Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

• social networks
• respondents' feelings about their commmunities, including community cohesion
• trust and influence
• volunteering
• civil renewal
• race and religious prejudice and discrimination
• rights and responsibilities
• demographic and geodemographic information

• demographic questions were mostly taken from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) harmonised question booklets
• questions on family relationships were adapted from the General Household Survey (GHS) family relationship grid (the GHS is held at the UK Data Archive (UKDA) under GN 33090)
• the hierarchy...

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.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Annual Population Survey (APS) household datasets are produced annually and are available from 2004 (Special Licence) and 2006 (End User Licence). They allow production of family and household labour market statistics at local areas and for small sub-groups of the population across the UK. The household data comprise key variables from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the APS 'person' datasets. The APS household datasets include all the variables on the LFS and APS person datasets, except for the income variables. They also include key family and household-level derived variables. These variables allow for an analysis of the combined economic activity status of the family or household. In addition, they also include more detailed geographical, industry, occupation, health and age variables.

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. 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

End User Licence and Secure Access APS data
Users should note that there are two versions of each APS dataset. One is available under the standard End User Licence (EUL) agreement, and the other is a Secure Access version. The EUL version includes Government Office Region geography, banded age, 3-digit SOC and industry sector for main, second and last job. The Secure Access version contains more detailed variables relating to:

• 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

Latest edition information

For the second edition (October 2022), the 2022 weighting variable was added and the previous 2020 weight was removed.

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.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

Background
The British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey series began in 1983. The series is designed to produce annual measures of attitudinal movements to complement large-scale government surveys that deal largely with facts and behaviour patterns, and the data on party political attitudes produced by opinion polls. One of the BSA's main purposes is to allow the monitoring of patterns of continuity and change, and the examination of the relative rates at which attitudes, in respect of a range of social issues, change over time. Some questions are asked regularly, others less often. Funding for BSA comes from a number of sources (including government departments, the Economic and Social Research Council and other research foundations), but the final responsibility for the coverage and wording of the annual questionnaires rests with NatCen Social Research (formerly Social and Community Planning Research). The BSA has been conducted every year since 1983, except in 1988 and 1992 when core funding was devoted to the British Election Study (BES).

Further information about the series and links to publications may be found on the NatCen Social Research British Social Attitudes webpage.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Health Survey for England (HSE) is a series of surveys designed to monitor trends in the nation's health. It was commissioned by NHS Digital and carried out by the Joint Health Surveys Unit of the National Centre for Social Research and the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London.The aims of the HSE series are:to provide annual data about the nation’s health;to estimate the proportion of people in England with specified health conditions;to estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with these conditions;to examine differences between population subgroups in their likelihood of having specific conditions or risk factors;to assess the frequency with which particular combinations of risk factors are found, and which groups these combinations most commonly occur;to monitor progress towards selected health targetssince 1995, to measure the height of children at different ages, replacing the National Study of Health and Growth;since 1995, monitor the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children.The survey includes a number of core questions every year but also focuses on different health issues at each wave. Topics are revisited at appropriate intervals in order to monitor change. Further information about the series may be found on the NHS Digital Health Survey for England; health, social care and lifestyles webpage, the NatCen Social Research NatCen Health Survey for England webpage and the University College London Health and Social Surveys Research Group UCL Health Survey for England webpage. Changes to the HSE from 2015:Users should note that from 2015 survey onwards, only the individual data file is available under standard End User Licence (EUL). The household data file is now only included in the Special Licence (SL) version, released from 2015 onwards. In addition, the SL individual file contains all the variables included in the HSE EUL dataset, plus others, including variables removed from the EUL version after the NHS Digital disclosure review. The SL HSE is subject to more restrictive access conditions than the EUL version (see Access information). Users are advised to obtain the EUL version to see if it meets their needs before considering an application for the SL version. The Health Survey for England, 2000 (HSE00) consisted of two samples. The general population sample was a national cross-section sample. Up to two children aged 2-15 years were interviewed in each household, as well as up to 10 adults aged 16 years and over. All private households in the general population sample were eligible for inclusion in the survey (up to a maximum of three households per address). Running alongside the general population sample was a care homes sample, selected from the Laing and Bussion database. The sample contained nursing, residential, dual-registered and small residential homes and covered local authority, voluntary and privately-owned care homes. Up to six people aged 65 and over were selected for interview at each care home, and given a cognitive functioning test to see whether they were capable of being interviewed in person. Proxy interviews for those who were not capable of being interviewed were introduced in June 2000. For the fourth edition (July 2011), the GHQ12 variables were amended to correct errors in the GHQ12 scores. See document 'Note about GHQ12 problems in HSE Data' for details. Main Topics: The interview with informants from the general population sample included the question modules that are asked in most years in the Health Survey ('core' modules), such as general health and longstanding illnesses, use of health services, cigarette smoking, psycho-social health (GHQ12) and accidents. Also included in the 2000 survey were questions on disability (a repeat of the module used in the 1995 Health Survey), the Short-Form Health Outcomes (SF-12) questionnaire (for informants aged 16-64) and a new module on social capital and social exclusion. In addition to the 'core' question modules outlined above, informants in care homes were asked questions about cardiovascular disease (CVD) and respiratory symptoms, eating habits, physical activity and activities in the care home. The disability module was also included in the care home sample interview. A short interview with home managers included details about the type of care home, the number of residents and the availability of services and specialised equipment. Some administrative data and geographic identifiers have been removed from the dataset. Standard Measures:General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12) - copyright David Goldberg, 1978 reproduced by permission of NFER - NELSONMedical Research Council respiratory questionnaireStrengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)Short-Form Health Outcomes (SF12) questionnaire Multi-stage stratified random sample Face-to-face interview Self-completion Clinical measurements Physical measurements CAPI 2000 2001 ACCIDENTS ADULTS AGE AGEING ALCOHOL USE ALCOHOLIC DRINKS ALCOHOLISM ANTHROPOMETRIC DATA ANXIETY BEDROOMS BICYCLES BLOOD BUILDING MAINTENANCE CARBOHYDRATES CARDIOVASCULAR DISE... CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM CARE OF DEPENDANTS CARE OF THE ELDERLY CAUSES OF DEATH CEREAL PRODUCTS CHILD BENEFITS CHILDREN CHRONIC ILLNESS CLINICAL TESTS AND ... CONCENTRATION CONFECTIONERY CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES COUGHING CULTURAL IDENTITY DAIRY PRODUCTS DEBILITATIVE ILLNESS DEGREES DEMENTIA DEPRESSION DIABETES DIET AND EXERCISE DISABILITIES DISABLED PERSONS DISEASES DOMESTIC RESPONSIBI... ECONOMIC ACTIVITY EDIBLE FATS EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND ELDERLY EMPLOYEES EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT HISTORY ETHNIC GROUPS ETHNIC MINORITIES EXAMINATIONS EXERCISE PHYSICAL A... England FAMILIES FAMILY MEMBERS FATHERS FISH AS FOOD FRIENDS FRUIT FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT FURNISHED ACCOMMODA... GARDENING GENDER GENERAL PRACTITIONERS General health and ... HAEMATOLOGIC DISEASES HAPPINESS HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD HEALTH HEALTH ADVICE HEALTH CONSULTATIONS HEALTH PROFESSIONALS HEALTH SERVICES HEART DISEASES HEIGHT PHYSIOLOGY HOME OWNERSHIP HOSPITAL OUTPATIENT... HOSPITAL SERVICES HOSPITAL WAITING LISTS HOSPITALIZATION HOUSEHOLD HEAD S OC... HOUSEHOLDS HOUSEWORK HOUSING HOUSING TENURE Health care service... ILL HEALTH INCOME INDUSTRIAL INJURIES INDUSTRIES INJURIES JOB SEEKER S ALLOWANCE LANDLORDS LEISURE TIME ACTIVI... MANAGERS MARITAL STATUS MEAT MEDICAL CARE MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS MEDICAL HISTORY MEDICAL PRESCRIPTIONS MEMORY MILK MOTHERS MOTOR PROCESSES MOTOR VEHICLES NEIGHBOURHOODS OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS OCCUPATIONAL QUALIF... OCCUPATIONS OLD AGE PAIN PARENTS PART TIME EMPLOYMENT PASSIVE SMOKING PATIENTS PERSONAL PROTECTIVE... PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES PHYSICIANS PLACE OF BIRTH PREGNANCY PRESCRIPTION DRUGS PRIVATE SECTOR QUALIFICATIONS RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION RENTED ACCOMMODATION RESIDENTIAL CARE OF... RESPIRATORY SYSTEM RESPIRATORY TRACT D... RETIREMENT ROAD ACCIDENTS SALT SAVINGS SAVOURY SNACKS SELF EMPLOYED SELF ESTEEM SHARED HOME OWNERSHIP SICK LEAVE SICK PERSONS SLEEP SMOKING SMOKING CESSATION SOCIAL CLASS SOCIAL HOUSING SOCIAL INTEGRATION SOCIAL SECURITY BEN... SOCIAL SUPPORT SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS SPORT STATE RETIREMENT PE... STRESS PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDENTS SUPERVISORS SURGERY SYMPTOMS TIED HOUSING TOBACCO TOP MANAGEMENT TRANSPORT ACCIDENTS UNEMPLOYED UNFURNISHED ACCOMMO... VASCULAR DISEASES VEGETABLES VOCATIONAL EDUCATIO... WAGES WALKING WEIGHT PHYSIOLOGY YOUTH

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.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 2022The 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 2022APS Well-Being DatasetsFrom 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 variablesOver 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. End User Licence and Secure Access APS dataUsers should note that there are two versions of each APS dataset. One is available under the standard End User Licence (EUL) agreement, and the other is a Secure Access version. The EUL version includes Government Office Region geography, banded age, 3-digit SOC and industry sector for main, second and last job. The Secure Access version contains more detailed variables relating to: 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 informationFor the sixth edition (July 2023), the SOC variables NSECM20, NSECMJ20, SC20LMJ, SC20LMN, SC20MMJ, SC20MMN, SC20SMJ, SC20SMN, SOC20M, SC2010M and the person income weight PIWTA22 were replaced with revised versions. 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. Main Topics:Topics covered include: household composition and relationships, housing tenure, nationality, ethnicity and residential history, employment and training (including government schemes), workplace and location, job hunting, educational background and qualifications. Many of the variables included in the survey are the same as those in the LFS. Multi-stage stratified random sample Face-to-face interview Telephone interview 2020 2021 ADULT EDUCATION AGE ANXIETY APPLICATION FOR EMP... APPOINTMENT TO JOB ATTITUDES BONUS PAYMENTS BUSINESSES CARE OF DEPENDANTS CHRONIC ILLNESS COHABITATION COMMUTING CONDITIONS OF EMPLO... COVID 19 DEBILITATIVE ILLNESS DEGREES DISABILITIES Demography population ECONOMIC ACTIVITY EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND EDUCATIONAL COURSES EMPLOYEES EMPLOYER SPONSORED ... EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT HISTORY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMMES ETHNIC GROUPS FAMILIES FAMILY BENEFITS FIELDS OF STUDY FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT FURNISHED ACCOMMODA... FURTHER EDUCATION GENDER HAPPINESS HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD HEALTH HIGHER EDUCATION HOME OWNERSHIP HOURS OF WORK HOUSEHOLDS HOUSING HOUSING BENEFITS HOUSING TENURE INCOME INDUSTRIES JOB CHANGING JOB HUNTING JOB SEEKER S ALLOWANCE LANDLORDS Labour and employment MANAGERS MARITAL STATUS NATIONAL IDENTITY NATIONALITY OCCUPATIONS OVERTIME PART TIME COURSES PART TIME EMPLOYMENT PLACE OF BIRTH PLACE OF RESIDENCE PRIVATE SECTOR PUBLIC SECTOR RECRUITMENT REDUNDANCY REDUNDANCY PAY RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION RENTED ACCOMMODATION RESIDENTIAL MOBILITY SELF EMPLOYED SICK LEAVE SICKNESS AND DISABI... SMOKING SOCIAL HOUSING SOCIAL SECURITY BEN... SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS STATE RETIREMENT PE... STUDENTS SUBSIDIARY EMPLOYMENT SUPERVISORS SUPERVISORY STATUS TAX RELIEF TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT TERMINATION OF SERVICE TIED HOUSING TOBACCO TRAINING TRAINING COURSES TRAVELLING TIME UNEMPLOYED UNEMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS UNFURNISHED ACCOMMO... UNWAGED WORKERS WAGES WELL BEING HEALTH WELSH LANGUAGE WORKING CONDITIONS WORKPLACE vital statistics an...

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

• to provide annual data about the nation’s health;
• to estimate the proportion of people in England with specified health conditions;
• to estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with these conditions;
• to examine differences between population subgroups in their likelihood of having specific conditions or risk factors;
• to assess the frequency with which particular combinations of risk factors are found, and which groups these combinations most commonly occur;
• to monitor progress towards selected health targets
• since 1995, to measure the height of children at different ages, replacing the National Study of Health and Growth;
• since 1995, monitor the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children.

Changes to the HSE from 2015:
Users should note that from 2015 survey onwards, only the individual data file is available under standard End User Licence (EUL). The household data file is now only included in the Special Licence (SL) version, released from 2015 onwards. In addition, the SL individual file contains all the variables included in the HSE EUL dataset, plus others, including variables removed from the EUL version after the NHS Digital disclosure review. The SL HSE is subject to more restrictive access conditions than the EUL version (see Access information). Users are advised to obtain the EUL version to see if it meets their needs before considering an application for the SL version.

COVID-19 and the HSE:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HSE 2020 survey was stopped in March 2020 and never re-started. There was no publication that year. The survey resumed in 2021, albeit with an amended methodology. The full HSE resumed in 2022, with an extended fieldwork period. Due to this, the decision was taken not to progress with the 2023 survey, to maximise the 2022 survey response and enable more robust reporting of data. See the NHS Digital Health Survey for England - Health, social care and lifestyles webpage for more details.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

Background
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a unique source of information using international definitions of employment and unemployment and economic inactivity, together with a wide range of related topics such as occupation, training, hours of work and personal characteristics of household members aged 16 years and over. It is used to inform social, economic and employment policy. The Annual Population Survey, also held at the UK Data Archive, is derived from the LFS.

The LFS was first conducted biennially from 1973-1983, then annually between 1984 and 1991, comprising a quarterly survey conducted throughout the year and a 'boost' survey in the spring quarter. From 1992 it moved to a quarterly cycle with a sample size approximately equivalent to that of the previous annual data. Northern Ireland was also included in the survey from December 1994. Further information on the background to the QLFS may be found in the documentation.

The UK Data Service also holds a Secure Access version of the QLFS (see below); household datasets; two-quarter and five-quarter longitudinal datasets; LFS datasets compiled for Eurostat; and some additional annual Northern Ireland datasets.

LFS Documentation
The documentation available from the Archive to accompany LFS datasets largely consists of the latest version of each user guide volume alongside the appropriate questionnaire for the year concerned (the latest questionnaire available covers July-September 2022). Volumes are updated periodically, so users are advised to check the latest documents on the ONS Labour Force Survey - User Guidance pages before commencing analysis. This is especially important for users of older QLFS studies, where information and guidance in the user guide documents may have changed over time.

LFS response to COVID-19

From April 2020 to May 2022, additional non-calendar quarter LFS microdata were made available to cover the pandemic period. The first additional microdata to be released covered February to April 2020 and the final non-calendar dataset covered March-May 2022. Publication then returned to calendar quarters only. Within the additional non-calendar COVID-19 quarters, pseudonymised variables Casenop and Hserialp may contain a significant number of missing cases (set as -9). These variables may not be available in full for the additional COVID-19 datasets until the next standard calendar quarter is produced. The income weight variable, PIWT, is not available in the non-calendar quarters, although the person weight (PWT) is included. Please consult the documentation for full details.

Occupation data for 2021 and 2022 data files

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. 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.

2024 Reweighting

In February 2024, reweighted person-level data from July-September 2022 onwards were released. Up to July-September 2023, only the person weight was updated (PWT23); the income weight remains at 2022 (PIWT22). The 2023 income weight (PIWT23) was included from the October-December 2023 quarter. Users are encouraged to read the ONS methodological note of 5 February, Impact of reweighting on Labour Force Survey key indicators: 2024, which includes important information on the 2024 reweighting exercise.

End User Licence and Secure Access QLFS data

Two versions of the QLFS are available from UKDS. One is available under the standard End User Licence (EUL) agreement, and the other is a Secure Access version. The EUL version includes country and Government Office Region geography, 3-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) and 3-digit industry group for main, second and last job (from July-September 2015, 4-digit industry class is available for main job only).

The Secure Access version contains more detailed variables relating to:

• 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
• finer detail...

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.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Centre for Time Use Research (CTUR) Time Use Survey conducted in March 2023 is a UK representative survey of UK adults aged 18+ (N=2179) collected using a multi-field digital time-use diary design that corresponds to the information collected in best practice pen-and-paper designs such as the Harmonised European Time Use Survey (HETUS). A general-purpose time use survey design, incorporating multiple continuous independent diary fields, is important because it offers both continuity with historically collected time use diary data and versatility, providing data for a wide-ranging and still growing corpus of substantive research and policy applications.

The online diary design developed at the CTUR (the Extended Light Diary Digital Instrument - ELiDDI) mimics the ‘light diary’ visually intuitive interface, and including all the fields and activities of the HETUS diary. It builds on and is compatible with the previous CaDDI online diary design used for the Centre for Time Use Research (CTUR) UK Time Use Survey 6-Wave Sequence across the COVID-19 Pandemic 2016-2021(UKDS Study ID 8741). Methodological work to date suggests that this visually intuitive design does not lead to an erosion of data quality or increased respondent burden.

The nationally representative survey was conducted in March 2023 in a 3-way collaboration between CTUR, Dynata (a leading international market research agency conforming to the Market Research Society's ethical code who designed the digital diary interface) and the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), who provided the UK representative sample and ran the logistics of the data collection exercise.

Respondents were invited to complete 2 diaries, one on a randomly sampled weekday, one on a weekend day, recording activities, location, co-presence, device use, and enjoyment across continuous 10-minute episodes throughout the diary day. The accompanying background questionnaire collected information on the standard socio-demographic variables, and a diary day questionnaire included additional information about each diary day.

• Full general-purpose online time use diary survey, with the same diary fields as the Harmonised European Time Use Survey (HETUS)
• primary activity
• secondary activity
• location
• co-presence
• device use
• enjoyment.

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.

• to provide annual data about the nation’s health;
• to estimate the proportion of people in England with specified health conditions;
• to estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with these conditions;
• to examine differences between population subgroups in their likelihood of having specific conditions or risk factors;
• to assess the frequency with which particular combinations of risk factors are found, and which groups these combinations most commonly occur;
• to monitor progress towards selected health targets
• since 1995, to measure the height of children at different ages, replacing the National Study of Health and Growth;
• since 1995, monitor the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children.

Changes to the HSE from 2015:
Users should note that from 2015 survey onwards, only the individual data file is available under standard End User Licence (EUL). The household data file is now only included in the Special Licence (SL) version, released from 2015 onwards. In addition, the SL individual file contains all the variables included in the HSE EUL dataset, plus others, including variables removed from the EUL version after the NHS Digital disclosure review. The SL HSE is subject to more restrictive access conditions than the EUL version (see Access information). Users are advised to obtain the EUL version to see if it meets their needs before considering an application for the SL version.

COVID-19 and the HSE:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HSE 2020 survey was stopped in March 2020 and never re-started. There was no publication that year. The survey resumed in 2021, albeit with an amended methodology. The full HSE resumed in 2022, with an extended fieldwork period. Due to this, the decision was taken not to progress with the 2023 survey, to maximise the 2022 survey response and enable more robust reporting of data. See the NHS Digital Health Survey for England - Health, social care and lifestyles webpage for more details.

The General Household Survey (GHS), ran from 1971-2011 (the UKDS holds data from 1972-2011). It was a continuous annual national survey of people living in private households, conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The main aim of the survey was to collect data on a range of core topics, covering household, family and individual information. This information was used by government departments and other organisations for planning, policy and monitoring purposes, and to present a picture of households, families and people in Great Britain. In 2008, the GHS became a module of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS). In recognition, the survey was renamed the General Lifestyle Survey (GLF). The GLF closed in January 2012. The 2011 GLF is therefore the last in the series. A limited number of questions previously run on the GLF were subsequently included in the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN).

Secure Access GHS/GLF
The UKDS holds standard access End User Licence (EUL) data for 1972-2006. A Secure Access version is available, covering the years 2000-2011 - see SN 6716 General Lifestyle Survey, 2000-2011: Secure Access.

History
The GHS was conducted annually until 2011, except for breaks in 1997-1998 when the survey was reviewed, and 1999-2000 when the survey was redeveloped. Further information may be found in the ONS document An overview of 40 years of data (General Lifestyle Survey Overview - a report on the 2011 General Lifestyle Survey) (PDF). Details of changes each year may be found in the individual study documentation.

EU-SILC
In 2005, the European Union (EU) made a legal obligation (EU-SILC) for member states to collect additional statistics on income and living conditions. In addition, the EU-SILC data cover poverty and social exclusion. These statistics are used to help plan and monitor European social policy by comparing poverty indicators and changes over time across the EU. The EU-SILC requirement was integrated into the GHS/GLF in 2005. After the closure of the GLF, EU-SILC was collected via the Family Resources Survey (FRS) until the UK left the EU in 2020.

Reformatted GHS data 1973-1982 - Surrey SPSS Files
SPSS files were created by the University of Surrey for all GHS years from 1973 to 1982 inclusive. The early files were restructured and the case changed from the household to the individual with all of the household information duplicated for each individual. The Surrey SPSS files contain all the original variables as well as some extra derived variables (a few variables were omitted from the data files for 1973-76). In 1973 only, the section on leisure was not included in the Surrey SPSS files. This has subsequently been made available, however, and is now held in a separate study, General Household Survey, 1973: Leisure Questions (SN 3982). Records for the original GHS 1973-1982 ASCII files have been removed from the UK Data Archive catalogue, but the data are still preserved and available upon request.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

For Taking Part, 2018-2019, also known as Year 14 of the continuous survey, 8,161 adults and 645 children aged 11-15 were interviewed. Information was also collected from parents or guardians of 999 children aged 5-10. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in home by specially trained interviewers working on behalf of NatCen and Ipsos MORI using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI).

This study is subject to restrictive Special Licence (SL) access conditions as it contains additional detailed geographic variables (ACORN Group; ONS Urban-Rural Classification). The End User Licence (EUL) version which does not contain these detailed variables, is available under SN 8631. Users are advised to first obtain the standard EUL version of the data to see if they are sufficient for their research requirements. The SL data have more restrictive access conditions; prospective users of the SL version will need to complete an extra application form and demonstrate to the data owners exactly why they need access to the additional variables in order to get permission to use that version.

Latest edition information

For the third edition (January 2024), the data and documentation for the web panel have been added.

Main topics covered by the survey include: the arts, museums and galleries, libraries, archives, heritage, sport, volunteering, charitable giving, general free time activities, digital activities, special events (currently the First World War commemorations), community participation, personal well-being and demographics. Almost all of these topics appear in the main adult and child data sets, and in the longitudinal data sets. First World War and personal well-being are not covered in the child dataset (although children aged 11-15 are asked about their level of happiness).

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

• to provide annual data about the nation’s health;
• to estimate the proportion of people in England with specified health conditions;
• to estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with these conditions;
• to examine differences between population subgroups in their likelihood of having specific conditions or risk factors;
• to assess the frequency with which particular combinations of risk factors are found, and which groups these combinations most commonly occur;
• to monitor progress towards selected health targets
• since 1995, to measure the height of children at different ages, replacing the National Study of Health and Growth;
• since 1995, monitor the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children.

Changes to the HSE from 2015:
Users should note that from 2015 survey onwards, only the individual data file is available under standard End User Licence (EUL). The household data file is now only included in the Special Licence (SL) version, released from 2015 onwards. In addition, the SL individual file contains all the variables included in the HSE EUL dataset, plus others, including variables removed from the EUL version after the NHS Digital disclosure review. The SL HSE is subject to more restrictive access conditions than the EUL version (see Access information). Users are advised to obtain the EUL version to see if it meets their needs before considering an application for the SL version.

COVID-19 and the HSE:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HSE 2020 survey was stopped in March 2020 and never re-started. There was no publication that year. The survey resumed in 2021, albeit with an amended methodology. The full HSE resumed in 2022, with an extended fieldwork period. Due to this, the decision was taken not to progress with the 2023 survey, to maximise the 2022 survey response and enable more robust reporting of data. See the NHS Digital Health Survey for England - Health, social care and lifestyles webpage for more details.

The focus for the HSE 2013 was social care. The survey also provided updates on core topics including smoking, drinking and general health. Additional non-core modules included eyesight, end-of-life care, shift work, average weekly alcohol consumption, well-being, and physical activity.

Latest edition information

For the second edition (June 2023), the following changes have been made: 1) The variable MedsNum2G8 has been corrected and is now derived from Mednum2, which is the derived variable that excludes contraceptives and nicotine dependency drugs. 2) Variables SOC2010B and HRPSOC10B have had one category corrected that was incorrectly coded. 3) Variables NATID2 and NATID3 have had their labels corrected to NatID2 "National identity: Welsh" and NatID3 "National identity: Scottish". 4) Variables YNATSC2 and YNATSC3 have had their labels corrected to YNATSC2 "National identity: Welsh (SC)" and YNATSC3 "National identity: Scottish (SC)". 5) Seven cases that were coded into the wrong category in variable BMISRG5 have been corrected. 6) Two cases in variable CIGDYAL have been recoded to '-8' rather than '97 ("don’t know"). 7) The variable ANTIBACTAK has had its label corrected. 8) The documentation has also been updated to reflect these changes.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Annual Population Survey (APS) is a major survey series, which aims to provide data that can produce reliable estimates at 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 allows for analysis to be carried out on detailed subgroups and below regional level. In recent years (particularly with the sample size of the LFS 5 quarter dataset reducing) there has been some interest in producing a two year APS longitudinal dataset to look at any trends that may occur over a year. The APS Two-Year Longitudinal Datasets, covering 2012/13 onwards, have been deposited as a result of this work. Person- and Household-level APS datasets are also available.

For further detailed information about methodology, users should consult the Labour Force Survey User Guide, included with the APS documentation.

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. 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

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

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.