Background
The Annual Population Survey (APS) Household datasets are produced annually and are available from 2004 (Secure Access) 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 data comprise key variables from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) (held at the UK Data Archive under GN 33246) and the APS (person) datasets (held at the Data Archive under GN 33357). The former is a quarterly survey of households living at private addresses in the UK. The latter is created by combining individuals in waves one and five from four consecutive LFS quarters with the English, Welsh and Scottish Local Labour Force Surveys (LLFS). The APS Household datasets therefore contain results from four different sources.

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 information on the main (person) APS datasets, for which EUL and Secure Access versions are available, please see GNs 33357 and 33427, respectively.

New reweighting policy
Following the new reweighting policy ONS has reviewed the latest population estimates made available during 2019 and have decided not to carry out a 2019 LFS and APS reweighting exercise. Therefore, the next reweighting exercise will take place in 2020. These will incorporate the 2019 Sub-National Population Projection data (published in May 2020) and 2019 Mid-Year Estimates (published in June 2020). It is expected that reweighted Labour Market aggregates and microdata will be published in 2021.

Secure Access APS Household data
Secure Access datasets for the APS Household survey include additional variables not included in the EUL versions (GN 33455). Extra variables that may be found in the Secure Access version but not in the EUL version relate to:

• geography (see 'Spatial Units' below)
• individual demographics, including age bands, day of birth, sex/marital status and detailed ethnicity
• main reason for coming to the UK
• number of bedrooms
• health problems, work-related health problems, sickness absence from work
• reasons why not in work, including health and other reasons, wage received when not in work, time away from job, and whether and when will work in the future
• type of benefit claimed
• education and training, including
  • vocational and work-related qualifications and training
  • class of first degree
  • qualifications from government schemes
  • number of O levels/GCSEs, etc held
  • qualifications held from UK and abroad
  • qualifications gained from school/home schooling
  • qualifications below highest level
  • other qualifications
  • time spent in taught courses
  • who paid for training
  • main place of education/training
  • length of training course
  • level of Welsh baccalaureate
• worst 30 local authorities based on Indices of Deprivation
• casual/holiday work
• disability, including learning difficulty/disability
• payment of own National Insurance and tax

Prospective users of the Secure Access version of an APS Household dataset will need to fulfil additional requirements, including completion of face-to-face training and agreement to Secure Access' User Agreement, in order to obtain permission to use that version (see 'Access' section below). The EUL version of the data, for which less stingent access conditions apply, may suffice for many users' research requirements. Further details and links to all APS studies can be found via the APS Key Data series webpage.

Documentation and coding frames
The APS is compiled from variables present in the LFS. For variable and value labelling and coding frames that are not included either in the data or in the current APS documentation (e.g. coding frames for education, industrial and geographic variables, which are held in LFS User Guide Vol.5, Classifications), 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.

For the eleventh edition (September 2025), the data file covering January - December 2023 has been added.