Data in the spotlight: Census and population studies

Do you want to know more about the best resource for population studies in the UK? Do you want to understand how the UK census works and how to access the data within it?

This free 90-minute online workshop will introduce you to the UK Census, the data held by the UK Data Service, and how to use our web interfaces to access the data. The presentation will focus mainly on the latest UK censuses, the 2021 Censuses for England and Wales and Northern Ireland and the 2022 Census for Scotland, and their specific features. We will also introduce previous censuses and other sources for population studies.

The session will consist of a:

• 30-minute presentation on UK Censuses and other population studies
• 40-minute interface demonstration and hands-on practical activity
• 20-minute presentation on the support available from the UK Data Service, followed by questions.

Presenters:

Placide Abasabanye, UK Data Service. Placide is a Research Associate at the UK Data Service with a PhD in Economics. He has ten years of research experience using survey and census data, alongside eight years of teaching experience at the Universities of Manchester and Lille (France). Bridging his work as a researcher and educator, he leads the UK Data Service Census training programme. His expertise spans microdata and aggregate data analysis, large dataset processing, and econometrics. He particularly enjoys helping learners build confidence, develop critical thinking, and gain practical data skills they can apply in their professional work and studies.

Olajuwon Yakub, UK Data Service. Olajuwon is a Data and Platform Engineer at the UK Data Service, working across data and platform development with a focus on census, population and international data. He specialises in automating data-processing workflows and building reliable data pipelines that handle large and complex datasets. His work focuses on improving efficiency, data quality and platform processes to ensure data are accurate, reliable and fit for purpose for users.

Eve Little, UK Data Service. Eve is a Research Impact and Engagement Manager at the UK Data Service. She works across evaluation, communications and research engagement, with a particular focus on translating complex research into engaging, accessible stories that resonate with a range of audiences. She supports early career researchers as they develop their skills and confidence in working with data for impactful social science research.

Level: Introductory
Experience/knowledge required: Some familiarity with spreadsheets may be useful but is not essential
Target audience: Anyone interested in learning more about the UK population and using census data for research or study

This event will be livestreamed on our UK Data Service YouTube channel but the chat will be disabled. By registering and attending the Zoom event you will be able to ask questions and interact.

Recordings of UK Data Service events are made available on our YouTube channel and, together with the slides, on our past events pages soon after the event has taken place.

This event is part of our UK Data Service introductory training series: Autumn 2026.