The ONS Longitudinal Study – opportunities for longitudinal research on the England and Wales population

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/iq1159

Keywords:

census, longitudinal surveys, longitudinal research

Abstract

Comprising longitudinal data on around 1.1 million individuals, the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (ONS-LS) is the largest nationally representative longitudinal dataset in the United Kingdom. It follows a 1% sample of the England & Wales population drawn from the decennial census data (1971 – 2011), linked to some administrative data. Currently comprising up to 46 years of data (1971 – 2017) on sample members, the forthcoming linkage of the 2021 England and Wales Census data to the ONS-LS will extend this follow-up to 50 years. The Centre for Longitudinal Study Information and User Support (CeLSIUS) provides assistance for researchers wishing to use the ONS-LS in their research. Based at University College London (UCL) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS), it has been supporting academic and voluntary sector users of the ONS-LS since 2001. Its work includes helping researchers with their applications to use the ONS-LS, supporting research projects and advising on research outputs.

Author Biographies

Alison Sizer, Department of Information Studies

Alison is a Research Associate in the Department of Information Studies. She works with the Centre for Longitudinal Study Information and User Support (CeLSIUS) undertaking longitudinal research using the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Longitudinal Study, and supports other researchers who are using or planning to use the study in their research. Her current research interests include ageing, the social determinants of health, longitudinal research and data visualisation.

Oliver Duke-Williams, Department of Information Studies, University College London

Oliver Duke-Williams is Professor of Population Information in the Department of Information Studies at UCL, and also the Programme Director for the MA/MSc Digital Humanities programmes in the department, and Graduate Tutor. He works in issues related to the present, future and past of censuses in the UK, and is the Census Service Director at the UK Data Service; the UK Data Service curates and provides access to and training related to a wide variety of social science data. Oliver is also a senior member of the Centre for Longitudinal Study Information and User Support (CeLSIUS), which facilitates access to the ONS Longitudinal Study, an approximately 1% sample of the population of England and Wales, with linked census data from 1971 onwards.

Since 2018 Oliver has been a member of the National Statistician's Methodological Assurance Review Panel (MARP), which provides guidance related to the implementation of the 2021 Census, the 2023 Recommendation on the future of Population Statistics, and on other
developments in related national datasets.

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Published

2025-09-25

How to Cite

Sizer, A., Mastrosavvas, A., & Duke-Williams, O. (2025). The ONS Longitudinal Study – opportunities for longitudinal research on the England and Wales population. IASSIST Quarterly, 49(3). https://doi.org/10.29173/iq1159

Issue

Vol. 49 No. 3 (2025): IASSIST Quarterly

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Articles

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Copyright (c) 2025 Alison Sizer, Andreas Mastrosavvas, Oliver Duke-Williams

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