Mondo Knows Facts

A postcode splits into outward and inward codes

The first group sorts to a district, the second to a few streets A full postcode such as SW1A 1AA is split by a single space. The outward code gives the postcode area and district, one to four characters, and the inward code gives a sector and a unit of a few addresses. Royal Mail assigns them so mail can be sorted mechanically down to a walk, which is why a house number is not needed for routing. It sits in Mondo's everyday life collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

UK Government

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: post, addresses, sorting

A postcode splits into outward and inward codes: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?
The first group sorts to a district, the second to a few streets. The figure is taken from UK Government, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a everyday life fact?
Yes. It sits on the Everyday Life shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?
The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.