backend/app.py

@@ -209,12 +209,27 @@ def _place_url(place) -> str:
 
 
 def _place_sitemap_rows(kinds: tuple[str, ...]) -> list[str]:
-    return [
+    """A <url> per place, plus a phase variant wherever that phase clears the
-        _url_element(BASE_URL + _place_url(p))
+    threshold on its own.
-        for p in sorted(get_place_registry().values(),
+
-                        key=lambda p: (p.kind, p.slug))
+    Phase is part of the query — "primary schools in beccles" — so each
-        if p.kind in kinds
+    variant is its own indexable page. Submitting only the bare place URL left
-    ]
+    ~950 of them reachable by nothing: absent from every sitemap, and not
+    linked from the place page either.
+    """
+    rows: list[str] = []
+    for p in sorted(get_place_registry().values(), key=lambda p: (p.kind, p.slug)):
+        if p.kind not in kinds:
+            continue
+        rows.append(_url_element(BASE_URL + _place_url(p)))
+        # Outcodes carry no phase variants: nobody searches "primary schools
+        # in SW11", so the routes do not exist to submit.
+        if p.kind == "outcode":
+            continue
+        for phase in ("primary", "secondary"):
+            if p.publishes_phase(phase):
+                rows.append(_url_element(f"{BASE_URL}{_place_url(p)}/{phase}"))
+    return rows
 
 
 def build_sitemaps() -> dict[str, str]:
@@ -1216,7 +1231,11 @@ async def get_place(request: Request, kind: str, slug: str,
     return {
         "place": {"kind": place.kind, "slug": place.slug, "name": place.name,
                   "count": len(place.urns),
-                  "parent_authority": place.parent_authority},
+                  "parent_authority": place.parent_authority,
+                  # Only phases that clear the threshold, so the page links
+                  # variants that exist rather than 404s.
+                  "phases": [ph for ph in ("primary", "secondary")
+                             if place.publishes_phase(ph)]},
         "schools": clean_for_json(rows[cols]),
         "averages": averages,
     }

backend/places.py

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 import logging
 import re
-from dataclasses import dataclass
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -30,6 +30,13 @@ class Place:
     name: str
     urns: tuple[int, ...]
     parent_authority: str | None    # authority NAME, for the 301 target
+    # URNs per phase, so the per-phase threshold can be applied without
+    # re-querying. A place with 30 primaries and 2 secondaries publishes a
+    # primary variant and no secondary one.
+    phase_urns: dict[str, tuple[int, ...]] = field(default_factory=dict)
+
+    def publishes_phase(self, phase: str) -> bool:
+        return len(self.phase_urns.get(phase, ())) >= MIN_SCHOOLS
 
     @property
     def key(self) -> str:
@@ -46,6 +53,24 @@ def _publishable_urns(df) -> set[int]:
     return set(df.loc[df[cols].notna().any(axis=1), "urn"].astype(int))
 
 
+def _phase_urns(group, publishable: set[int]) -> dict[str, tuple[int, ...]]:
+    """URNs per phase. All-through schools count toward both, matching the
+    PHASE_GROUPS mapping the search filters already use."""
+    from backend.app import PHASE_GROUPS
+
+    if "phase" not in group.columns:
+        return {}
+    lowered = group["phase"].fillna("").str.lower()
+    out: dict[str, tuple[int, ...]] = {}
+    for phase in ("primary", "secondary"):
+        wanted = PHASE_GROUPS.get(phase, set())
+        subset = group[lowered.isin(wanted)]
+        urns = tuple(sorted({int(u) for u in subset["urn"]} & publishable))
+        if urns:
+            out[phase] = urns
+    return out
+
+
 def _parent_authority(group) -> str | None:
     """The most common authority in a group — the useful 301 target.
 
@@ -79,6 +104,7 @@ def _group(df, column: str, kind: str, publishable: set[int]) -> dict[str, Place
         place = Place(
             kind=kind, slug=slug, name=name, urns=urns,
             parent_authority=_parent_authority(group) if kind == "town" else None,
+            phase_urns=_phase_urns(group, publishable),
         )
         out[place.key] = place
     return out
@@ -111,7 +137,8 @@ def _outcode_places(df, publishable: set[int]) -> dict[str, Place]:
         if len(urns) < MIN_SCHOOLS:
             continue
         place = Place(kind="outcode", slug=str(oc).lower(), name=str(oc),
-                      urns=urns, parent_authority=_parent_authority(group))
+                      urns=urns, parent_authority=_parent_authority(group),
+                      phase_urns=_phase_urns(group, publishable))
         out[place.key] = place
     return out
 
@@ -153,7 +180,8 @@ def _locality_places(df, publishable: set[int],
                 slug, ", ".join(outcodes), len(urns), MIN_SCHOOLS)
             continue
         place = Place(kind="locality", slug=slug, name=name, urns=urns,
-                      parent_authority=_parent_authority(group))
+                      parent_authority=_parent_authority(group),
+                      phase_urns=_phase_urns(group, publishable))
         out[place.key] = place
     return out
 

backend/tests/test_sitemap.py

@@ -268,3 +268,23 @@ def test_place_urls_carry_no_priority_or_changefreq(place_sitemaps):
     for name in ("places-1.xml", "outcodes-1.xml"):
         assert "<priority>" not in place_sitemaps[name]
         assert "<changefreq>" not in place_sitemaps[name]
+
+
+def test_phase_variants_are_submitted_where_the_phase_clears_the_threshold(place_sitemaps):
+    # "primary schools in beccles" is the query shape the baseline showed, so
+    # each variant is its own page and has to be submitted. Emitting only the
+    # bare place URL left ~950 of them reachable by nothing.
+    xml = place_sitemaps["places-1.xml"]
+    assert "<loc>https://www.schoolcompare.co.uk/schools/brentwood/primary</loc>" in xml
+
+
+def test_a_phase_below_its_own_threshold_is_not_submitted(place_sitemaps):
+    # The fixture is six primaries and no secondaries.
+    xml = place_sitemaps["places-1.xml"]
+    assert "/schools/brentwood/secondary" not in xml
+
+
+def test_outcodes_get_no_phase_variants(place_sitemaps):
+    # Nobody searches "primary schools in CM13"; the routes do not exist.
+    xml = place_sitemaps["outcodes-1.xml"]
+    assert "/primary" not in xml and "/secondary" not in xml

e2e/tests/journeys.spec.ts

@@ -1842,3 +1842,29 @@ test('a place page states the local average against England', async ({ page }) =
   await page.goto(`/schools/${place.slug}`);
   await expect(page.getByTestId('local-vs-england')).toContainText(/across England/i);
 });
+
+test('a place page links its phase variants, and they resolve', async ({ page }) => {
+  // "primary schools in beccles" is the query shape the baseline showed. The
+  // first cut submitted only the bare place URL and linked nothing, leaving
+  // ~950 variant pages reachable by nothing at all.
+  const res = await page.request.get('/api/places');
+  const { places } = await res.json();
+  const town = places.find((p: { kind: string }) => p.kind === 'town');
+  expect(town).toBeTruthy();
+
+  const detail = await (await page.request.get(`/api/places/town/${town.slug}`)).json();
+  test.skip(!(detail.place.phases ?? []).length, 'no phase clears the threshold here');
+
+  await page.goto(`/schools/${town.slug}`);
+  const phase = detail.place.phases[0];
+  const link = page.locator(`a[href="/schools/${town.slug}/${phase}"]`).first();
+  await expect(link).toBeVisible();
+
+  await link.click();
+  await expect(page.locator('h1')).toContainText(new RegExp(`${phase} schools in`, 'i'));
+});
+
+test('phase variants are submitted in the places sitemap', async ({ page }) => {
+  const xml = await (await page.request.get('/sitemaps/places-1.xml')).text();
+  expect(xml).toMatch(/\/schools\/[a-z0-9-]+\/primary</);
+});

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

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import type { PlaceDetail } from '@/lib/places';
 
 const detail: PlaceDetail = {
   place: { kind: 'town', slug: 'brentwood', name: 'Brentwood', count: 29,
-           parent_authority: 'Essex' },
+           parent_authority: 'Essex', phases: ['primary'] },
   schools: [
     { urn: 1, school_name: 'Alpha Primary', rwm_expected_pct: 82,
       ofsted_grade: 1 } as never,
@@ -91,3 +91,24 @@ describe('PlaceView structured data', () => {
     }
   });
 });
+
+describe('PlaceView phase variants', () => {
+  it('links the phase variants that exist', () => {
+    render(<PlaceView detail={detail} englandAverage={61} neighbours={[]} />);
+    expect(screen.getByRole('link', { name: /Primary schools in Brentwood/i }))
+      .toHaveAttribute('href', '/schools/brentwood/primary');
+  });
+
+  it('links no variant for a phase below its own threshold', () => {
+    render(<PlaceView detail={detail} englandAverage={61} neighbours={[]} />);
+    expect(screen.queryByRole('link', { name: /Secondary schools in Brentwood/i }))
+      .not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it('does not link sideways from a variant page to itself', () => {
+    render(<PlaceView detail={detail} phase="primary" englandAverage={61}
+      neighbours={[]} />);
+    expect(screen.queryByRole('link', { name: /Primary schools in Brentwood/i }))
+      .not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+});

nextjs-app/components/places/PlaceView.module.css

@@ -106,3 +106,13 @@
   padding: 0;
   margin: 0;
 }
+
+/* Phase variants are separate indexable pages, so the bare place page has to
+   link them — a sitemap entry alone leaves them with no internal path in. */
+.phaseLinks {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+  gap: 0.5rem 1rem;
+  margin: 0 0 1.25rem;
+  font-size: 0.9375rem;
+}

nextjs-app/components/places/PlaceView.tsx

@@ -89,6 +89,16 @@ export function PlaceView({ detail, phase, englandAverage, neighbours }: Props)
         </p>
       </header>
 
+      {!phase && (place.phases ?? []).length > 0 && (
+        <nav className={styles.phaseLinks} aria-label="By phase">
+          {(place.phases ?? []).map((ph) => (
+            <Link key={ph} href={`/schools/${place.slug}/${ph}`}>
+              {ph === 'secondary' ? 'Secondary schools' : 'Primary schools'} in {place.name}
+            </Link>
+          ))}
+        </nav>
+      )}
+
       {local != null && englandAverage != null && (
         <p className={styles.compare} data-testid="local-vs-england">
           {place.name} averages <strong>{Math.round(local)}</strong> against{' '}

nextjs-app/lib/places.ts

@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ export interface PlaceSummary {
   slug: string;
   name: string;
   count: number;
+  /** Phases that clear the threshold on their own, so the page links
+   *  variants that exist rather than 404s. Absent on the registry listing. */
+  phases?: string[];
 }
 
 export interface PlaceDetail {