DOI: 10.5255/ukda-sn-8213-2
title: 1970 British Cohort Study: Age 26, Sweep 5 Geographical Identifiers, 1996: Secure Access
title: 1970 British Cohort Study – Linked Geographical Data
title: BCS70

description: &lt;p&gt;The &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;1970 British Cohort Study&lt;/span&gt; (BCS70) is a longitudinal birth cohort study, following a nationally representative sample of over 17,000 people born in England, Scotland and Wales in a single week of 1970. Cohort members have been surveyed throughout their childhood and adult lives, mapping their individual trajectories and creating a unique resource for researchers. It is one of very few longitudinal studies following people of this generation anywhere in the world.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Since 1970, cohort members have been surveyed at ages 5, 10, 16, 26, 30, 34, 38, 42, 46, and 51. Featuring a range of objective measures and rich self-reported data, BCS70 covers an incredible amount of ground and can be used in research on many topics. Evidence from BCS70 has illuminated important issues for our society across five decades. Key findings include how reading for pleasure matters for children's cognitive development, why grammar schools have not reduced social inequalities, and how childhood experiences can impact on mental health in mid-life. Every day researchers from across the scientific community are using this important study to make new connections and discoveries.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;BCS70 is run by the &lt;a href="https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/cls-studies/1970-british-cohort-study/" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"&gt;Centre for Longitudinal Studies&lt;/a&gt; (CLS), a research centre in the UCL Institute of Education, which is part of University College London. The content of BCS70 studies, including questions, topics and variables can be explored via the &lt;a href="https://discovery.closer.ac.uk/item/uk.cls.bcs70/75fe4705-0c94-4f75-b1e6-ad9c61ffde26" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"&gt;CLOSER Discovery&lt;/a&gt; website.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;How to access genetic and/or bio-medical sample data from a range of longitudinal surveys:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;For information on how to access biomedical data from BCS70 that are not held at the UKDS, see the &lt;a href="https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/data-access-training/genetic-data-and-biological-samples/" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"&gt;CLS Genetic data and biological samples&lt;/a&gt; webpage.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Polygenic Indices&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;Polygenic indices are available under Special Licence SN 9439. Derived summary scores have been created that combine the estimated effects of many different genes on a specific trait or characteristic, such as a person's risk of Alzheimer's disease, asthma, substance abuse, or mental health disorders, for example. These polygenic scores can be combined with existing survey data to offer a more nuanced understanding of how cohort members' outcomes may be shaped.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Secure Access datasets&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Secure Access versions of BCS70 have more restrictive access conditions than versions available under the standard Safeguarded Licence.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;1970 British Cohort Study: Age 26, Sweep 5 Geographical Identifiers, 1996: Secure Access&lt;/span&gt; data includes detailed sweep 5 geographical variables that can be linked to the main 26-year follow-up End User Licence data available under SN 3833.&lt;br&gt;
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Repair work to the postcode level information held for BCS 1980 was required prior to the production of this dataset, and involved extracting and coding addresses from original forms for this sweep. The work was funded and carried out by the Cohorts and Longitudinal Studies Enhancement Resources (CLOSER). For further information about CLOSER see &lt;a href="https://www.closer.ac.uk/" target="_blank"&gt;www.closer.ac.uk&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;International Data Access Network (IDAN)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;These data are now available to researchers based outside the UK. Selected UKDS SecureLab/controlled datasets from the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) and the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) have been made available under the International Data Access Network (IDAN) scheme, via a Safe Room access point at one of the UKDS IDAN partners. Prospective users should read the &lt;a href="https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/app/uploads/securelab-access-to-non-ons-data_idan.pdf" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"&gt;UKDS SecureLab application guide for non-ONS data for researchers outside of the UK via Safe Room Remote Desktop Access&lt;/a&gt;. Further details about the IDAN scheme can be found on the &lt;a href="https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/about/research-and-development/international-data-access-network-idan/" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"&gt;UKDS International Data Access Network&lt;/a&gt; webpage and on the &lt;a href="https://idan.network/" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"&gt;IDAN&lt;/a&gt; website.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Latest edition information:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;For the second edition (December 2017), a replacement file including updated Parliamentary constituency boundaries, which more closely reflect the year of interview, has been deposited.&lt;/p&gt;