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.
Highlights

International Women’s Day 2025: Accelerate action
International Women’s Day 2025 is dedicated to “accelerating action” to create a gender equal world. But what role can the UK Data Service – and data generally – play in accelerating women’s equality?

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.

Call for papers: Family Finance Surveys User Conference 2025
Are you conducting research using the UK Data Service’s family finance surveys? Submit your paper proposal for the Family Finance Surveys User Conference 2025 by 31 March 2025.
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

The UK Data Service Dissertation Award – your questions answered
The UK Data Service Dissertation Award 2025 has now launched! Whether you’re wondering who can apply, how to submit your work or who our judges are, we’ve compiled some useful FAQs: Who can enter? Any undergraduate students at UK universities who are writing dissertations on social science topics who have used data from the UK […]

International Women’s Day 2025: Accelerate action
International Women’s Day 2025 is dedicated to “accelerating action” to create a gender equal world. But what role can the UK Data Service – and data generally – play in accelerating women’s equality? Empowering researchers and policymakers We asked Joanne Webb, Associate Director of the UK Data Service and Head of Department for the UK […]

Steve McEachern, Director of the UK Data Service, addresses some of the future challenges facing the social sciences
Dr Steve McEachern recently attended the International Science Council General Assembly and Global Knowledge Dialogue to discuss how the social sciences sector can work together more closely to overcome some of its biggest hurdles. During his presentation at the event, held in Muscat, Oman, he covered a number of key areas that need further development […]
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.
