Enabling Five Decades of Insight: The ONS Longitudinal Study as a Secure National Research Resource
Categories: Office for National Statistics, Health & wellbeing, Housing & communities, Research findings, Impact, Process, Policy, Practice, People, Potential
28 February 2026
This data is available via the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service, which is being expanded and improved with ADR UK funding.
Author: Stephen Jivraj, Celsius, University College London
Date: February 2026
Research summary
The ONS Longitudinal Study (LS) received an Excellence Award for its secure provision of de‑identified, linked census and vital events data for England and Wales over five decades. The LS enables robust, policy‑relevant research on health, inequality, migration, family, housing and ageing, with very low attrition and broad population coverage, including communal establishments.
The provision of service design, governance and refresh processes for the long-running data translate into real public value.
About the data
The ONS Longitudinal Study (LS) is a dynamic ~1% sample of the population of England and Wales, based on four undisclosed birth dates. It was first established at the 1971 Census and is refreshed at each subsequent census with qualifying births and immigrants.
The LS links individual-level census records from 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 to vital events data, including births, deaths and widow(er)hoods, as well as cancer registrations. Life-events tables are updated annually. Household-level data collected at each census enable intergenerational and life-course analysis, including for people living in communal establishments such as care homes and student halls.
Office for National Statistics (2025). ONS SRS Metadata Catalogue: ONS Longitudinal Study – England and Wales. Released 14 October 2025. https://doi.org/10.57906/z9xn-ng05
Access to the LS is provided through the ONS Secure Research Service under the Digital Economy Act, with strict disclosure controls and governance under the Five Safes Framework. With funding from the ESRC and ADR UK, the Celsius team at UCL provides infrastructure improvements and dedicated user services.
Research impact
Evidence derived from use of LS has informed policy and practice including multiple cross‑government strategies and independent reviews for over four decades on health inequalities, pensions and longevity, social care funding and ageing and end‑of‑life care. The resource’s representativeness and low attrition have made it a trusted source for trend measurement and equity monitoring.
Analyses using the study have underpinned high-profile reporting on life expectancy inequalities, widely cited across UK government and independent commissions and in the media.
The plan to link 2021 Census into the resource offers the potential to provide a critical evidence base for monitoring long-term social and health change.
Research outputs
Key publications and reports
- Cohort profile, International Journal of Epidemiology, 2018, Cohort Profile: the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (The LS)
- 2021 Linkage report, ONS Longitudinal Study: 2021 Census linkage report
- See the Celsuis website for a list of full publications and resources
- Research Excellent Series Talk - Available on YouTube (link to video coming soon)
Presentations and awards
- ONS Research Excellence Awards, 2025, Data Creation Awards
About the ONS Secure Research Service
The ONS Secure Research Service is an accredited trusted research environment, using the Five Safes Framework to provide secure access to de-identified, unpublished data.
If you use ONS Secure Research Service data and would like to discuss writing a future case study with us, please get in touch at IDS.Impact@ons.gov.uk. Please also report any outputs here: Outputs Reporting Form
