Research outcomes

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and data owners are required to monitor and evaluate use of data they provide and their data services. As a secure data user, you can help us gather evidence to feed into main metrics and show examples of important policy-relevant work. In turn, we can help you to accelerate the impact of your work.

Here is some advice on how to correctly cite secure data you use, and how to tell us about your research outcomes.

Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) are now available for the Secure Research Service (SRS) Metadata Catalogue. You can add the DOI to your data citation in any published work from your research – from published papers and reports to pieces in the media, social media and wider internet. Those writing about or promoting data can also cite the DOI, so that mentions can be picked up for impact tracking.

Help on using our DOIs and catalogue can be found in Frequently Asked Questions.

As a Secure Research Service (SRS) researcher, you have a responsibility to "routinely engage core stakeholders on the findings of the research drawn from these data and ensure that research findings are made openly available to the public". This forms part of the Research Code of Practice and Accreditation Criteria for the Digital Economy Act (2017) and agreements with the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Letting us know where we can find your published outputs contributes to the important principle of transparency and report impact from use of the data we provide.  It also enables us to further communicate your work. We encourage you to collaborate with us to write and publish an impact case study. These case studies are published and promoted on the Administrative Data Research UK's (ADR UK's) website.

We provide a simple Reporting Outputs form to help you let us know about the great work that you have published.

Controlling the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in vulnerable settings

Research summary

This project was conducted for the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Using secure data, the researcher developed a flexible simulation code to model the spread of COVID-19 within vulnerable settings such as care homes, hospitals, prisons and schools.

Research impact

The development of this adaptable, comprehensively researched and peer-reviewed model enabled the UKHSA to provide robust advice about testing strategies in vulnerable settings. The public policy on testing in vulnerable settings was based in part on evidence provided by this project.

This model enables effective deployment of limited resources, ensuring their benefits are maximised. The optimum testing regimes for potential future variants that are more or less deadly or transmissible can now be studied in advance, with minor modifications to the model's input parameters. Optimal testing regimes under conditions of low, medium or high COVID-19 prevalence in the UK can also now be evaluated.

Read the full case study on the ADR UK website.

The impacts of nationwide Minimum Wage changes

Research summary

The Minimum Wage is an important policy lever affecting millions of workers across the UK. This research was commissioned by the Low Pay Commission to understand how increases to the minimum wage -- specifically with the introduction of the National Living Wage (NLW) -- affects workers' wages, employment and household incomes.

This project found that there were limited employment effects, however, there were significant "spillovers" to higher paid workers, with middle income households benefiting the most from a minimum wage rise.

Research impact

Findings from this research fed into the Low Pay Commission's 2021 recommendations on minimum wage levels and was featured numerous times in their report. This included specifically citing it as a reason for recommending that the NLW be paid to younger workers. They also cited it as a reason to be confident that NLW rises were not significantly harming employment.

This research used the Annual Population Survey (DOI: https://doi.org/10.57906/0qp1-6k77) and the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (DOI: https://doi.org/10.57906/x25d-4j96)

Read the full case study on the ADR UK website.

The lifelong health and well-being trajectories of people who have been in care

Research summary

The Nuffield Foundation funded this research to provide robust evidence on the health and social functioning of adults who experienced care in childhood. By using the ONS Longitudinal Study, researchers found that cared-for children had a deeply unequal chance of enjoying the same social and economic advantages in adulthood as other children. Findings show that there were highly consistent impacts on health, socioeconomic circumstances, family life and living arrangements, the extent of which varied depending on care arrangements.

Research impact

Findings from this research provided evidence for the Independent Review of Children's Social Care, which led to the UK government pledging an official implementation strategy including further support activities. The project also produced a range of resources to help practitioners and policymakers to understand the disadvantages experienced by adults who had been in care as children.

This research used the ONS Longitudinal Study (DOI: https://doi.org/10.57906/z9xn-ng05)

Read the full case study on the ADR UK website.

Racial equality in the teacher workforce

Research summary

This research explored the representation and career progression of people from different ethnic backgrounds within the teaching profession in England. It focused on important transition points within the different stages of the teacher career pathway, including access to and completion of initial teacher training, entry into employment in state-funded schools, retention, and progression into leadership roles.

Researchers found that there is an under-representation of people from ethnic minority backgrounds within the teacher workforce in England. This is most pronounced at senior leadership and headship levels, which is largely driven by ethnic disparities in progression rates during the early career stages.

Research impact

Findings from this research provided important insights for establishing a more equitable teaching profession in the future. It was cited by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Race Equality in Education, which used the research to highlight the importance of racial equality.

Read the full case study on the ADR UK website.

To discover more innovative research projects, read further case studies on the ADR UK website.

If you have any questions or would like to collaborate with us in sharing your research outcomes using data owned or managed by the Office for National Statistics, please contact IDS.Impact@ons.gov.uk.