Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data - England

The Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data (ECHILD) database includes linked records for around 20 million children and young people, which will be used to better understand how education affects children’s health and how health affects children’s education. 

Component datasets and linkage

To create the ECHILD database, Hospital Episode Statistics data including for example, admitted patient care, A&E emergency care, and birth notifications has been linked to the National Pupil Database. This includes data on pupil and school characteristics, educational outcomes, and social care.

Timeframe 1 September 1984 - 31 August 2022
Update Frequency
Population Children and young people born in the timeframe specified
Coverage England only
Size ~20 million records
Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data - England

  

Introduction to the ECHILD database

Examples of research questions

The ECHILD database will facilitate research to improve policymaking for children’s health, education and wellbeing across a range of health and social science disciplines. For example, the ECHILD database could help to answer questions such as: 

  • How can we improve health and education for children with chronic physical or mental health conditions in England?
  • How can we better understand the health-related drivers of educational outcomes in England?
  • How can we improve the quality and equity of health and education provision in England?

This list is illustrative only and intended to demonstrate the research potential of the dataset. The ECHILD research database can be used for the specific research themes. Find out more.

Core documentation

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User guide

The ECHILD user guide introduces researchers to the ECHILD database by providing a broad overview of its coverage, content and creation. 

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Data dictionary

The data catalogue is available on the ECHILD website.

Other supporting resources

Resource Description
ECHILD data visualisation A data visual to explore the different types of de-identified records within the ECHILD database.
Data Resource Profile Mc Grath-Lone, L. et al. (2021) Data Resource Profile: The Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data (ECHILD) Database, International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 51, Issue 1, February 2022, Pages 17–17f, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyab149
Linking education and hospital data in England: Linkage process and quality

Libuy, N., Harron, K., Gilbert, R., Caulton, R., Cameron, E., Blackburn, R., (2021) Linking education and hospital data in England: linkage process and quality. International Journal of Population Data Science, Volume 6, No 1, 16 September 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23889/ijpds.v6i1.1671

Data Resource: National Pupil Database

Matthew Alexander Jay, Louise Mc Grath-Lone, Ruth Gilbert. Data Resource: the National Pupil Database (NPD). International Journal of Population Data Science. Published online: Mar 20, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23889/ijpds.v4i1.1101

Data Resource: Children Looked After Return Mc Grath-Lone, L. et al., Data Resource Profile: Children Looked After Return (CLA), International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 45, Issue 3, June 2016, Pages 716–717f, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw117
Cohort profile: Children in Need Census

Emmott, E.H., Jay, M.A., Woodman, J., Cohort profile: Children in Need Census (CIN) records of children referred for social care support in England. BMJ Open 2019;9:e023771. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023771

Accessing the data

The ECHILD dataset will be available soon via the ONS Secure Research Service. Researchers will need to be fully accredited under the Digital Economy Act (2017) to apply for access. This dataset is included here as part of the current funding opportunity - see details below. 

Funding opportunity

ADR UK is inviting applications for funding to conduct policy-relevant research using ADR England flagship datasets, including ECHILD. Research fellows will address priority research questions, generate insights and demonstrate the value of ADR England data. Find out more about this funding opportunity on the UKRI funding finder.

See the funding opportunity

Download the ADR England Flagship Datasets brochure

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