form an important part of any address, usually written at the end.

They can also be used in satellite navigation systems. Use the postcode to pinpoint a place on a satnav (GPS) in a car or online map for example.

Thus BA is Bath, BN is Brighton, SK is Stockport, and YO is York and so on (see below for a full list).

London is divided into geographical areas. N is North London, E is east London, W is west London, SW is Southwest London etc.

Great Scotland Yard. — Great Scotland Yard SW1

Postcode areas and districts usually refer to larger areas than the place names with which they are associated. For example, the Isles of Scilly, 28 miles off the Cornish coast, have the postcode TR for Truro back on the mainland.

Postcode Unit

A full postcode is alphanumeric and known as a postcode unit. It is usually 5-6 digits in length divided by a space after the first two or three digits.

This is the postcode area (town), then a number (the district), then a space, then a three digit code.

Thus SK1 4AB is SK (Stockport, the town), 1 (the district) and 4AB (the sector within the district).

List of Postcode Areas in the UK

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

AB Aberdeen

AL St Albans

B Birmingham

BA Bath

BB Blackburn

BD Bradford

BH Bournemouth

BL Bolton

BN Brighton

BR Bromley

BS Bristol

BT Belfast

CA Carlisle

CB Cambridge

CF Cardiff

CH Chester

CM Chelmsford

CO Colchester

CR Croydon

CT Canterbury

CV Coventry

CW Crewe

DA Dartford

DD Dundee

DE Derby

DG Dumfries (Dumfries and Galloway)

DH Durham

DL Darlington

DN Doncaster

DT Dorchester

DY Dudley

E East London

EC East Central London

EH Edinburgh

EN Enfield

EX Exeter

FK Falkirk

FY Blackpool (The Fylde)

G Glasgow

GL Gloucester

GU Guildford

HA Harrow

HD Huddersfield

HG Harrogate

HP Hemel Hempstead

HR Hereford

HS Hebrides

HU Hull

HX Halifax

IG Ilford

IP Ipswich

IV Inverness

KA Kilmarnock

KT Kingston upon Thames

KW Kirkwall

KY Kirkcaldy

L Liverpool

LA Lancaster

LD Llandrindod Wells

LE Leicester

LL Llandudno

LN Lincoln

LS Leeds

LU Luton

M Manchester

ME Medway

MK Milton Keynes

ML Motherwell

N North London

NE Newcastle upon Tyne

NG Nottingham

NN Northampton

NP Newport

NR Norwich

NW North West London

OL Oldham

OX Oxford

PA Paisley

PE Peterborough

PH Perth

PL Plymouth

PO Portsmouth

PR Preston

RG Reading

RH Redhill

RM Romford

S Sheffield

SA Swansea

SE South East London

SG Stevenage

SK Stockport

SL Slough

SM Sutton (Sutton and Morden)

SN Swindon

SO Southampton

SP Salisbury (Salisbury Plain)

SR Sunderland

SS Southend-on-Sea

ST Stoke-on-Trent

SW South West London

SY Shrewsbury

TA Taunton

TD Tweeddale

TF Telford

TN Tunbridge Wells

TQ Torquay

TR Truro

TS Teesside

TW Twickenham

UB Southall (Uxbridge)

W West London

WA Warrington

WC West Central London

WD Watford

WF Wakefield

WN Wigan

WR Worcester

WS Walsall

WV Wolverhampton

YO York

ZE Lerwick (Zetland)

Crown Dependencies

GY Guernsey

JE Jersey

IM Isle of Man

*BX - The non-geographic postcode area BX is for addresses which do not include a locality, such as large organizations and government offices. For example HM Revenue & Customs is BX9 1AS.