Longitudinal Education Outcomes Northern Ireland dataset now available for public good research

The Longitudinal Education Outcomes Northern Ireland (LEO NI) dataset is now available for accredited researchers to apply to access for research in the public interest. This is an ADR UK flagship dataset, with applications managed by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), part of ADR Northern Ireland.

LEO NI is a de-identified, linked administrative dataset that brings together education, training and apprenticeship data held by the Department of Education (DE) and the Department for the Economy (DfE). It enables researchers to examine educational pathways and outcomes over time, offering the opportunity to develop insights that can inform more effective policy and practice.

LEO NI comprises a suite of linked tables connected through an anonymised unique identifier. It currently contains records for post-primary and special school pupils who were aged 14 years and over at the start of the academic year, and who appeared in at least one School Census between 2016/17 and 2023/24. It also includes records relating to learners in further education, higher education, training and apprenticeship programmes from 2017/18 onwards.

The following datasets are currently available within LEO NI:

• School Census (2016/17–2023/24)
• Attendance Data (2016/17–2023/24)
• Exams Database (2018/19–2023/24)
• School Leavers Survey (2016/17–2023/24)
• Training for Success / Skills for Life and Work and Apprenticeships NI (2017/18–2023/24)
• Further Education (2017/18–2023/24)
• Higher Education (2017/18–2022/23). 2023/24 to be added later. 

LEO NI is a standalone dataset and cannot currently be linked to other datasets.

Areas of research interest

LEO NI has the potential to support a wide range of policy priorities across both the Department of Education (DE) and the Department for the Economy (DfE) by providing evidence on how individuals progress through education, training and skills systems over time.

By linking school, attendance, examinations and school leaver data with further education, higher education, apprenticeship and training records, the dataset enables analysis of educational attainment, participation, progression and outcomes across the learner journey. This will support policy development and evaluation in areas such as:

• educational disadvantage
• equality of opportunity
• school improvement
• special educational needs
• attendance
• curriculum and qualifications
• post-16 pathways
• social mobility
• widening participation
• workforce development
• skills provision
• apprenticeships
• regional inequalities

LEO NI also provides a valuable resource for assessing the effectiveness of policy and practice interventions across education and skills, identifying factors associated with successful outcomes, and strengthening the evidence base for improving opportunities and outcomes for learners across Northern Ireland. 

How to access the LEO NI data

Access to the LEO NI dataset is available to researchers and research teams with accredited researcher status under the Digital Economy Act 2017 and subject to approval by each of the data providers and the UK Statistics Authority Research Accreditation Panel (RAP).

In the first instance, researchers should contact the NISRA Research Support Unit (RSU) (rsu@nisra.gov.uk) to discuss their research proposal and provide an abstract outlining it. RSU, in consultation with the data providers, will determine the feasibility of the project prior to the completion of a full application form by the researcher(s) to be submitted to RAP.

The full application will require researchers to detail the main aims and objectives of the proposed project, as well as the methodological approach that they are intending to use. Researchers will need to include details of the data required (including variable list with justifications) and cohort required. Researchers will also be required to detail any public engagement activities planned as part of the project.

All projects go through a process of obtaining ethical approval. This is granted by Data Ethics UK as part of the standard project application process for the Research Accreditation Panel (RAP).

RSU will support the research team throughout the application process. You can find the full information about applying for access to this data on the NISRA website.