Apply for Department for Education (DfE) personal data

Background

By default, all personal data will be accessed via the Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service (ONS SRS). However, where the SRS is not suitable and evidence can be provided to support this, the following exemptions on the use of SRS for sharing data will be considered:

• data is being processed to fulfil an essential public task, such as the running of education or children’s services
• you are doing research funded or commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) and its executive agencies or other government departments
• you are doing research that is sponsored or supported by DfE and its executive agencies as it adds significant value to the evidence base supporting education or children’s services

If you are unsure, contact data.sharing@education.gov.uk.

Apply to DfE for access to DfE personal data

Complete the application form (MS Word Document, 212184 KB) using the accompanying DfE data sharing service application form guidance (PDF, 507323 KB, 3940 pages), and submit your data requirements on the relevant data tables. You may also find the digital Find and explore NPD tool helpful when working out which data items you need from the national pupil database (NPD).

If you are a DfE contractor wanting to apply for personal data for a DfE-commissioned research project, contact your contract manager or research project lead to discuss how to complete the DfE-commissioned research application form for DfE personal data.

The data sharing service is here to help you:

• progress your application through the data sharing service
• access the right data for your project
• document the data share through a signed data sharing agreement, memorandum of understanding, or commercial contract - contact data.sharing@education.gov.uk for a copy of our standard terms and conditions

Data tables

Use these data tables to provide your data requirements:

• Higher Education (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 58.5 KB)
• Individualised Learner Record (ILR) (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 399257 KB)
• National Pupil Database (NPD) (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 1.22 MB)
• School Workforce Census (SWC) (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 34.8 KB)

All completed applications must be submitted to data.sharing@education.gov.uk.

Accessing DfE personal data using the ONS SRS

Anyone who needs to access DfE personal data via the ONS SRS must be accredited under the ONS approved researcher scheme. We recommend you begin this process as soon as possible and take steps to become accredited by ONS in parallel to your application.

Contact srs.customer.support@ons.gov.uk with any questions.

Once you are an ONS-approved researcher and your application has been approved by DfE, there are 3 ways you can access DfE data for approved projects through the ONS SRS:

• physical labs: you can book a session to access DfE data at 1 of 5 ONS locations across the UK
• SafePod: available for approved researchers and currently found in these locations
• remote access: once your organisation meets security standards and has organised connectivity with ONS, you can access data online using your own equipment, subject to specified conditions

Before gaining access to DfE personal data in the ONS SRS, you will be asked to sign a data sharing agreement, memorandum of understanding, or commercial contract. Contact data.sharing@education.gov.uk for a copy of our standard terms and conditions.

Apply for direct access to DfE personal data

Before applying for DfE personal data, you must:

• satisfy one of the 3 exemptions
• have a basic disclosure certificate that is no more than 2 years old
• submit the Information Security Questionnaire (MS Word Document, 86.9 KB) with all completed applications
• submit a complete application form

Apply directly to ONS for other key datasets

You can currently apply directly to ONS for these datasets:

• the longitudinal education outcomes (LEO) study, which compares students’ level of education to their level of employment and earnings in later life - read more about LEO data and how to apply for it.
• the growing up in England (GUiE) dataset, which will enable research into the link between family household composition and educational attainment - read more about how to apply for GUiE
• the grading and admission data for England (GRADE) initiative, which makes available data from DfE, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) and the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) covering exam results from 2017 to 2019 and grades from summer 2020 - read more about how to apply for GRADE

We’re also working to make the following DfE datasets directly available from ONS:

• Longitudinal young persons’ study in England (LYPSE2)
• Working lives of teachers and leaders (WLTL)
• Childcare and early years survey of parents (CEYPS)
• Further education workforce
• National pupil database (NPD)

Apply for linked DfE and MoJ data

Visit Ministry of Justice data first for access to the linked Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and DfE data set.

For access to other DfE data assets, complete an application form or contact data.sharing@education.gov.uk for more information.