Understanding Children's Lives and Outcomes in Scotland

Scotland has high quality data about children, though it is currently not organised in a way that would allow research on a range of outcomes and how they vary across Scottish society. The 'Understanding Children's Lives and Outcomes' programme, led by ADR Scotland, aims to change that.

The datasets

ADR Scotland is working to bring together a range of data on children.

This will include: pupil census data for Scotland, Scottish Government data on looked after children, children’s health, births and deaths, the 2001/2011 national census, attendance, absence and exclusion from school, child protection, secure care for children, exam qualifications, school leaver destinations, and child wellbeing.

The project aims to provide information about the data and enable access with the potential for it to be linked together.

What is the potential of this newly linked data?

This data will allow researchers to paint a picture of academic achievement, health, economic activity and wellbeing for children and young people in Scotland. This will tie in with the national ambitions for people in Scotland, which are captured in the National Performance Framework, namely that children grow up loved, safe and protected so they can reach their full potential.

Having Scotland-wide datasets brought together will provide a set of outcomes for children, and brings in data on inequalities, to help researchers build a more thorough understanding of the experience of children in the country. Decision makers can then be better informed on how best to meet Scotland's ambitions for children.

Exemplar projects underway to demonstrate the use of this data include:

• Exploring context, factors and approaches to educational exclusions and absence
• Growing up in kinship care

Project details

• Project leads: Alastair McAlpine and Celia MacIntyre, Scottish Government
• Funded value: £489,844
• Duration: September 2019 – March 2022

Flagship research

The Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research (SCADR) have been funded to undertake flagship research projects using this data, focused on better understanding children and young people’s pathways and outcomes and providing evidence-based insights which can help to improve their health, wellbeing and attainment.

• Academic Lead: Professor Morag Treanor
• Funded value: £319, 292
• Duration: October 2020 – September 2022

The two exemplar research projects being undertaken using this data are:

• Exploring context, factors and approaches to educational exclusions and absence
• Growing up in kinship care

For further details on this research, please visit the SCADR website.

Both the data linkage and research elements of this project are funded via the ADR UK Strategic Hub Fund, a dedicated fund for commissioning research using newly linked administrative data, in consultation with the former Research Commissioning Board (RCB).