Education

Education is a key factor in shaping an individual’s life chances. It not only determines later employment chances, but also living and housing conditions, nutrition and health, participation in social life, friends and partner options and, finally, the educational opportunities and achievements of our own children.

Education is commonly regarded as the key to remaining competitive in a constantly changing, globalised world, as it is the key to meet the demands of a ‘knowledge-based economy’. The UK Data Service holds a wide and rich range of data collections suitable to shed light on all sorts of education-related research questions, from key longitudinal studies to international microdata, government data and qualitative data collections. Explore our library of impact case studies demonstrating how our data have been used. Find out how to search our catalogue.

Some key datasets

Here are some popular datasets within the theme of education.

1970 British Cohort Study

Coverage: 1970 - ongoing; Great Britain

Topic: See data catalogue record for full topic listing.

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Growing Up in Scotland

Coverage: 2005 - ongoing; Scotland

Topic: See data catalogue record for full topic listing.

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Millennium Cohort Study

Coverage: 2000 - ongoing; United Kingdom

Topic: See data catalogue record for full topic listing.

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National Child Development Study

Coverage: 1958 - ongoing; Great Britain

Topic: See data catalogue record for full topic listing.

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Opinions and Lifestyle Survey

Coverage: 1990 - ongoing; Great Britain

Topic: See data catalogue record for full topic listing.

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Quarterly Labour Force Survey, February - April, 2021

Coverage: 2021; United Kingdom

Topic: See data catalogue record for full topic listing.

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Young Lives: an International Study of Childhood Poverty

Coverage: 2002 - ongoing; Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam

Topic: See data catalogue record for full topic listing.

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Census aggregate data - 2001, 2011

Coverage: 2001, 2011; United Kingdom

Topic: See data catalogue record for full topic listing.

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Census aggregate data - 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001

Coverage: 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001; United Kingdom

Topic: See data catalogue record for full topic listing.

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OECD Education Statistics, 1995-2018

Coverage: 1995 - 2018; Multi-nation

Topic: See data catalogue record for full topic listing.

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UNESCO Education Statistics, 1970-2019

Coverage: 1970 - 2019; Multi-nation

Topic: See data catalogue record for full topic listing.

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