Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) is an omnibus survey that collects data on a range of subjects commissioned by both the ONS internally and external clients (limited to other government departments, charities, non-profit organisations and academia).

Data are collected from one individual aged 16 or over, selected from each sampled private household. Personal data include data on the individual, their family, address, household, income and education, plus responses and opinions on a variety of subjects within commissioned modules.

The questionnaire collects timely data for research and policy analysis evaluation on the social impacts of recent topics of national importance, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the cost of living, on individuals and households in Great Britain.

From April 2018 to November 2019, the design of the OPN changed from face-to-face to a mixed-mode design (online first with telephone interviewing where necessary). Mixed-mode collection allows respondents to complete the survey more flexibly and provides a more cost-effective service for customers.

In March 2020, the OPN was adapted to become a weekly survey used to collect data on the social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the lives of people of Great Britain. These data are held in the Secure Access study, SN 8635, ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, 2019-2023: Secure Access. Other Secure Access OPN data cover modules run at various points from 1997-2019, on Census religion (SN 8078), cervical cancer screening (SN 8080), contact after separation (SN 8089), contraception (SN 8095), disability (SNs 8680 and 8096), general lifestyle (SN 8092), illness and activity (SN 8094), and non-resident parental contact (SN 8093).

From August 2021, as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions were lifting across Great Britain, the OPN moved to fortnightly data collection, sampling around 5,000 households in each survey wave to ensure the survey remains sustainable.

The OPN has since expanded to include questions on other topics of national importance, such as health and the cost of living. For more information about the survey and its methodology, see the ONS OPN Quality and Methodology Information webpage.

ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, 2019-2023: Secure Access

The aim of the COVID-19 Module within this study was to help understand the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on people, households and communities in Great Britain. It was a weekly survey initiated in March 2020, and since August 2021, as COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, the survey has moved to fortnightly data collection, sampling around 5,000 households in each survey wave. The study allows the breakdown of impacts by at-risk age, gender and underlying health condition. The samples are randomly selected from those that had previously completed other ONS surveys (e.g., Labour Market Survey, Annual Population Survey). From each household, one adult is randomly selected but with unequal probability: younger people are given a higher selection probability than older people because of under-estimation in the samples available for the survey.

The study also includes data for the Internet Access Module from 2019 onwards. Data from this module for previous years are available as End User Licence studies within GN 33441. Also included are data from the Winter Lifestyle Survey for January and February 2023.

Latest edition information

For the eleventh edition (March 2024), data and documentation for the main OPN survey for waves DN (June 2023) to EB (December 2023) have been added. Data and documentation for the Winter Lifestyle Survey for January-February 2023 have also been added.

Main Topics:
Each month's questionnaire consists of two elements: core questions, covering demographic information, are asked each month together with non-core questions that vary from month to month.

The questions and topics covered by the main OPN survey have changed over time. Topics covered have included:

• health conditions
• concerns about work
• working from home
  
• understanding information about COVID-19
• actions undertaken to prevent the spread of the virus
• coping whilst staying at home and community support networks
• indicators of well-being and loneliness
• ways pandemic has effected life, work and finances
  
• caring responsibilities
• returning to school or college
  
• leaving home
• modes of transport used
• cost of living
  
• problems with companies
• vaccinations
  
• individual characteristics (e.g., age, gender, health conditions, qualifications, ethnicity, employment,...

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) is an omnibus survey that collects data from respondents in Great Britain. Information is gathered on a range of subjects, commissioned both internally by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and by external clients (other government departments, charities, non-profit organisations and academia).

One individual respondent, aged 16 or over, is selected from each sampled private household to answer questions. Data are gathered on the respondent, their family, address, household, income and education, plus responses and opinions on a variety of subjects within commissioned modules. Each regular OPN survey consists of two elements. Core questions, covering demographic information, are asked together with non-core questions that vary depending on the module(s) fielded.

The OPN collects timely data for research and policy analysis evaluation on the social impacts of recent topics of national importance, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the cost of living. The OPN has expanded to include questions on other topics of national importance, such as health and the cost of living.

For more information about the survey and its methodology, see the gov.uk OPN Quality and Methodology Information (QMI) webpage.

Changes over time

Up to March 2018, the OPN was conducted as a face-to-face survey. From April 2018 to November 2019, the OPN changed to a mixed-mode design (online first with telephone interviewing where necessary). Mixed-mode collection allows respondents to complete the survey more flexibly and provides a more cost-effective service for module customers.

In March 2020, the OPN was adapted to become a weekly survey used to collect data on the social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the lives of people of Great Britain. These data are held under Secure Access conditions in SN 8635, ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, 2019-2023: Secure Access. (See below for information on other Secure Access OPN modules.)

From August 2021, as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions were lifted across Great Britain, the OPN moved to fortnightly data collection, sampling around 5,000 households in each survey wave to ensure the survey remained sustainable.

Secure Access OPN modules

Besides SN 8635 (which includes the COVID-19 Module), other Secure Access OPN data includes sensitive modules run at various points from 1997-2019, including Census religion (SN 8078), cervical cancer screening (SN 8080), contact after separation (SN 8089), contraception (SN 8095), disability (SNs 8680 and 8096), general lifestyle (SN 8092), illness and activity (SN 8094), and non-resident parental contact (SN 8093). See the individual studies for further details and information on how to apply to use them.

Main Topics:

The non-core questions for this month were:
Tobacco consumption (Module 210): this module was asked on behalf of HM Revenue and Customs to help estimate the amount of tobacco consumed as cigarettes. Due to the potentially sensitive nature of the data within this module, cases for respondents aged under 18 have been removed.
Disability monitoring (Module 363): this module was asked on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which is interested in information on disability and includes two questions that ask about awareness of the Disability Discrimination Act. The module aims to identify the scale of problems those with long-term illnesses or disabilities have accessing goods, facilities and services. This version of the data does not contain variables M363_3M, M363_6AM, M363_6bM, M363_7M, M363_26, M363_27, M363_28, and M363_29.
Later life (Module MCE): this module was asked by DWP on behalf of a number of other government departments which are interested in what people think of the support available to help older people to continue to live independently in later life.
Later life (Module MCEc): this module was asked by DWP on behalf of a number of other government departments which are interested in what people think of the support available to help older people to continue to live independently in later life, the target group being respondents aged 50 plus.
Health and safety (Module MCQ): this module was asked on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive and questions cover aspects of health and safety in the main workplace, health and safety information received and provision of occupational health support.

Monthly response rates for the UK Monthly Business Survey (production) by turnover and questionnaire.

The Integrated Household Survey (IHS) is the largest social survey ever produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The survey is comprised of a core suite of questions from current ONS household surveys and contains information from over 400,000 individual respondents - the biggest pool of UK social data after the census. Experimental statistics are new official statistics undergoing evaluation:they are published in order to involve customers and stakeholders in their development. Source agency: Office for National Statistics Designation: Experimental Official Statistics Language: English Alternative title: IHS

Monthly comparison of response rates for the Monthly Business Survey (services) by turnover and questionnaire, UK.

Appendix tables to accompany the methodology note that presents findings from analysis to investigate whether increases in anti social behaviour (ASB) are a result of an order effect caused by changes to the survey instrument or are indicative of a genuine rise in these experiences.

The Annual Population Survey (APS) is a major survey series, which aims to provide data that can produce reliable estimates at the local authority level. Key topics covered in the survey include education, employment, health and ethnicity. The APS comprises key variables from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), all its associated LFS boosts and the APS boost. The APS aims to provide enhanced annual data for England, covering a target sample of at least 510 economically active persons for each Unitary Authority (UA)/Local Authority District (LAD) and at least 450 in each Greater London Borough. In combination with local LFS boost samples, the survey provides estimates for a range of indicators down to Local Education Authority (LEA) level across the United Kingdom.

For further detailed information about methodology, users should consult the Labour Force Survey User Guide, included with the APS documentation. For variable and value labelling and coding frames that are not included either in the data or in the current APS documentation, users are advised to consult the latest versions of the LFS User Guides, which are available from the ONS Labour Force Survey - User Guidance webpages.

Occupation data for 2021 and 2022
The ONS has identified an issue with the collection of some occupational data in 2021 and 2022 data files in a number of their surveys. While they estimate any impacts will be small overall, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of some detailed (four-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)) occupations, and data derived from them. None of ONS' headline statistics, other than those directly sourced from occupational data, are affected and you can continue to rely on their accuracy. The affected datasets have now been updated. Further information can be found in the ONS article published on 11 July 2023: Revision of miscoded occupational data in the ONS Labour Force Survey, UK: January 2021 to September 2022

APS Well-Being Datasets
From 2012-2015, the ONS published separate APS datasets aimed at providing initial estimates of subjective well-being, based on the Integrated Household Survey. In 2015 these were discontinued. A separate set of well-being variables and a corresponding weighting variable have been added to the April-March APS person datasets from A11M12 onwards. Further information on the transition can be found in the Personal well-being in the UK: 2015 to 2016 article on the ONS website.

APS disability variables
Over time, there have been some updates to disability variables in the APS. An article explaining the quality assurance investigations on these variables that have been conducted so far is available on the ONS Methodology webpage.

• age: single year of age, year and month of birth, age completed full-time education and age obtained highest qualification, age of oldest dependent child and age of youngest dependent child
• family unit and household: including a number of variables concerning the number of dependent children in the family according to their ages, relationship to head of household and relationship to head of family
• nationality and country of origin
• geography: including county, unitary/local authority, place of work, Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics 2 (NUTS2) and NUTS3 regions, and whether lives and works in same local authority district
• health: including main health problem, and current and past health problems
• education and apprenticeship: including numbers and subjects of various qualifications and variables concerning apprenticeships
• industry: including industry, industry class and industry group for main, second and last job, and industry made redundant from
• occupation: including 4-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) for main, second and last job and job made redundant from
• system variables: including week number when interview took place and number of households at address

The Secure Access data have more restrictive access conditions than those made available under the standard EUL. Prospective users will need to gain ONS Accredited Researcher status, complete an extra application form and demonstrate to the data owners exactly why they need access to the additional variables. Users are strongly advised to first obtain the standard EUL version of the data to see if they are sufficient for their research requirements.

The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) is an omnibus survey that collects data from respondents in Great Britain. Information is gathered on a range of subjects, commissioned both internally by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and by external clients (other government departments, charities, non-profit organisations and academia).

One individual respondent, aged 16 or over, is selected from each sampled private household to answer questions. Data are gathered on the respondent, their family, address, household, income and education, plus responses and opinions on a variety of subjects within commissioned modules. Each regular OPN survey consists of two elements. Core questions, covering demographic information, are asked together with non-core questions that vary depending on the module(s) fielded.

The OPN collects timely data for research and policy analysis evaluation on the social impacts of recent topics of national importance, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the cost of living. The OPN has expanded to include questions on other topics of national importance, such as health and the cost of living.

For more information about the survey and its methodology, see the gov.uk OPN Quality and Methodology Information (QMI) webpage.

Changes over time

Up to March 2018, the OPN was conducted as a face-to-face survey. From April 2018 to November 2019, the OPN changed to a mixed-mode design (online first with telephone interviewing where necessary). Mixed-mode collection allows respondents to complete the survey more flexibly and provides a more cost-effective service for module customers.

In March 2020, the OPN was adapted to become a weekly survey used to collect data on the social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the lives of people of Great Britain. These data are held under Secure Access conditions in SN 8635, ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, 2019-2023: Secure Access. (See below for information on other Secure Access OPN modules.)

From August 2021, as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions were lifted across Great Britain, the OPN moved to fortnightly data collection, sampling around 5,000 households in each survey wave to ensure the survey remained sustainable.

Secure Access OPN modules

Besides SN 8635 (which includes the COVID-19 Module), other Secure Access OPN data includes sensitive modules run at various points from 1997-2019, including Census religion (SN 8078), cervical cancer screening (SN 8080), contact after separation (SN 8089), contraception (SN 8095), disability (SNs 8680 and 8096), general lifestyle (SN 8092), illness and activity (SN 8094), and non-resident parental contact (SN 8093). See the individual studies for further details and information on how to apply to use them.

Alongside the usual Classification questions, this study includes the following non-core OPN modules:

• MAZ Internet Access module, run in January, February and April 2018 (also includes questions on Citizenship (passports), and Higher Education (whether respondent has a degree). This module was conducted on behalf of ONS and covers internet use for work, leisure, purchasing, banking, and other services, via computers, mobile devices and smartphones.
• MAK Train Satisfaction module, run in February 2018. This module was conducted on behalf of the Department for Transport and covers short- and long-distance train travel and opinions on various aspects of train services. (This module was previously held separately under SN 8576, which is no longer available.)

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (formerly known as the ONS Opinions Survey or Omnibus) is an omnibus survey that began in 1990, collecting data on a range of subjects commissioned by both the ONS internally and external clients (limited to other government departments, charities, non-profit organisations and academia).

Data are collected from one individual aged 16 or over, selected from each sampled private household. Personal data include data on the individual, their family, address, household, income and education, plus responses and opinions on a variety of subjects within commissioned modules.

The questionnaire collects timely data for research and policy analysis evaluation on the social impacts of recent topics of national importance, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the cost of living, on individuals and households in Great Britain.

From April 2018 to November 2019, the design of the OPN changed from face-to-face to a mixed-mode design (online first with telephone interviewing where necessary). Mixed-mode collection allows respondents to complete the survey more flexibly and provides a more cost-effective service for customers.

In March 2020, the OPN was adapted to become a weekly survey used to collect data on the social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the lives of people of Great Britain. These data are held in the Secure Access study, SN 8635, ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, Covid-19 Module, 2020-2022: Secure Access.

From August 2021, as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions were lifting across Great Britain, the OPN moved to fortnightly data collection, sampling around 5,000 households in each survey wave to ensure the survey remains sustainable.

The OPN has since expanded to include questions on other topics of national importance, such as health and the cost of living. For more information about the survey and its methodology, see the ONS OPN Quality and Methodology Information webpage.

Secure Access Opinions and Lifestyle Survey data

Other Secure Access OPN data cover modules run at various points from 1997-2019, on Census religion (SN 8078), cervical cancer screening (SN 8080), contact after separation (SN 8089), contraception (SN 8095), disability (SNs 8680 and 8096), general lifestyle (SN 8092), illness and activity (SN 8094), and non-resident parental contact (SN 8093). See Opinions and Lifestyle Survey: Secure Access for details.

Main Topics:
Each month's questionnaire consists of two elements: core questions, covering demographic information, are asked each month together with non-core questions that vary from month to month.
The non-core questions for this month were:

Hearing and subtitles (Module 204): this module was asked on behalf of the BBC. It was asked of all household members aged nine or over who had hearing difficulties or difficulty hearing the TV at normal volume.
Internet access (Module 264): this module is being asked on behalf of a number of government departments, but primarily the Office for National Statistics and the E-Envoy's Office (part of the Cabinet Office). Designed to monitor internet use, which is currently a high profile government policy.
E-Health (Module 270): this module was asked on behalf of Citizens Online, a charity set up to monitor and improve access to the internet. These questions are about health information on the internet and asked only of those who have used the internet for private/personal use.
Smoking (Module 130): this module is being asked on behalf of the Department of Health. The questions relate to smoking.
New ethnic question (Module 272): this question was asked on behalf of Social Survey Division and Socio-Economic Division of ONS and may be adopted as the new harmonised ethnicity question.

Indicators from the Schools Infection Survey to understand the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on young people and schools. Including antibody data, questionnaire analysis, and breakdowns by age, sex and region where possible.

The Integrated Household Survey (IHS), which ran from 2009-2014, was a composite survey combining questions asked on a number of social surveys conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to produce a dataset of 'core' variables. The ONS stopped producing IHS datasets from 2015 onwards; variables covering health, smoking prevalence, forces veterans, sexual identity and well-being will be incorporated into the Annual Population Survey - see the Which surveys (or modules) are included in the IHS? and What is the IHS? FAQ pages for further details.

Background and history of the IHS
The aim of the IHS was to produce high-level estimates for particular themes to a higher precision and lower geographic level than current ONS social surveys. The 'core' set contained around 100 questions, but a respondent was only asked a proportion of those depending on routing from answers to questions. The core questions were asked, where possible, at the beginning of the component surveys.
In January 2008, a set of core questions was introduced within three ONS surveys in the General Lifestyle Survey, Living Costs and Food Survey, and the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. In April 2008 the IHS core questions were also introduced on the English Housing Survey, bringing the family of modules on the IHS up to four. The IHS dataset for 2008-2009 was used as a pilot for the concept, developing the systems and designing the weighting methodology. The IHS data for that period have not been published as they do not provide better quality information than that within existing surveys. Hence, the earliest IHS data currently available cover 2009-2010. In April 2009 the IHS core questions were introduced on the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS) questionnaires and from June 2009 the Life Opportunities Survey (LOS, which also ran from 2009-2014) was included in the IHS family of modules. With the inclusion of these new surveys the IHS became complete, with an achieved annual sample size of approximately 450,000 individuals from interviews undertaken in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Therefore, the first IHS dataset released covers the period April 2009-March 2010, starting the IHS data series from the point that all surveys were included. The large sample size and UK-wide coverage meant that various geographical breakdowns were possible in the IHS, and it is possible to use a geographical hierarchy to drill down to lower level detail within an area. The IHS also contained data collected from the following surveys: General Lifestyle Survey; Living Costs and Food Survey; Opinions and Lifestyle Survey; English Housing Survey; Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey; and Life Opportunities Survey. All questions had been removed from the component surveys by 2014 and the IHS closed that year. Further information is available from the ONS Integrated Household Survey (Experimental statistics): January to December 2014 webpage.

Available IHS data: End User Licence and Secure Access
Users should note that there are two versions of the IHS. One is available under the standard End User Licence (EUL) agreement, and the other is a Secure Access version (SN 8075). The Secure Access version contains more detailed variables relating to age, age of youngest dependent child, country of birth, family unit type, household and household reference person, industry class, sub-class and division, month left last job, cohabitation, country of residence history, multiple households at address, nationality, New Deal training types, National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) long version, qualifications, household relationships, minor Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) groups, sexual identity, training and working age. The more detailed geographic variables present include county, unitary/local authority, Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics 2 (NUTS2) and NUTS3 regions and Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs). Users should note that the user guide also mentions variables that are not included in either the EUL or Secure Access datasets held at the Archive.

The EUL version contains less detailed variables. For example, the lowest geography available is Government Office Region, only major (3-digit) SOC groups are included for main, second and last job, and only industry sector for main, second and last job. Users are advised to first obtain the standard EUL version of the data before making an application for the Secure Access version to see if they are sufficient for their research requirements.

The Special Licence version of the IHS January - December, 2014 is available under SN 7840.

The Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) is a longitudinal survey, which aims to address gaps identified in data about the economic well-being of households by gathering information on level of assets, savings and debt; saving for retirement; how wealth is distributed among households or individuals; and factors that affect financial planning. Private households in Great Britain were sampled for the survey (meaning that people in residential institutions, such as retirement homes, nursing homes, prisons, barracks or university halls of residence, and also homeless people were not included).

The WAS commenced in July 2006, with a first wave of interviews carried out over two years, to June 2008. Interviews were achieved with 30,595 households at Wave 1. Those households were approached again for a Wave 2 interview between July 2008 and June 2010, and 20,170 households took part. Wave 3 covered July 2010 - June 2012, Wave 4 covered July 2012 - June 2014 and Wave 5 covered July 2014 - June 2016. Revisions to previous waves' data mean that small differences may occur between originally published estimates and estimates from the datasets held by the UK Data Service. These revisions are due to improvements in the imputation methodology.

Note from the WAS team - November 2023:
"The Office for National Statistics has identified a very small number of outlier cases present in the seventh round of the Wealth and Assets Survey covering the period April 2018 to March 2020. Our current approach is to treat cases where we have reasonable evidence to suggest the values provided for specific variables are outliers. This approach did not occur for two individuals for several variables involved in the estimation of their pension wealth. While we estimate any impacts are very small overall and median pension wealth and median total wealth estimates are unaffected, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of the pension wealth within the wealthiest decile, and data derived from them. We are urging caution in the interpretation of more detailed estimates."

Survey Periodicity - "Waves" to "Rounds"
Due to the survey periodicity moving from "Waves" (July, ending in June two years later) to “Rounds” (April, ending in March two years later), interviews using the ‘Wave 6’ questionnaire started in July 2016 and were conducted for 21 months, finishing in March 2018. Data for round 6 covers the period April 2016 to March 2018. This comprises of the last three months of Wave 5 (April to June 2016) and 21 months of Wave 6 (July 2016 to March 2018). Round 5 and Round 6 datasets are based on a mixture of original wave-based datasets. Each wave of the survey has a unique questionnaire and therefore each of these round-based datasets are based on two questionnaires. While there may be some changes in the questionnaires, the derived variables for the key wealth estimates have not changed over this period. The aim is to collect the same data, though in some cases the exact questions asked may differ slightly. Detailed information on Moving the Wealth and Assets Survey onto a financial years’ basis was published on the ONS website in July 2019.

Further information and documentation may be found on the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey webpage. Users are advised to the check the page for updates before commencing analysis.

Users should note that issues with linking have been reported and the WAS team are currently investigating.

Secure Access WAS data
The Secure Access version of the WAS includes additional, detailed geographical variables not included in the End User Licence (EUL) version (SN 7215). These include:

• Wards
• Parliamentary Constituency Areas for Wave 1 only
• Census Output Areas
• Lower Layer Super Output Areas
• Local Authorities
  
• Local Education Authorities

Prospective users of the Secure Access version of the WAS will need to fulfil additional requirements, including completion of face-to-face training, and agreement to the Secure Access User Agreement and Licence Compliance Policy, in order to obtain permission to use that version (see 'Access' section below). Users are therefore strongly encouraged to download the EUL version (SN 7215) to see if it contains sufficient detail for their needs, before considering making an application for the Secure Access version.

Latest Edition Information
For the ninth edition (October 2022), the Round 7 person and household data have been updated. The Round 7 Wave 1 Variable Catalogue Excel file has also been updated.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) is an omnibus survey that collects data on a range of subjects commissioned by both the ONS internally and external clients (limited to other government departments, charities, non-profit organisations and academia). Data are collected from one individual aged 16 or over, selected from each sampled private household. Personal data include data on the individual, their family, address, household, income and education, plus responses and opinions on a variety of subjects within commissioned modules. The questionnaire collects timely data for research and policy analysis evaluation on the social impacts of recent topics of national importance, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the cost of living, on individuals and households in Great Britain. From April 2018 to November 2019, the design of the OPN changed from face-to-face to a mixed-mode design (online first with telephone interviewing where necessary). Mixed-mode collection allows respondents to complete the survey more flexibly and provides a more cost-effective service for customers. In March 2020, the OPN was adapted to become a weekly survey used to collect data on the social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the lives of people of Great Britain. These data are held in the Secure Access study, SN 8635, ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, Covid-19 Module, 2020-2022: Secure Access. Other Secure Access OPN data cover modules run at various points from 1997-2019, on Census religion (SN 8078), cervical cancer screening (SN 8080), contact after separation (SN 8089), contraception (SN 8095), disability (SNs 8680 and 8096), general lifestyle (SN 8092), illness and activity (SN 8094), and non-resident parental contact (SN 8093).From August 2021, as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions were lifting across Great Britain, the OPN moved to fortnightly data collection, sampling around 5,000 households in each survey wave to ensure the survey remains sustainable. The OPN has since expanded to include questions on other topics of national importance, such as health and the cost of living. For more information about the survey and its methodology, see the ONS OPN Quality and Methodology Information webpage. Main Topics:Each month's questionnaire consists of two elements: core questions, covering demographic information, are asked each month together with non-core questions that vary from month to month. The non-core questions for these months were: Census Religion (Module MCG): this module was asked on behalf of the Office for National Statistics. The questions aimed to help inform decisions on the final wording of questions in the 2011 Census and covered religion and citizenship. Census Religion (Module MCGb): this module, also asked on behalf of the Office for National Statistics, is a shortened version of Module MCG which ran in April and May 2009. Multi-stage stratified random sample Face-to-face interview

The Annual Population Survey (APS) is a major survey series, which aims to provide data that can produce reliable estimates at the local authority level. Key topics covered in the survey include education, employment, health and ethnicity. The APS comprises key variables from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), all its associated LFS boosts and the APS boost. The APS aims to provide enhanced annual data for England, covering a target sample of at least 510 economically active persons for each Unitary Authority (UA)/Local Authority District (LAD) and at least 450 in each Greater London Borough. In combination with local LFS boost samples, the survey provides estimates for a range of indicators down to Local Education Authority (LEA) level across the United Kingdom.

For further detailed information about methodology, users should consult the Labour Force Survey User Guide, included with the APS documentation. For variable and value labelling and coding frames that are not included either in the data or in the current APS documentation, users are advised to consult the latest versions of the LFS User Guides, which are available from the ONS Labour Force Survey - User Guidance webpages.

Occupation data for 2021 and 2022
The ONS has identified an issue with the collection of some occupational data in 2021 and 2022 data files in a number of their surveys. While they estimate any impacts will be small overall, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of some detailed (four-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)) occupations, and data derived from them. None of ONS' headline statistics, other than those directly sourced from occupational data, are affected and you can continue to rely on their accuracy. The affected datasets have now been updated. Further information can be found in the ONS article published on 11 July 2023: Revision of miscoded occupational data in the ONS Labour Force Survey, UK: January 2021 to September 2022

APS Well-Being Datasets
From 2012-2015, the ONS published separate APS datasets aimed at providing initial estimates of subjective well-being, based on the Integrated Household Survey. In 2015 these were discontinued. A separate set of well-being variables and a corresponding weighting variable have been added to the April-March APS person datasets from A11M12 onwards. Further information on the transition can be found in the Personal well-being in the UK: 2015 to 2016 article on the ONS website.

APS disability variables
Over time, there have been some updates to disability variables in the APS. An article explaining the quality assurance investigations on these variables that have been conducted so far is available on the ONS Methodology webpage.

• age: single year of age, year and month of birth, age completed full-time education and age obtained highest qualification, age of oldest dependent child and age of youngest dependent child
• family unit and household: including a number of variables concerning the number of dependent children in the family according to their ages, relationship to head of household and relationship to head of family
• nationality and country of origin
• geography: including county, unitary/local authority, place of work, Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics 2 (NUTS2) and NUTS3 regions, and whether lives and works in same local authority district
• health: including main health problem, and current and past health problems
• education and apprenticeship: including numbers and subjects of various qualifications and variables concerning apprenticeships
• industry: including industry, industry class and industry group for main, second and last job, and industry made redundant from
• occupation: including 4-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) for main, second and last job and job made redundant from
• system variables: including week number when interview took place and number of households at address

The Secure Access data have more restrictive access conditions than those made available under the standard EUL. Prospective users will need to gain ONS Accredited Researcher status, complete an extra application form and demonstrate to the data owners exactly why they need access to the additional variables. Users are strongly advised to first obtain the standard EUL version of the data to see if they are sufficient for their research requirements.

Latest edition information

For the fourth edition (March 2024), the smoking variables CIGEVER, CIGNOW and CIGSMK16 were added to the dataset.

Percentage of responses in range 0-6 out of 10 (corresponding to 'low wellbeing') for 'Happy Yesterday' in the First ONS Annual Experimental Subjective Wellbeing survey.

The Office for National Statistics has included the four subjective well-being questions below on the Annual Population Survey (APS), the largest of their household surveys.

• Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?
• Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?
• Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?
• Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?

This dataset presents results from the third of these questions, "Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?" Respondents answer these questions on an 11 point scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is ‘not at all’ and 10 is ‘completely’. The well-being questions were asked of adults aged 16 and older.

Well-being estimates for each unitary authority or county are derived using data from those respondents who live in that place. Responses are weighted to the estimated population of adults (aged 16 and older) as at end of September 2011.

The data cabinet also makes available the proportion of people in each county and unitary authority that answer with ‘low wellbeing’ values. For the ‘happy yesterday’ question answers in the range 0-6 are taken to be low wellbeing.

This dataset contains the percentage of responses in the range 0-6. It also contains the standard error, the sample size and lower and upper confidence limits at the 95% level.

The ONS survey covers the whole of the UK, but this dataset only includes results for counties and unitary authorities in England, for consistency with other statistics available at this website.

At this stage the estimates are considered ‘experimental statistics’, published at an early stage to involve users in their development and to allow feedback. Feedback can be provided to the ONS via this email address.

The APS is a continuous household survey administered by the Office for National Statistics. It covers the UK, with the chief aim of providing between-census estimates of key social and labour market variables at a local area level. Apart from employment and unemployment, the topics covered in the survey include housing, ethnicity, religion, health and education. When a household is surveyed all adults (aged 16+) are asked the four subjective well-being questions.

The 12 month Subjective Well-being APS dataset is a sub-set of the general APS as the well-being questions are only asked of persons aged 16 and above, who gave a personal interview and proxy answers are not accepted. This reduces the size of the achieved sample to approximately 120,000 adult respondents in England.

The original data is available from the ONS website.

Detailed information on the APS and the Subjective Wellbeing dataset is available here.

As well as collecting data on well-being, the Office for National Statistics has published widely on the topic of wellbeing. Papers and further information can be found here.

Breakoff as a percentage of those who entered the section for household and individual level questions.

The UK Innovation Survey is part of a wider Community Innovation Survey (CIS) covering EU countries. The survey is based on a core questionnaire developed by Eurostat and Member States, and results form part of various EU benchmarking exercises. The UK Innovation Survey is funded by BEIS and carried out by the Office for National Statistics with assistance from the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. More historic information prior to 2009 is available from the National Archives website. For access to granular microdata, please contact Official for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service or UK Data Service.

Source agency: Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy

Designation: Official Statistics not designated as National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Community Innovation Survey

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (formerly known as the ONS Opinions Survey or Omnibus) is an omnibus survey that began in 1990, collecting data on a range of subjects commissioned by both the ONS internally and external clients (limited to other government departments, charities, non-profit organisations and academia).Data are collected from one individual aged 16 or over, selected from each sampled private household. Personal data include data on the individual, their family, address, household, income and education, plus responses and opinions on a variety of subjects within commissioned modules. The questionnaire collects timely data for research and policy analysis evaluation on the social impacts of recent topics of national importance, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the cost of living, on individuals and households in Great Britain. From April 2018 to November 2019, the design of the OPN changed from face-to-face to a mixed-mode design (online first with telephone interviewing where necessary). Mixed-mode collection allows respondents to complete the survey more flexibly and provides a more cost-effective service for customers. In March 2020, the OPN was adapted to become a weekly survey used to collect data on the social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the lives of people of Great Britain. These data are held in the Secure Access study, SN 8635, ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, Covid-19 Module, 2020-2022: Secure Access. From August 2021, as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions were lifting across Great Britain, the OPN moved to fortnightly data collection, sampling around 5,000 households in each survey wave to ensure the survey remains sustainable. The OPN has since expanded to include questions on other topics of national importance, such as health and the cost of living. For more information about the survey and its methodology, see the ONS OPN Quality and Methodology Information webpage.Secure Access Opinions and Lifestyle Survey dataOther Secure Access OPN data cover modules run at various points from 1997-2019, on Census religion (SN 8078), cervical cancer screening (SN 8080), contact after separation (SN 8089), contraception (SN 8095), disability (SNs 8680 and 8096), general lifestyle (SN 8092), illness and activity (SN 8094), and non-resident parental contact (SN 8093). See Opinions and Lifestyle Survey: Secure Access for details. Main Topics:Each month's questionnaire consists of two elements: core questions, covering demographic information, are asked each month together with non-core questions that vary from month to month. The non-core questions for this month were: e-Government (Module 362 and Module MAJ): this module was asked on behalf of the e-Envoy's Office (which is part of the Cabinet Office), the Office for National Statistics and the European Statistical Office (Eurostat). Some of the questions were formerly part of Module 330, Internet Access. These questions form an important part of the data collection strategy within government to monitor internet use, which is currently a high profile government policy. All original questions in this module have been replaced and from January 2006 the module was renamed from Module M362 to Module MAJ. Questions relate to personal internet use. Multi-stage stratified random sample Face-to-face interview