fix(school): drop the nearby section's lede, which repeated its heading

"Other schools nearby" was followed by "Other primary schools near
<school>.", which says the same thing again. The heading now stands alone.

nearbyNoun() and the phase and schoolName props existed only to build that
line, so they go with it. Its bottom margin was the only gap between the
heading and the cards, so the header row carries that gap now, and centres
the heading against the carousel arrows now that it is a single line.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

backend/app.py

@@ -1047,6 +1047,8 @@ async def get_school_details(request: Request, urn: int):
             "age_range": latest.get("age_range", ""),
             "has_sixth_form": latest.get("has_sixth_form"),
             "nursery_provision": latest.get("nursery_provision"),
+            # The header's Selective flag reads it (lib/schoolFacts).
+            "admissions_policy": latest.get("admissions_policy"),
             "status": latest.get("status"),
             "latitude": latest.get("latitude"),
             "longitude": latest.get("longitude"),

backend/tests/test_school_page_flag_fields.py

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+"""The school page's header flags (nextjs-app/lib/schoolFacts.ts) read seven
+school_info fields, so the detail payload must carry every one.
+
+It lacked admissions_policy, so no school page could flag Selective while its
+search row did: Tiffin and The Grammar School at Leeds showed the tag in
+search and nothing on their own pages.
+"""
+
+import numpy as np
+import pandas as pd
+import pytest
+from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+
+# The fields schoolFlags() picks from School (FlagFields in lib/schoolFacts.ts).
+FLAG_FIELDS = (
+    "type_group", "admissions_policy", "gender", "religious_denomination",
+    "nursery_provision", "has_sixth_form", "phase",
+)
+
+
+def _school_df() -> pd.DataFrame:
+    return pd.DataFrame([{
+        "urn": 136910, "school_name": "Tiffin School", "phase": "Secondary",
+        "school_type": "Academy converter", "admissions_policy": "Selective",
+        "gender": "Boys", "religious_denomination": "Christian",
+        "nursery_provision": "Not applicable", "has_sixth_form": True,
+        "age_range": "11-18", "local_authority": "Kingston upon Thames",
+        "address": "Queen Elizabeth Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT2 6RL",
+        "postcode": "KT2 6RL", "latitude": 51.41, "longitude": -0.30,
+        "year": 202425, "attainment_8_score": 75.0, "total_pupils": 200,
+        "gias_total_pupils": 1478, "ofsted_grade": np.nan,
+    }])
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def client(monkeypatch):
+    from backend import app as app_module
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(app_module, "load_school_data", _school_df)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(app_module, "load_latest_school_data", _school_df)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(app_module, "get_supplementary_data", lambda db, urn: {})
+    monkeypatch.setattr(app_module, "_place_registry", None)
+    return TestClient(app_module.app, raise_server_exceptions=False)
+
+
+def test_the_school_page_carries_every_field_its_flags_read(client):
+    resp = client.get("/api/schools/136910")
+    assert resp.status_code == 200, resp.text
+    info = resp.json()["school_info"]
+    assert [f for f in FLAG_FIELDS if f not in info] == []
+
+
+def test_the_school_page_says_a_selective_school_is_selective(client):
+    info = client.get("/api/schools/136910").json()["school_info"]
+    assert info["admissions_policy"] == "Selective"

e2e/tests/journeys.spec.ts

@@ -410,6 +410,29 @@ test('search and the school page agree on how many pupils a secondary has', asyn
   expect(school.total_pupils).toBe(detail.school_info.total_pupils);
 });
 
+test('a secondary search row compares its Attainment 8 with the LA average', async ({ page }) => {
+  // The comparison vanished unnoticed: the averages were fetched with
+  // force-cache, so one stored failure hid it in that browser for good.
+  // Playwright disables the HTTP cache when it intercepts requests, so this
+  // guards the comparison itself; the unit test pins the cache mode.
+  const la = await (await page.request.get('/api/la-averages')).json();
+  const averages: Record<string, number> = la.secondary?.attainment_8_by_la ?? {};
+  const res = await page.request.get('/api/schools?search=school&phase=secondary&page_size=50');
+  expect(res.ok()).toBeTruthy();
+  const school = ((await res.json()).schools ?? []).find(
+    (s: { attainment_8_score?: number | null; local_authority?: string; school_type?: string }) =>
+      s.attainment_8_score != null && s.local_authority != null && averages[s.local_authority] != null
+      && !/special|pupil referral|alternative provision/i.test(s.school_type ?? ''));
+  test.skip(!school, 'no mainstream secondary with an LA average here');
+
+  await searchByName(page, school.school_name);
+  const link = page.locator(`a[href^="/school/${school.urn}-"]`).first();
+  await expect(link).toBeVisible({ timeout: 15_000 });
+  const stats = link.locator('xpath=ancestor::div[contains(@class, "__rowContent")][1]')
+    .locator('[class*="__line3"]');
+  await expect(stats.getByText(/vs LA avg/)).toBeVisible();
+});
+
 test('a phase outside primary/secondary filters to that phase, not to everything', async ({ page }) => {
   // The search page offers every GIAS phase, but the API only knew the grouped
   // ones and silently dropped the rest — so "Nursery" returned primaries.
@@ -3396,3 +3419,31 @@ test('a selective school is flagged Selective, on its page and in search', async
   const tags = await rowTags(page, school);
   await expect(tags.getByText('Selective', { exact: true })).toBeVisible();
 });
+
+/*
+ * The Admissions section repeated the search rows' old tag logic: "selective"
+ * matched inside "Non-selective", and "None" counted as a faith, so Burntwood
+ * read "this school has a faith-based admissions priority (None)". The
+ * Selective half stayed hidden only because the school page's API did not
+ * send admissions_policy. Data-invariant: the school comes from the API, and
+ * must have an Admissions section to read.
+ */
+test('a non-selective school with no faith makes neither claim in its Admissions section', async ({ page }) => {
+  const res = await page.request.get(
+    '/api/schools?search=school&phase=secondary&faith=none&admissions_policy=non-selective&page_size=20');
+  expect(res.ok()).toBeTruthy();
+  let urn: number | null = null;
+  for (const s of ((await res.json()).schools ?? []).slice(0, 8)) {
+    if (s.religious_denomination !== 'None') continue;
+    const detail = await (await page.request.get(`/api/schools/${s.urn}`)).json();
+    if (detail.admissions) { urn = s.urn; break; }
+  }
+  test.skip(urn == null, 'no non-selective, no-faith secondary with admissions data here');
+
+  await page.goto(`/school/${urn}`);
+  const admissions = page.locator('section#admissions');
+  await expect(admissions).toBeVisible({ timeout: 15_000 });
+  await expect(admissions.getByText('Selective:', { exact: true })).toHaveCount(0);
+  await expect(admissions.getByText('Faith priority:', { exact: true })).toHaveCount(0);
+  await expect(admissions.getByText(/\(None\)/)).toHaveCount(0);
+});

nextjs-app/__tests__/components/HomeView.staleFetch.test.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { act, fireEvent, render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
 import { HomeView } from '@/components/HomeView';
-import { fetchSchools } from '@/lib/api';
+import { fetchLAaverages, fetchSchools } from '@/lib/api';
 import { primaryFixture } from '../support/schoolFixtures';
 import type { SchoolsResponse, School } from '@/lib/types';
 
@@ -84,3 +84,23 @@ test('failed map requests can be retried by reopening the map', async () => {
   expect(fetchSchools).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
   expect(screen.getByTestId('map')).toHaveTextContent('Retry result');
 });
+
+test('LA averages are not fetched with force-cache, so one failure is not replayed for good', async () => {
+  // force-cache serves any stored response, however old, without asking the
+  // server. A request that failed once (a staging deploy restart, the July
+  // proxy outage) was stored and replayed on every later visit, and the
+  // "vs LA avg" delta vanished from every secondary row in that browser.
+  // The default mode honours the API's Cache-Control and never reuses an
+  // error.
+  params = new URLSearchParams('search=high');
+  const secondary: SchoolsResponse = {
+    ...response('Alpha High'),
+    schools: [{ ...primaryFixture.schoolInfo, school_name: 'Alpha High', phase: 'Secondary', attainment_8_score: 50 }],
+  };
+  render(<HomeView initialSchools={secondary} filters={filters} />);
+  await act(async () => {});
+  expect(fetchLAaverages).toHaveBeenCalled();
+  for (const [options] of jest.mocked(fetchLAaverages).mock.calls) {
+    expect(options?.cache).not.toBe('force-cache');
+  }
+});

nextjs-app/__tests__/components/NearbySchoolsSection.test.tsx

@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
 
 import {
-  nearbyNoun,
   NearbySchoolsSection,
   shouldRenderNearby,
 } from '@/components/school/NearbySchoolsSection';
@@ -43,13 +42,7 @@ function school(overrides: Partial<NearbySchool> = {}): NearbySchool {
 
 function renderSection(nearby: NearbySchool[]) {
   return render(
-    <NearbySchoolsSection
-      urn={100001}
-      schoolName="Meadowbrook Primary School"
-      phase="Primary"
-      thisMetricValue={72}
-      nearby={nearby}
-    />,
+    <NearbySchoolsSection urn={100001} thisMetricValue={72} nearby={nearby} />,
   );
 }
 
@@ -90,15 +83,10 @@ describe('what the section claims', () => {
   });
 
   it('shows no chips at all when nothing is shared, rather than inventing one', () => {
-    const { container } = render(
-      <NearbySchoolsSection
-        urn={100001}
-        schoolName="Meadowbrook Primary School"
-        phase="Primary"
-        thisMetricValue={72}
-        nearby={[school({ shared: [] }), school({ urn: 100003, shared: [] })]}
-      />,
-    );
+    const { container } = renderSection([
+      school({ shared: [] }),
+      school({ urn: 100003, shared: [] }),
+    ]);
     // The card still carries its distance, name, type and figure — just no
     // claim of likeness.
     expect(container.querySelectorAll('li ul').length).toBe(0);
@@ -106,37 +94,6 @@ describe('what the section claims', () => {
   });
 });
 
-describe('what the lede calls the set', () => {
-  it.each([
-    ['Primary', 'primary schools'],
-    ['Middle deemed primary', 'primary schools'],
-    ['Secondary', 'secondary schools'],
-    ['Middle deemed secondary', 'secondary schools'],
-    ['All-through', 'all-through schools'],
-    // GIAS phase 6. Its candidates span the whole secondary group, so no
-    // single noun fits and it takes the honest general one.
-    ['16 plus', 'schools and colleges'],
-    ['', 'schools'],
-    [null, 'schools'],
-  ])('calls a %s school\'s neighbours "%s"', (phase, expected) => {
-    expect(nearbyNoun(phase)).toBe(expected);
-  });
-
-  it('never calls a sixth form college\'s neighbours primary schools', () => {
-    render(
-      <NearbySchoolsSection
-        urn={100001}
-        schoolName="Barnet Sixth Form College"
-        phase="16 plus"
-        thisMetricValue={null}
-        nearby={[school(), school({ urn: 100003 })]}
-      />,
-    );
-    expect(screen.getByText(/Other schools and colleges near Barnet Sixth Form College/)).toBeInTheDocument();
-    expect(screen.queryByText(/primary schools/)).not.toBeInTheDocument();
-  });
-});
-
 describe('cards', () => {
   it('links each school to its canonical slug', () => {
     renderSection([school(), school({ urn: 100003, school_name: 'Oakfield Primary School' })]);

nextjs-app/__tests__/components/secondaryAdmissionsTag.test.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/**
+ * The Admissions section's Selective and faith notes.
+ *
+ * It tested the policy with includes('selective'), which "Non-selective"
+ * passes, and excluded only "Does not apply" from the religious character, so
+ * Burntwood (no religious character, recorded as "None") read "this school
+ * has a faith-based admissions priority (None)". The Selective half never
+ * fired only because the school page's API did not send admissions_policy.
+ */
+
+import { screen, within } from '@testing-library/react';
+import type { School } from '@/lib/types';
+import { secondaryFixture } from '../support/schoolFixtures';
+import { renderSecondarySchoolDetail } from '../support/renderSchoolDetail';
+
+jest.mock('@/lib/analytics', () => ({
+  track: jest.fn(),
+  getNavigationSource: () => 'direct',
+}));
+jest.mock('@/components/PerformanceChart', () => ({
+  PerformanceChart: () => <div data-testid="performance-chart" />,
+}));
+jest.mock('@/components/AdmissionsTrendChart', () => ({
+  __esModule: true,
+  default: () => <div data-testid="admissions-trend-chart" />,
+}));
+jest.mock('@/components/SchoolHeroMap', () => ({
+  SchoolHeroMap: () => <div data-testid="hero-map" />,
+  __esModule: true,
+}));
+
+function admissionsOf(info: Partial<School>) {
+  renderSecondarySchoolDetail({ ...secondaryFixture, schoolInfo: { ...secondaryFixture.schoolInfo, ...info } });
+  return within(screen.getByRole('heading', { name: 'Admissions' }).closest('section')!);
+}
+
+describe('Admissions section notes', () => {
+  it('notes the entrance test for a selective school', () => {
+    const section = admissionsOf({ admissions_policy: 'Selective', religious_denomination: 'None' });
+    expect(section.getByText('Selective:')).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it('does not call a non-selective school selective', () => {
+    const section = admissionsOf({ admissions_policy: 'Non-selective', religious_denomination: 'None' });
+    expect(section.queryByText('Selective:')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it.each(['None', 'Does not apply'])('claims no faith priority when the register says %p', (religious_denomination) => {
+    // Not "Non-selective": a misread Selective would win and hide this case.
+    const section = admissionsOf({ admissions_policy: 'Not applicable', religious_denomination });
+    expect(section.queryByText('Faith priority:')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it('notes the religious character of a faith school', () => {
+    const section = admissionsOf({ admissions_policy: 'Non-selective', religious_denomination: 'Church of England' });
+    expect(section.getByText('Faith priority:')).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+});

nextjs-app/__tests__/lib/lastDistanceOffered.test.ts

@@ -157,6 +157,13 @@ describe('compareToCutoff', () => {
 });
 
 describe('describeCutoffAbsence', () => {
+  it('does not read "Non-selective" as selective', () => {
+    // A substring test matched "selective" inside "Non-selective".
+    const s = describeCutoffAbsence({ localAuthority: 'Wandsworth', admissionsPolicy: 'Non-selective' });
+    expect(s).not.toMatch(/entrance test/);
+    expect(s).toMatch(/^Wandsworth has not published/);
+  });
+
   it('explains a selective school by how it admits, not as missing data', () => {
     const s = describeCutoffAbsence({ localAuthority: 'Kent', admissionsPolicy: 'Selective' });
     expect(s).toContain('entrance test');

nextjs-app/__tests__/lib/schoolFacts.test.ts

@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ describe('schoolFlags', () => {
   it('never prints Non-selective, and never a no-faith value', () => {
     expect(labels({ admissions_policy: 'Non-selective', religious_denomination: 'Does not apply' })).toEqual([]);
     expect(labels({ admissions_policy: 'Not applicable', religious_denomination: 'None' })).toEqual([]);
+    // PlaceView's rule: GIAS sometimes says "Not applicable" for no faith too.
+    expect(labels({ religious_denomination: 'Not applicable' })).toEqual([]);
   });
 
   it('prints the religious character as the register records it', () => {

nextjs-app/components/HomeView.tsx

@@ -358,10 +358,14 @@ export function HomeView({ initialSchools, filters, totalSchools, howItWorks, ed
     return () => controller.abort();
   }, [resultsView, searchParams, initialSchools.schools]);
 
-  // Fetch LA averages when secondary or mixed schools are visible
+  // Fetch LA averages when secondary or mixed schools are visible. Default
+  // cache mode, never force-cache: force-cache replays any stored response
+  // without asking the server, so one failed request (a deploy restart) hid
+  // every "vs LA avg" delta in that browser for good. The API's Cache-Control
+  // already lets the browser reuse a good answer for five minutes.
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!isSecondaryView && !isMixedView) return;
-    fetchLAaverages({ cache: 'force-cache' })
+    fetchLAaverages()
       .then(data => setLaAverages(data.secondary.attainment_8_by_la))
       .catch(() => {});
   }, [isSecondaryView, isMixedView]);

nextjs-app/components/school/NearbySchools.module.css

@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 .heading { font-family: var(--font-display); font-size: 1.4rem; letter-spacing: -0.4px; margin: 0; }
-.lede { margin: 0.5rem 0 1.25rem; color: var(--text-secondary); max-width: 64ch; }
 .caption { margin: 1rem 0 0; font-size: 0.72rem; color: var(--text-muted); }
 
-.top { display: flex; align-items: flex-start; justify-content: space-between; gap: 1rem; }
+.top { display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: space-between; gap: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; }
 .arrows { display: flex; gap: 0.5rem; flex: none; }
 .arrow { width: 44px; height: 44px; display: grid; place-items: center; cursor: pointer; border: 1px solid var(--border-strong); border-radius: 999px; background: var(--bg-card); color: var(--brand); }
 .arrow:hover:not(:disabled) { border-color: var(--brand); background: var(--brand-bg); }
@@ -15,10 +14,10 @@
 .scroller { display: grid; grid-auto-flow: column; grid-auto-columns: calc((100% - 1.8rem) / 3); gap: 0.9rem; overflow-x: auto; scroll-snap-type: x mandatory; padding: 2px; margin: -2px; list-style: none; scrollbar-width: none; -ms-overflow-style: none; }
 .scroller::-webkit-scrollbar { display: none; }
 @media (max-width: 820px) { .scroller { grid-auto-columns: calc((100% - 0.9rem) / 2); } }
-/* Touch widths (MOBILE.md): the arrows would take 96px from a 328px card and
-   crush the lede into four lines, for a control swiping already provides. They
-   go, and the documented right-edge fade carries the affordance — lifting at
-   the end of the travel, where there is nothing more to hint at. */
+/* Touch widths (MOBILE.md): the arrows would take 96px from a 328px card, for
+   a control swiping already provides. They go, and the documented right-edge
+   fade carries the affordance — lifting at the end of the travel, where there
+   is nothing more to hint at. */
 @media (max-width: 640px) {
   .top { display: block; }
   .arrows { display: none; }

nextjs-app/components/school/NearbySchoolsCarousel.tsx

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * The scroller and its arrows.
  *
  * `children` are the server-rendered cards and `header` the server-rendered
- * heading and lede: both stay server components, passed through, so this file
+ * heading: both stay server components, passed through, so this file
  * owns a DOM ref and nothing else. That is what keeps all six links in the
  * initial HTML — a carousel that mounted cards on click would put four of the
  * six beyond a crawler and beyond a reader with no JavaScript.

nextjs-app/components/school/NearbySchoolsSection.tsx

@@ -13,8 +13,10 @@
  * reached on their behalf.
  *
  * There is deliberately no "how these are chosen" panel: the method is already
- * visible in the lede, the chips and the distances. The single caption line is
- * not a method note — it is the one thing a card cannot self-correct.
+ * visible in the chips and the distances. The single caption line is not a
+ * method note — it is the one thing a card cannot self-correct.
+ *
+ * Nor is there a lede: "Other primary schools near X" only restated the heading.
  */
 
 import Link from 'next/link';
@@ -32,28 +34,6 @@ export function shouldRenderNearby(nearby?: NearbySchool[] | null): boolean {
   return (nearby?.length ?? 0) >= MINIMUM;
 }
 
-/**
- * What the lede calls the set of schools it is showing.
- *
- * Derived from the school's own GIAS phase rather than the template it renders
- * with, because those disagree for "16 plus" (GIAS phase 6): a sixth-form
- * college renders the primary template — computeSchoolFlags tests for the
- * substring "secondary" — while the backend correctly matches it against the
- * secondary group. Taking the noun from the template would print "Other primary
- * schools near <sixth form college>" above a row of secondaries.
- *
- * A 16-plus school's candidates span the whole secondary group, so no single
- * noun fits and it gets the honest general one.
- */
-export function nearbyNoun(phase: string | null | undefined): string {
-  const text = (phase ?? '').trim().toLowerCase();
-  if (text === 'all-through') return 'all-through schools';
-  if (text === '16 plus') return 'schools and colleges';
-  if (text.includes('secondary')) return 'secondary schools';
-  if (text.includes('primary')) return 'primary schools';
-  return 'schools';
-}
-
 function metricLabel(key: string): string {
   return key === 'attainment_8_score' ? 'Attainment 8' : 'Reading, writing & maths';
 }
@@ -65,25 +45,16 @@ function formatMetric(value: number | null, key: string): string {
 
 export function NearbySchoolsSection({
   urn,
-  schoolName,
-  phase,
   thisMetricValue,
   nearby,
 }: {
   urn: number;
-  schoolName: string;
-  /** The school's own GIAS phase, not the template it renders with. */
-  phase: string | null | undefined;
   thisMetricValue: number | null;
   nearby?: NearbySchool[] | null;
 }) {
   if (!shouldRenderNearby(nearby)) return null;
   const schools = nearby as NearbySchool[];
-
-  // One card matched on phase alone, so the section may not claim the set
-  // shares an intake with this school.
   const metricKey = schools[0].metric_key;
-  const noun = nearbyNoun(phase);
 
   return (
     <Section id="nearby">
@@ -91,12 +62,9 @@ export function NearbySchoolsSection({
         count={schools.length}
         labelledBy="nearby-schools-heading"
         header={
-          <div>
-            <h2 id="nearby-schools-heading" className={styles.heading}>
-              Other schools nearby
-            </h2>
-            <p className={styles.lede}>{`Other ${noun} near ${schoolName}.`}</p>
-          </div>
+          <h2 id="nearby-schools-heading" className={styles.heading}>
+            Other schools nearby
+          </h2>
         }
       >
         {schools.map((school) => (

nextjs-app/components/school/PrimarySchoolSections.tsx

@@ -154,8 +154,6 @@ export function PrimarySchoolSections({
       {/* Last: it is where the reader goes next, not part of this school. */}
       <NearbySchoolsSection
         urn={schoolInfo.urn}
-        schoolName={schoolInfo.school_name}
-        phase={schoolInfo.phase}
         thisMetricValue={flags.latestResults?.rwm_expected_pct ?? null}
         nearby={nearbySchools}
       />

nextjs-app/components/school/SecondaryAdmissionsSection.tsx

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
  */
 
 import type { School, SchoolAdmissions, SchoolAdmissionDistance } from '@/lib/types';
-import { formatPercentage } from '@/lib/utils';
+import { formatPercentage, hasReligiousCharacter, isSelective } from '@/lib/utils';
 import { Section, sectionStyles as styles } from './sectionShared';
 import {
   describeCutoff, describeCutoffAbsence,
@@ -33,10 +33,8 @@ export function SecondaryAdmissionsSection({
   const featureOn = admissionDistance !== undefined;
   // Moved with this section from SecondarySchoolDetailView, its only consumer.
   const admissionsTag = (() => {
-    const policy = schoolInfo.admissions_policy?.toLowerCase() ?? '';
-    if (policy.includes('selective')) return 'Selective';
-    const denom = schoolInfo.religious_denomination ?? '';
-    if (denom && denom !== 'Does not apply') return 'Faith priority';
+    if (isSelective(schoolInfo.admissions_policy)) return 'Selective';
+    if (hasReligiousCharacter(schoolInfo.religious_denomination)) return 'Faith priority';
     return null;
   })();
 

nextjs-app/components/school/SecondarySchoolSections.tsx

@@ -148,8 +148,6 @@ export function SecondarySchoolSections({
       {/* Last: it is where the reader goes next, not part of this school. */}
       <NearbySchoolsSection
         urn={schoolInfo.urn}
-        schoolName={schoolInfo.school_name}
-        phase={schoolInfo.phase}
         thisMetricValue={flags.latestResults?.attainment_8_score ?? null}
         nearby={nearbySchools}
       />

nextjs-app/components/school/lastDistanceOffered.ts

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
  */
 
 import type { SchoolAdmissionDistance } from '@/lib/types';
-import { formatCutoffDistance, formatMiles, formatEntryYear } from '@/lib/utils';
+import { formatCutoffDistance, formatMiles, formatEntryYear, isSelective } from '@/lib/utils';
 
 export interface CutoffDisplay {
   /** Headline figure, e.g. "0.31 miles". */
@@ -193,8 +193,7 @@ export function describeCutoffAbsence({
   admissionsPolicy,
   admissionsHistory = [],
 }: AbsenceInput): string {
-  const policy = (admissionsPolicy ?? '').toLowerCase();
-  if (policy.includes('selective')) {
+  if (isSelective(admissionsPolicy)) {
     return 'Places at this school are ranked by the entrance test rather than by '
       + 'distance, so no cut-off distance applies.';
   }

nextjs-app/lib/schoolFacts.ts

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
  */
 
 import type { School } from './types';
-import { hasNurseryClasses, hasReligiousCharacter, singleSexLabel } from './utils';
+import { hasNurseryClasses, hasReligiousCharacter, isSelective, singleSexLabel } from './utils';
 
 /** The search filter's type groups (backend/school_groups.py), without its
  *  parenthesised notes: fees have a flag of their own. */
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export function schoolFlags(school: FlagFields): SchoolFlag[] {
   const phase = school.phase?.trim().toLowerCase();
 
   if (school.type_group === 'independent') condition('Fee-paying');
-  if (school.admissions_policy?.trim().toLowerCase() === 'selective') condition('Selective');
+  if (isSelective(school.admissions_policy)) condition('Selective');
   const singleSex = singleSexLabel(school.gender);
   if (singleSex) condition(singleSex);
   if (hasReligiousCharacter(school.religious_denomination)) {

nextjs-app/lib/utils.ts

@@ -923,12 +923,22 @@ export function isSpecialSchool(school: { school_type?: string | null }): boolea
 }
 
 /**
- * Whether GIAS records a religious character. "None" and "Does not apply" are
- * the register's two ways of saying it has none, and neither is a faith.
+ * Whether GIAS records a religious character. "None", "Does not apply" and
+ * "Not applicable" are the register's ways of saying it has none; the place
+ * table (PlaceView's NO_FAITH) reads the same three.
  */
 export function hasReligiousCharacter(value: string | null | undefined): boolean {
   const v = value?.trim().toLowerCase() ?? '';
-  return v !== '' && v !== 'none' && v !== 'does not apply';
+  return v !== '' && v !== 'none' && v !== 'does not apply' && v !== 'not applicable';
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether GIAS records the school as selective. Exact: "Non-selective"
+ * contains "selective", so a substring test read every comprehensive as
+ * selective. (The register files a partly selective school as non-selective.)
+ */
+export function isSelective(admissionsPolicy: string | null | undefined): boolean {
+  return admissionsPolicy?.trim().toLowerCase() === 'selective';
 }
 
 /**