diff --git a/app/models/school.rb b/app/models/school.rb
index 39ff2d48..24531d48 100644
--- a/app/models/school.rb
+++ b/app/models/school.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ class School < ApplicationRecord
             format: { with: /\A\d{5,6}\z/, allow_nil: true, message: I18n.t('validations.school.reference') },
             if: :united_kingdom?
   validates :district_nces_id,
-            uniqueness: { conditions: -> { where(rejected_at: nil) }, case_sensitive: false, allow_blank: true, message: I18n.t('validations.school.district_nces_id_exists') },
             format: { with: /\A\d{7}\z/, allow_nil: true, message: I18n.t('validations.school.district_nces_id') },
             if: :united_states?
   validates :district_name, presence: true, if: :united_states?
diff --git a/config/locales/en.yml b/config/locales/en.yml
index 3cfba122..5cef4714 100644
--- a/config/locales/en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/en.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ en:
       reference: "must be 5-6 digits (e.g., 100000)"
       reference_urn_exists: "URN number already exists"
       district_nces_id: "must be 7 digits (e.g., 0100000)"
-      district_nces_id_exists: "NCES ID already exists"
       school_roll_number: "must be numbers followed by letters (e.g., 01572D)"
       school_roll_number_exists: "School roll number already exists"
     invitation:
diff --git a/db/migrate/20260116164502_remove_unique_index_from_schools_district_nces_id.rb b/db/migrate/20260116164502_remove_unique_index_from_schools_district_nces_id.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..025502ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20260116164502_remove_unique_index_from_schools_district_nces_id.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+class RemoveUniqueIndexFromSchoolsDistrictNcesId < ActiveRecord::Migration[7.2]
+  def change
+    remove_index :schools, name: "index_schools_on_district_nces_id"
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index 447f0582..0b9bf772 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #
 # It's strongly recommended that you check this file into your version control system.
 
-ActiveRecord::Schema[7.2].define(version: 2025_12_08_134354) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema[7.2].define(version: 2026_01_16_164502) do
   # These are extensions that must be enabled in order to support this database
   enable_extension "pgcrypto"
   enable_extension "plpgsql"
@@ -311,7 +311,6 @@
     t.string "school_roll_number"
     t.index ["code"], name: "index_schools_on_code", unique: true
     t.index ["creator_id"], name: "index_schools_on_creator_id", unique: true
-    t.index ["district_nces_id"], name: "index_schools_on_district_nces_id", unique: true, where: "(rejected_at IS NULL)"
     t.index ["reference"], name: "index_schools_on_reference", unique: true, where: "(rejected_at IS NULL)"
     t.index ["school_roll_number"], name: "index_schools_on_school_roll_number", unique: true, where: "(rejected_at IS NULL)"
   end
diff --git a/spec/models/school_spec.rb b/spec/models/school_spec.rb
index 5e2b7f1c..06846060 100644
--- a/spec/models/school_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/school_spec.rb
@@ -241,12 +241,6 @@
       expect(duplicate_school).not_to be_valid
     end
 
-    it 'returns error if district_nces_id is not unique' do
-      duplicate_school = build(:school, country_code: 'US', district_nces_id: '0100000')
-      duplicate_school.valid?
-      expect(duplicate_school.errors.details[:district_nces_id]).to include(hash_including(error: :taken))
-    end
-
     it 'accepts a valid district_nces_id format (7 digits)' do
       us_school.district_nces_id = '0100000'
       expect(us_school).to be_valid