Ordnance Survey mapping
The definitive map of Great Britain, built into every planning decision
What it is
About Ordnance Survey mapping
Ordnance Survey provides highly accurate large-scale topographic mapping, address, boundary and elevation data covering all of Great Britain, delivered via products like OS MasterMap, OS Maps API and OS Data Hub. It underpins land use assessment, zoning, utilities planning and environmental surveys as the legally recognised source of geographic truth, integrating into GIS platforms such as QGIS and ArcGIS to inform spatial planning decisions.
What you can do with it
Capabilities
Pull authoritative boundary, address and topographic layers into a GIS project
Overlay planning constraints (green belt, conservation areas, flood zones) on OS base maps
Use OS MasterMap for precise land parcel and building outline analysis
Access historical map series to assess land use change over time
Integrate OS APIs into custom web mapping applications
How to learn it
Learning Resources
OS Data Hub tutorials and API documentation at osdatahub.os.uk
Ordnance Survey's own GIS and GeoDataGov training resources and webinars
QGIS or ArcGIS courses that use OS data as the working dataset
Practise by building a small planning-constraint map for a real local authority area using free OS Open Data
Pro Tip
Start with OS Open Data (free, no licence complexity) to prototype before paying for OS MasterMap Premium — the schema is consistent across tiers so upgrading later is straightforward
Skills that use this tool
Roles that use this tool