diff --git a/pipeline/plugins/extractors/tap-uk-gias/tap_uk_gias/gias_csv.py b/pipeline/plugins/extractors/tap-uk-gias/tap_uk_gias/gias_csv.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d76fa93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pipeline/plugins/extractors/tap-uk-gias/tap_uk_gias/gias_csv.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+"""Read a GIAS extract from the raw bytes of the download.
+
+GIAS writes its CSVs in Windows-1252 and sends no charset, so `resp.text`
+leaves requests to guess the codec. On 3 Oct 2026 it guessed windows-1250 and
+"à" became "ŕ". Decode the bytes ourselves instead.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import io
+
+import pandas as pd
+
+GIAS_ENCODING = "cp1252"
+
+
+def read_gias_csv(content: bytes, logger=None) -> pd.DataFrame:
+    """Every column as a string; a blank cell stays ''."""
+    # Windows-1252 leaves five bytes undefined. One stray byte must not stop
+    # the daily refresh of every school, so it becomes U+FFFD and is logged.
+    text = content.decode(GIAS_ENCODING, errors="replace")
+    undecodable = text.count("�")
+    if undecodable and logger is not None:
+        logger.warning("%d byte(s) in the GIAS extract could not be decoded as %s",
+                       undecodable, GIAS_ENCODING)
+    return pd.read_csv(io.StringIO(text), dtype=str, keep_default_na=False)
diff --git a/pipeline/plugins/extractors/tap-uk-gias/tap_uk_gias/tap.py b/pipeline/plugins/extractors/tap-uk-gias/tap_uk_gias/tap.py
index 619de3b..4a217a0 100644
--- a/pipeline/plugins/extractors/tap-uk-gias/tap_uk_gias/tap.py
+++ b/pipeline/plugins/extractors/tap-uk-gias/tap_uk_gias/tap.py
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ from datetime import date, timedelta
 from singer_sdk import Stream, Tap
 from singer_sdk import typing as th
 
+from tap_uk_gias.gias_csv import read_gias_csv
+
 GIAS_URL_TEMPLATE = (
     "https://ea-edubase-api-prod.azurewebsites.net"
     "/edubase/downloads/public/edubasealldata{date}.csv"
@@ -74,9 +76,6 @@ class GIASEstablishmentsStream(Stream):
 
     def get_records(self, context):
         """Download GIAS CSV and yield rows."""
-        import io
-
-        import pandas as pd
         import requests
 
         today = date.today()
@@ -94,12 +93,7 @@ class GIASEstablishmentsStream(Stream):
 
         resp.raise_for_status()
 
-        df = pd.read_csv(
-            io.StringIO(resp.text),
-            encoding="latin-1",
-            dtype=str,
-            keep_default_na=False,
-        )
+        df = read_gias_csv(resp.content, self.logger)
 
         for _, row in df.iterrows():
             record = row.to_dict()
@@ -126,9 +120,6 @@ class GIASLinksStream(Stream):
 
     def get_records(self, context):
         """Download GIAS links CSV and yield rows."""
-        import io
-
-        import pandas as pd
         import requests
 
         today = date.today()
@@ -146,12 +137,7 @@ class GIASLinksStream(Stream):
 
         resp.raise_for_status()
 
-        df = pd.read_csv(
-            io.StringIO(resp.text),
-            encoding="latin-1",
-            dtype=str,
-            keep_default_na=False,
-        )
+        df = read_gias_csv(resp.content, self.logger)
 
         for _, row in df.iterrows():
             record = row.to_dict()
diff --git a/pipeline/tests/test_gias_encoding.py b/pipeline/tests/test_gias_encoding.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..038fa4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pipeline/tests/test_gias_encoding.py
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+"""GIAS publishes its extracts in Windows-1252 and declares no charset.
+
+The tap used to hand pandas `resp.text`, so requests guessed the codec.
+On 3 Oct 2026 it guessed windows-1250, and "St Thomas à Becket" was stored
+as "St Thomas ŕ Becket". The `encoding=` passed to read_csv did nothing,
+because the text was already decoded.
+"""
+import importlib.util
+import logging
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+MODULE = (Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / 'plugins' / 'extractors' / 'tap-uk-gias'
+          / 'tap_uk_gias' / 'gias_csv.py')
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def gias_csv():
+    spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location('gias_csv', MODULE)
+    module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
+    spec.loader.exec_module(module)
+    return module
+
+
+# Byte for byte as GIAS writes it: 0xE0 à, 0x92 ’, 0xE9 é, 0xB0 °, 0xE7 ç.
+EXTRACT = (
+    b'"URN","EstablishmentName","HeadLastName"\r\n'
+    b'"138950","St Thomas \xe0 Becket Catholic Secondary School","Smith"\r\n'
+    b'"100000","The Dean and Chapter of St Paul\x92s Cathedral","Pr\xe9vert"\r\n'
+    b'"140677","North Star 180\xb0","Fran\xe7ois"\r\n'
+    b'"100001","No head recorded",""\r\n'
+)
+
+
+def test_names_decode_as_windows_1252(gias_csv):
+    df = gias_csv.read_gias_csv(EXTRACT)
+    assert list(df['EstablishmentName']) == [
+        'St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School',
+        'The Dean and Chapter of St Paul’s Cathedral',
+        'North Star 180°',
+        'No head recorded',
+    ]
+    assert list(df['HeadLastName']) == ['Smith', 'Prévert', 'François', '']
+
+
+def test_the_codec_requests_guessed_is_not_used(gias_csv):
+    # What the tap stored on 3 Oct: the same bytes read as windows-1250.
+    assert 'ŕ' in EXTRACT.decode('cp1250')
+    names = ' '.join(gias_csv.read_gias_csv(EXTRACT)['EstablishmentName'])
+    assert 'ŕ' not in names
+
+
+def test_values_stay_strings(gias_csv):
+    df = gias_csv.read_gias_csv(EXTRACT)
+    assert df.loc[0, 'URN'] == '138950'
+
+
+def test_a_byte_windows_1252_leaves_undefined_does_not_stop_the_load(gias_csv, caplog):
+    # 0x81 has no Windows-1252 character. One odd name must not block the daily
+    # refresh of every school, but it must be visible in the log.
+    extract = b'"URN","EstablishmentName"\r\n"100002","Odd \x81 Name"\r\n'
+    with caplog.at_level(logging.WARNING):
+        df = gias_csv.read_gias_csv(extract, logger=logging.getLogger('gias'))
+    assert df.loc[0, 'EstablishmentName'] == 'Odd � Name'
+    assert 'could not be decoded' in caplog.text