Welcome to the UK Data Service
Trusted access and training to use the UK's largest collection of economic, population and social research data for teaching, learning and public benefit.
Please be aware that helpdesk queries and support services will be restricted from 18–21 April inclusive, due to the Easter weekend.
Highlights
We're nominated as a finalist for the British Data Awards 2025
We’re delighted to announce that the UK Data Service has been nominated as a finalist in the Not-For-Profit of the Year category at the British Data Awards 2025! Winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Brewery in London on 14 May.
Our successful delivery of the Population Research UK project
The UK Data Service is pleased to announce the successful delivery of the Population Research UK – Skills Development for Managing Longitudinal Data for Sharing project. This initiative aimed to build capacity in data management within the Longitudinal Population Studies (LPS) community.
UK Data Service introductory training series: Spring 2025
To help you get the most from our resources, we run a free introductory training series every spring and autumn to introduce different aspects of the UK Data Service. Book your place now for our Spring 2025 series.
Upcoming training and events
Our impact
No progress: breaking the cycle of long-term insecure work
In this Data Impact blog post, Rebecca Florisson, from the Work Foundation, discusses the issue of long-term insecure work.
How are children’s social, emotional and behavioural outcomes impacted by poverty?
This case study looks at the importance of social factors in mitigating disparities in the lives of young people in areas such as poverty, health, housing and discrimination.
The Good Childhood Report 2023
The Children’s Society’s Good Childhood Reports provide an annual overview of the current state of children’s subjective well-being. Read about how they make use of data from our catalogue, in this case study.
Seamless access to key data: explore by themes, types, and teaching datasets
Discover a wide array of national and international key datasets across various categories.
Watch our data skills training webinars
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Watch and learn all the latest data skills from our free webinars, training and video tutorials.
Introduction to anonymisation techniques for social sciences research data
This session is designed to equip researchers with the essential knowledge and skills to navigate the complexities of data anonymisation. From survey data to transcript data and audio/visual materials researchers must have a keen eye on safeguarding privacy.
Data in the spotlight: Census and population studies
We introduce you to the UK Census, the data held by the UK Data Service, and how to use the web interfaces to access the data. We also cover up to date information on the progress of the 2021 Census for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the 2022 Census for Scotland.
Ignite discovery: elevate your research with data deposits
Deposit your research data free, in our ESRC funded data catalogue.
Latest news
Latest data collections and new editions 16 April 2025
An update of our latest data releases. The following new datasets have been released: SN 9366 Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People, 2023 SN 9364 Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, 2023 SN 9363 British Social Attitudes Survey, 2023 SN 857176 The Mental Health of Children and Young People Growing Up in State Care in […]
UK Data Service completes project on the costs and benefits of synthetic data
We are delighted to announce the successful completion of the “Balancing the data scales: A cost-benefit analysis of low-fidelity synthetic data for data owners and providers” project. This year-long initiative examined the costs and benefits of synthetic data for data owners and Trusted Research Environments (TREs). The project was strategically important for understanding how to […]
Important changes to the process for applying for Accredited Researcher Status
Accredited Researcher Status under the Digital Economy Act 2017 allows researchers to access certain types of secure data. Until recently, the process for acquiring this status was to use the Research Accreditation Service (RAS) provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This process has now changed. On 4 April 2025, the ONS closed the […]
Who makes us special?
Our podcast series, The Experts’ Expert, showcases some of the unique work we do to enable evidence-led research for public benefit.
