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Publications & reports

Dataset-specific publications, such as Data Explained documents and user guides, can be found on the ADR UK Data Catalogue or on Flagship datasets.

Care experienced children and young people: Research insights from administrative data

This report summarises some key insights on children’s experiences with social care, which have been generated through research using administrative data. It serves as a source of evidence for policymakers and practitioners working to support children. It also provides a rich example of the power of administrative data to enable critical research evidence that can improve lives.

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Community Catalyst: Children at Risk of Poor Outcomes scoping review - Use of administrative data to understand children’s involvement with children’s statutory social care services

This comprehensive scoping review has been produced to inform and encourage greater use of administrative data for children’s social care research. It aims to identify strengths and gaps in the published literature to provide the research community with a clearer understanding of research priorities.

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Changes over time to Pupil Matching Reference Numbers in the National Pupil Database

This report summarises findings from an analysis examining the extent to which the Pupil Matching Reference numbers (PMRs) within the National Pupil Database (NPD) change over time. The project also investigated which demographic groups of individuals were more or less likely to be affected by these changes. This work was carried out as part of the ECHILD (Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data) project.

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Community Catalyst: Youth Transitions research report - From gaps to priorities: Examining the evidence landscape

This research report provides an overview of this community catalyst’s aims and summarises the research approach used to address these objectives.

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Growing up in kinship care

This report from Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research and the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection explores the characteristics, experiences, and outcomes of ‘looked after’ children living in kinship care in Scotland. It provides insight into the requirements that welfare, universal, and targeted services should meet to ensure the safety, health, education and wellbeing of all children.

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Data Insight: Growing up in kinship care

This Data Insight by Dr Joanna Soraghan and Dr Robert Porter explores the experiences of children and young people in Scotland who have spent time living with a family member or family friend while in care – known as ‘kinship care’. The Growing Up in Kinship Care study makes use of the Scottish Government’s Longitudinal Looked After Children dataset.

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Estimating numbers of children not in state education using linked administrative data

This report, produced by ADR Wales in partnership with the Welsh Government, explores the feasibility of providing an estimate of children potentially missing from education using linked administrative data in the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank.

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Infants born into care in Scotland

This is an update of a previous ADR Scotland report that compared rates of children under one year of age becoming looked after by Local Authorities in Scotland and in England. The focus of this report is on children starting care under one year (infants), who make up a large proportion of children in care. As well as updating trends, we have used the longitudinal data to map the pathways of individual children who started care as infants and characterise different types of care history.

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The impact of Covid-19 on children's care processes in Scotland

This report hopes to contribute to an improved understanding of the pandemic and its ongoing impact on children’s social care. Through thorough examination of the data about children who were ‘looked after’ throughout the pandemic, it provides more nuanced evidence on the impacts of this turbulent time.

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The LEO dataset: Key messages from stakeholders (March 2023)

This report highlights key messages from stakeholders on the potential of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset to inform the potential and use of the data.

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Data Explained

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