DOI: 10.5255/ukda-sn-8547-1
title: 1970 British Cohort Study: Age 46, Sweep 10, 2016-2018
title: 1970 British Cohort Study – Survey and Biomeasures Data
title: BCS70

description: &lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;1970 British Cohort Study&lt;/em&gt; (BCS70) began in 1970 when data were collected about the births and families of babies born in the United Kingdom in one particular week in 1970. Since then, there have been nine further full data collection exercises in order to monitor the cohort members' health, education, social and economic circumstances. These took place when respondents were aged 5 in 1975, aged 10 in 1980, aged 16 in 1986, aged 26 in 1996, aged 30 in 1999-2000 (SN 5558), aged 34 in 2004-2005, aged 42 in 2012 and aged 46 in 2016-18. A range of sub-sample and supplementary surveys have also been conducted, and a separate dataset covering response to BCS70 over all waves is available under SN 5641, &lt;em&gt;1970 British Cohort Study Response Dataset, 1970-2012.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Further information about the BCS70 and may be found on the &lt;a title="Centre for Longitudinal Studies" href="http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/"&gt;Centre for Longitudinal Studies&lt;/a&gt; website. 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"&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; A useful overview of the governance routes for applying for genetic and bio-medical sample data, which are not available through the UK Data Service, can be found at &lt;a title="Governance of data and sample access" href="http://www.metadac.ac.uk/data-access-through-metadac/"&gt;Governance of data and sample access&lt;/a&gt; on the METADAC (Managing Ethico-social, Technical and Administrative issues in Data Access) website.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;1970 British Cohort Study: Age 46, Sweep 10, 2016-2018:&lt;br&gt; &lt;/em&gt;The aim of the 46-year follow-up was to collect key details of the cohort members’ lives including their socio-economic circumstances (e.g. household composition, cohabiting relationships, housing, economic activity, and income) and their health (physical health, mental health, medication, and health behaviours). This survey had a significant biomedical focus, with objective health measurements and assessments being conducted for the first time in the cohort members’ adulthood.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;The 'bcs_age46_child_died' and 'bcs_age46_unsuccessful_pregnancies' datasets&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;This note is to inform researchers that the 'bcs_age46_child_died' and 'bcs_age46_unsuccessful_pregnancies' datasets, which were previously available as safeguarded data under EUL, have been classified as controlled data by CLS and can only be accessed via the UKDS SecureLab, subject to the UKDS Secure Access licence. The aim of this note is to provide practical information and guidance to researchers who have downloaded the BCS70 Age 46 datasets 'bcs_age46_child_died' and 'bcs_age46_unsuccessful_pregnancies' from the UK Data Archive. CLS requires that all EUL holders delete their versions of these datasets. Should they require them, users can apply for access through the new Secure Access study SN 9115. However, where a user has downloaded these dataset and is using them in a current project, they may continue to use the data and any outputs derived from their use until the project is completed. On completion of the project, users are then required to delete the original datasets. Future projects should use the new versions of the data. Any users having concerns about this should contact CLS. Further guidelines on destroying data are provided in the &lt;a href="https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/learning-hub/research-data-management/store-your-data/disposal/" target="_blank"&gt;UKDS guidelines&lt;/a&gt;.&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 (July 2023), a new data file including newly derived nutritional intake variables based on the food composition table from the UK Nutrient Databank (UKNDB) has been added to the study. In addition, four data files have been updated (main, employment, relationships and dietary questionnaire) and a new version of the user guide is available. Sensitive survey data for Sweep 10 is now available under restrictive access conditions under SN 9115.&lt;/p&gt;