Growing Up in England
ADR UK, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Department for Education (DfE) are working together to make better use of existing data about children and young people in England. The Growing Up in England (GUIE) dataset will enable a more comprehensive understanding of how factors such as household composition and geography shape outcomes. This will allow researchers to shine light on what does and doesn’t work in supporting children and young people to thrive and give policymakers valuable evidence for developing services that work better for all.
Component datasets and linkage
Growing up in England is formed of the Feasibility All Education Dataset for England which includes the National Pupil Database, Individualised Learner Records and further education data. This has been linked to the 2011 Census which provides de-identified household information, child-level individual characteristics, and geographical data. Additional datasets have been joined to the feasibility All Education Dataset for England, including English School Census, Children in Need and Children Looked After.
Timeframe | Wave 1: Academic years 2001/2 - 2014/5. Wave 2/3.1: Academic years 2010/11 - 2014/15. Wave 3.2/3.3: Academic years 2001/02 - 2009/10 |
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Update Frequency | Static |
Population | Students enrolled in government-funded education or non-government funded Further Education in England in any academic year between 2001/02 to 2014/15, and aged between 10 and 25 years on 31 August 2011. |
Coverage | England only |
Size | ~7 million records |
Examples of research questions
- Is there a relationship between household characteristics and educational attainment?
- What are the underlying drivers of geographical differences in educational attainment?
This list is illustrative only and intended to demonstrate the research potential of the dataset. For research priorities, see the areas of research interest or the ADR UK funding opportunity.
Core documentation
User guide
The user guide is located within the assets tab in the Growing Up in England entry of the ONS Secure Research Service Metadata Catalogue.
Data dictionary
Data dictionaries are available on the ADR UK Data Catalogue:
- GUIE Wave 1
- GUIE Wave 2 - Children in Need, Children Looked After
- GUIE Wave 2 - Exclusions, Absences and English School Census
Other supporting resources
Resource | Description |
All Education Dataset for England information | Read more about the feasibility All Education Dataset for England (AEDE). Note that the AEDE data included in Wave 1 GUIE differs in some respects to what is described in this publication, e.g. HESA data within AEDE is not included in Wave 1 GUIE. |
2011 Census information | Find out more about the 2011 Census on the ONS website. |
Growing up in England publication | The GUIE publication was released in October 2022 and provides information on the datasets that make up GUIE, and how the data was linked. |
Understanding highest educational qualification: The case for using Administrative Data | A blog from the ONS. |
Published research using the data
- AEDE feasibility information: Read more about the feasibility study that linked the All Education Dataset for England to the 2011 Census in this study from the ONS. Note that the AEDE data used in GUIE Wave 1 and 2 only differs in some respects to the data within this feasibility study.
- Case study: ADR UK has funded a study to explore the potential of the data and address an evidence gap on educational experiences of Roma, Gypsy, and Traveller children.
- Who are the children entering care in England?: ONS research which uses GUIE Wave 2 data to explore the characteristics of children entering care in England.
Accessing the data
Access the GUIE dataset via the ONS Secure Research Service. Researchers who are fully accredited under the Digital Economy Act (2017) can apply for access.
To access the GUIE dataset:
1. Apply to become an accredited researcher under the Digital Economy Act 2017
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Complete the application form through the ONS Research Accreditation Service.
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Contact srs.customer.support@ons.gov.uk with any questions.
2. Apply for an accredited research project
- View the GUIE dataset on the ADR UK Catalogue. Note the different waves:
- GUIE Wave 1 (Standard conditions for the use of data in the SRS
- GUIE Wave 2 - Children in Need, Children Looked After (Special statistical disclosure rules)
- GUIE Wave 2 - Exclusions, Absences and English School Census (Special statistical disclosure rules).
- Submit an application to the Research Accreditation Service: Apply for an accredited research project – ONS.
3. Access the data securely
The options available to access this dataset are:
- Safe Rooms – based in ONS offices in Titchfield and Newport, open Monday-Friday, 9.00-16.00
- SafePod Network– a small, self-contained secure room with a single workstation
- Assured Organisational Connectivity – the ability to access the ONS Secure Research Service from your office or home. Check what arrangements your institution already has or can put in place.
ADR UK Research Fellowships
ADR UK is funding policy-relevant research using ADR England flagship datasets. Research fellows will address priority research questions, generate insights and demonstrate the value of ADR England data. These datasets are held securely within the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service or other trusted research environments.
Find out more
You can find more information about the GUIE dataset on the ADR UK Data Catalogue and the GUIE project page on the ADR UK website.