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.
The UK Data Service will be closed on Monday 25 May 2026 for Spring bank holiday. Online services will run unattended during this period.
Highlights
Every Story Matters — new data from the UK Covid-19 Inquiry
We are delighted to announce that the entire archive of experiences shared with Every Story Matters is to be made available to access through the UK Data Service. This exercise, which was the largest public engagement initiative ever held by a UK public inquiry, has created an invaluable record of how Covid-19 affected people’s lives across the UK.
Department for Education and UK Data Service collaboration
The Department for Education (DfE) and the UK Data Archive have strengthened their long-standing collaboration through a new framework agreement. Building on a history of successfully curating and providing access to DfE and DfE-linked data, this agreement streamlines the process for depositing and sharing new datasets via the UK Data Service.
Explore our April 2026 UK Data Service newsletter
In this issue of the UK Data Service newsletter, we share details on the future events we will be hosting, look back on the success of our Crime Surveys User Conference and discuss our ‘Train to Transform’ project. Plus, we celebrate the upcoming release of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Every Story Matters exercise into our collection.
Upcoming training and events
Our impact
Gender Equality Index UK case study
This new Impact Case Study looks at the Gender Equality Index UK: the first index to systematically measure and analyse the socioeconomic outcomes of women and men across all 372 local authorities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK data infrastructure: challenges, opportunities — and a cornerstone
Professor Alison Park, from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), discusses the importance of UK social science data infrastructures and outlines some of the opportunities and challenges they face.
10,000 data collections: nearly six decades of data impact
This year, the UK Data Service reached an incredible milestone — over 10,000 data collections are now discoverable through our Data Catalogue. But what is the journey to this milestone? What does it matter? And how does it set the stage for the next chapter of data innovation and impact?
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.
UK Data Service essentials: Introduction, finding and accessing data
This interactive session is ideal for anyone interested in social research and keen to explore the wide range of resources offered by the UK Data Service.
Introduction to secondary analysis for qualitative and quantitative data
Secondary analysis offers a great option for dissertation students who are looking to gain experience working with data but who have limited abilities to go out into the field or would like to study a hard-to-reach population.
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 15 May 2026
An update of our latest data releases New datasets released SN 9556 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing: Wave 11, 2024: Census 2021 Lower Layer Super Output Areas: Secure Access SN 9555 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing: Wave 11, 2024: Census 2021 Middle Layer Super Output Areas: Secure Access SN 9542 Skills and Employment Survey, 2024 […]
Family Finance Surveys User Conference: Programme announced and bookings are now open
We are pleased to announce the programme for this year’s Family Finance Surveys User Conference has now been confirmed and booking is open. Organised by the UK Data Service, in collaboration with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the conference brings together producers and users of survey […]
April 2026 UK Data Service newsletter – Featuring the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Every Story Matters exercise
Read the full stories in our April 2026 UK Data Service newsletter. In this issue of the UK Data Service newsletter, we share details on the future events we will be hosting over the next few months, including the Health Studies User Conference, the Family Finance Surveys User Conference and the Labour Force and Annual Population Surveys User […]
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.