Get census microdata

We provide access to cross-sectional census microdata, these are anonymised individual level records sampled from a single census. They are large individual level files which resemble the sort of data that might be collected directly from a questionnaire. Because individual records contain a wide range of individual and household characteristics, the data enable multivariate analyses for a wide range or purposes.

The UK Data Service holds contemporary data from the 1981 to 2011 Censuses and microdata samples from 1961 onwards.

Access levels

The UK Data Service provides different levels of access to a wide range of census microdata from different years.

Open access

Taster files (also known as the Teaching files) are available as open data and the Census Microdata Teaching Datasets for Great Britain are freely available for anyone to download under an Open Government Licence.

2021 Census: Public Microdata Teaching Sample (England and Wales): 1% Sample: Open Access

2011 taster files (also known as the Teaching files) are available as open data in csv format from:

These files have limited detail and are based on a 1% sample of individuals.

Teaching files are also available in SPSS and Stata format from the UK Data Service.

England and Scotland files are also available from our online data exploration tool Nesstar.

 

The Census Microdata Teaching Datasets for Great Britain were created from existing digital records from the 1981, 1971 and 1961 Censuses. These files contain only a small number of variables and are based on 1% sample of individuals. They can be used as ‘taster’ files for census data and are freely available for anyone to download under an Open Government Licence.

Safeguarded access

Safeguarded data are available to registered users who have agreed to the licence conditions. For overseas users, data are only available to researchers based within the European Economic Area with data depositors’ permission. The key analysis datasets are listed below.

England and Wales

Scotland

Northern Ireland

For users who are interested in imputation, there are also specialist datasets that were made available from the 2001 census microdata. These are larger files that contain an imputation flag variable for each original variable. As they are otherwise identical, general users are advised to use the smaller standard files.

The UK Data Service provide safeguarded access to the Integrated Census Microdata (I-CeM). These are microdata from the censuses that were carried out in the UK between 1851 and 1911.

Secure access

Secure data are available through the SecureLab arrangements.

Detailed files at a safe setting

Users should also be aware that there are also more detailed versions of the data available only within safe settings. Applications to use these data as an approved researcher should be made directly to the Office for National Statistics for 2001 and to the relevant census office for data from the 2011 Census.

Secure Research Service (SRS)

The SRS sites are – Titchfield near Fareham, Newport Wales, Belfast Northern Ireland, Glasgow Scotland and Pimlico London.

If you are considering using the 2001 data, you might be interested in testing your syntax on a dataset which was designed for this purpose – see the CAMS test file.

2021/22 Census

The 2021 Census took place on 21 March in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. The census in Scotland was delayed to 2022. The census agencies released the final census outputs in winter 2023 for England and Wales, details on Census 2021 milestones and by summer 2023 for Northern Ireland, refer to Key elements of the 2021 Census.

Related data products

For more information about the census microdata for 1851-1911, users are advised to consult the separate ICeM website.

Users interested in longitudinal census microdata, which link individual records over time are advised to consult the CALLS Hub.