DOI: 10.5255/ukda-sn-7605-2
title: 2011 Census Microdata Individual Safeguarded Sample (Regional): England and Wales
title: 2011 UK Census

description: &lt;p&gt;The UK censuses took place on 27 March 2011. They were run by the Northern Ireland Statistics &amp; Research Agency (NISRA), National Records of Scotland (NRS), and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for both England and Wales. The UK comprises the countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Statistics from the UK censuses help paint a picture of the nation and how we live. They provide a detailed snapshot of the population and its characteristics and underpin funding allocation to provide public services. This is the home for all UK census data.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The &lt;i&gt;2011 Census Microdata Individual Safeguarded Sample (Regional): England and Wales&lt;/i&gt; data collection forms part of the statistical outputs from the 2011 UK Census. A safeguarded microdata sample of individuals has been identified as a key Census user requirement, and was highlighted as part of a report specifying microdata products from the 2011 Census written by an expert user, Dr. Jo Wathan from the University of Manchester. &lt;br&gt;
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The purpose of a safeguarded sample of individuals is to be able to disseminate a detailed microdata file without onerous licensing conditions, by reducing the overall amount of detail compared to the secure samples. Whilst supplying sufficient detail on core variables to fulfil the intended aim of the microdata products, the safeguarded sample is a valuable multi-purpose research file that will be used on a wide range of projects. (For Censuses prior to 2011, these data may have been referred to as 'Samples of Anonymised Records', or SARSs.)&lt;br&gt;
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In total, five microdata samples are proposed from the 2011 Census:&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;one public, a Teaching File of individuals (see SN 7613);&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;two safeguarded, one file of individuals at regional level (this study, SN 7605) and one at local authority level (see SN 7682);&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;and two secure, one file of households and one of individuals&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt; This safeguarded sample is of 5% of the total population at Region level, and contain a similar level of detail to the equivalent End User Licence Census 2001 Microdata samples. These samples have a low risk of disclosure; but not nil. Registered UK Data Service Census users can download the data to their laptops after agreeing terms and conditions that include constraints on data management under remote storage conditions.&lt;br&gt;
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Further information can be found on the Office for National Statistics &lt;a href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/census-data/census-microdata/index.html" title="Census microdata"&gt;Census microdata&lt;/a&gt; webpage. &lt;br&gt;
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Corresponding Regional and Local Authority level data for Northern Ireland are held under SNs 7769 and 7770, and for Scotland under SNs 7834 and 7835.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Latest edition information&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For the second edition (April 2025), a new version of the data file was deposited. A formatting issue with the NSSEC variable had been identified which resulted in some codes for that variable being grouped together. This has now been corrected.&lt;br&gt;
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