UK Postcode Regex Pattern
Validates British postcodes in all standard formats.
Pattern
^[A-Z]{1,2}[0-9][0-9A-Z]?\s?[0-9][A-Z]{2}$Tested examples
SW1A 1AAEC1A1BBW1A0AX12345INVALIDSW1A 1ATest it live
Live Regex TesterJS
0 matches/
/g
SW1A 1AA EC1A1BB W1A0AX
Use it in your language
Use it in
// JavaScript / Node.js
const regex = /^[A-Z]{1,2}[0-9][0-9A-Z]?\s?[0-9][A-Z]{2}$/;
const value = "SW1A 1AA";
const isMatch = regex.test(value);
console.log(isMatch); // true / false
// Extract all matches
const matches = value.match(/^[A-Z]{1,2}[0-9][0-9A-Z]?\s?[0-9][A-Z]{2}$/g) || [];Tags
Frequently asked questions
How do I use the UK Postcode regex pattern in JavaScript?
Wrap the pattern in slashes: const re = /^[A-Z]{1,2}[0-9][0-9A-Z]?\s?[0-9][A-Z]{2}$/; — then call re.test(value) to check a single value, or value.match(re) to find matches. The "Use it in" snippets above give you the exact code for 9 languages.
Is this uk postcode regex production-ready?
Yes — every pattern in the library is tested against valid and invalid examples. Still, regex is one layer in a defense-in-depth strategy: pair it with server-side validation (e.g. Luhn for credit cards, mod-97 for IBAN, real DNS lookup for emails) for critical inputs.
Why does my pattern fail in another language?
Different regex engines (PCRE, Java, Python, Go's RE2) support slightly different syntax. The most common gotchas: lookbehinds (not in RE2), named groups syntax, and how backslashes need to be escaped inside string literals. The code snippets above already escape correctly for each language.
Can I edit this pattern and test it live?
Yes — use the live tester above. Type your test string and toggle flags (g, i, m, s, u, y) to see matches highlighted instantly, including capture groups.
Related patterns
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ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 Country Code
2-letter uppercase country code (FR, US, DE...).
LocationUS Zip Code
Standard 5-digit zip code or 9-digit ZIP+4.
LocationUS ZIP Code
Validates US postal codes in 5-digit or ZIP+4 format.
LocationUK Postcode
Validates official UK postcode formats.
LocationLatitude
Validates latitude coordinates (-90 to +90).
LocationLongitude
Validates longitude coordinates (-180 to +180).
Browse the full library — 250 tested regex patterns across 16 categories.