Funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Service integrates and builds on investments the Economic and Social Research Council has made in UK research infrastructure for decades, including the UK Data Archive, Economic and Social Data Service, the Secure Data Service, Census Programme and Survey Question Bank. The UKDS is the largest collection of economic, social and population data in the UK.
About the dataset
The UKDS is a trusted digital repository for most of the UK’s major national survey series produced by, for example, the Office of National Statistics, the Home Office and the Department of Health.
It provides access to longitudinal surveys, census data, administrative data, international macrodata and qualitative data. Additionally, the UKDS provides long-term research access to resources as large as Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study, through to qualitative and mixed methods studies such as sociologist Peter Townsend’s study, Poverty in the United Kingdom: A Survey of Household Resources and Standards of Living, 1967-1969.
Accessing the data
All data can be accessed via the ‘Find Data‘ link on the UKDS website. Select the ‘Browse and access data >’ link in the centre of the page. Data is organised by theme (e.g. Environment and Energy’) and data type (e.g. UK surveys, Longitudinal studies). Or you can search for data by keyword using the ‘Search or data catalogue’ search bar at the top of the page. There is the option to filter your search results to refine your search further.
There are different access levels required for certain types of data. See the ‘Access conditions‘ page for further information.
Using the data
There are a number of different types of data available via the UKDS from published research through to datasets used in research. Each dataset page provides further information about how to use and access the data.
There are also a number of resources available on the UKDS website about using data more generally through their ‘Learning Hub‘ and ‘Training and events‘ pages.