FOI Ref: FOI/2022/4108
You asked
Please confirm the date that the online questionnaire went live for the 2021 census in England and Wales.
Please confirm how many online returns were completed before 9 March 2021.
Please confirm how many online returns were completed after 9 March 2021.
Please provide detail on how many respondents viewed the guidance for the sex question when completing the questionnaire online before 9 March 2021.
Please provide detail on how many respondents viewed the guidance for the sex question when completing the questionnaire online after 9 March 2021.
We said
Thank you for your request.
Census 2021 asked the same binary female/male sex question which has not been changed since 1801. In England and Wales, following extensive stakeholder engagement, there was also a new voluntary question on gender identity for people aged 16 years and over (later in the questionnaire). As with previous censuses, most people will not have needed help to answer the sex question. For those that did, we provided guidance as we did for all census questions.
When we publish the census results for England and Wales, we will provide clear explanations on the quality of data and our methods to ensure the results from the census are trusted and fit for purpose.
The online questionnaire for the 2021 Census went live on 22 February 2021.
We have already published information on when census questionnaires (online and paper) were received. The report is available here - Designing a digital-first census - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).
The information contained within the report can be used to show that of all online returns received up to 30 April 2021:
14.5% were received before 9 March 2021
82.6% were received after 9 March 2021
2.9% were received on 9 March 2021
ONS plan to publish information on how many respondents viewed the sex question guidance before, on, or after 9 March 2021, at the same time as the first release of 2021 Census statistics is published. This is currently planned for early Summer. While we can give numbers of people who viewed the sex question guidance, it is not possible to determine how many people viewed this while completing the questionnaire.