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Back to Different types of data

Administrative data

Accessing administrative data

By joining up the abundance of administrative data already created by government and public bodies across the UK in a safe and secure way, research has the potential to lead to better informed policy decisions and more effective public services, in areas from improving education and healthcare to tackling crime. Having previously helped build some of the foundations and best practice within the ADR UK, the UK Data Service provides access to the following administrative data collections.

Administrative data includes information usually routinely gathered when registering people, carrying out transactions or for record keeping – usually when delivering a service.

social security payment records
educational attainment records
health records
court records
tax records.

The Continuous Recording of Social Housing Lettings and Sales (CORE) is a national information source funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government that records information on the characteristics of both Private Registered Providers’ and Local Authorities’ new social housing tenants and the homes they rent and buy. This data collection comprises all social housing lettings and sales in England.

Access Continuous Recording of Social Housing Lettings and Sales (CORE).

The National Pupil Database (NPD) holds a wide range of information about students who attend schools and colleges in England. The NPD combines the examination results of pupils with information on pupil and school characteristics and is an amalgamation of a number of different datasets, including Key Stage attainment data and Schools Census data (formerly known as PLASC), which are linked using a unique identifier for each pupil. The dataset is made available for research purposes by the Department for Education.

Access the National Pupil Database

Administrative Data Research UK (ADR UK)

Good government policy that solves social and economic challenges and improves lives needs good evidence. But good quality evidence is expensive and time-consuming to produce, and evidence from academic research can also have a different focus from what government needs most to make policy decisions and deliver effective services.

ADR UK’s mission is to solve both these problems by transforming the way researchers access the UK’s wealth of public sector data. ADR UK’s work plays an important role in bridging the gap between government and academia, enabling government policy to be informed by the best evidence available, and putting us on the path to a future in which the true potential of administrative data to improve society is realised.

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Administrative data

Accessing administrative data

Types of administrative data

Continuous Recording of Social Housing Lettings and Sales (CORE)

National Pupil Database

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