FOI reference: FOI-2025-2651
You asked
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I request:
The number of Deaf British Sign Language (BSL) users in the UK who are not in work, education or training
The number of Deaf BSL users in the West Midlands who are not in work, education or training
If possible, a breakdown by age groups (particularly 16-24 years)
We said
Thank you for your freedom of information request.
The associated download named FOI-2025-2651 - 2021 Census Sign Language users by economic activity and age provides main language by age by economic activity for England and Wales and the West Midlands region. The table has been filtered to show only those usual residents whose first or preferred language was BSL and includes the responses given in the write-in option "Other, write in (including British Sign Language)", and people whose economic activity status was Economically active (excluding full-time students): Unemployed: Seeking work or waiting to start a job already obtained.
Datasets, such as this one, can be downloaded from our 'Create a custom dataset' tool which allows users to group Census 2021 data together based on who or what the information is about, for example, people or households. Our Census Customer Services team can assist with any queries about this service, and can be contacted at census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk.
We are responsible for the Census in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland conduct their own censuses and equivalent data can be obtained from them:
NATIONAL RECORDS OF SCOTLAND (NRS)
Tel: 0131 3144299
Email: statisticscustomerservices@nrscotland.gov.uk
Website: www.nrscotland.gov.uk
NORTHERN IRELAND STATISTICS & RESEARCH AGENCY (NISRA)
Tel: 02890 255156
Email: census@nisra.gov.uk
Website: www.nisra.gov.uk/census
You may also be interested in our publication on Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), UK: February 2025.