How to Access and Use Ministry of Justice Datasets for Academic Research

• Wednesday 9 April 2025
• 14:00 - 15:30
• Room 431 & 432, 16 Taviton Street, UCL

Supported by UCL Grand Challenges and UCL Public Policy, we’re excited to invite researchers to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Data First: UCL Showcase, an opportunity to learn how to access and use MoJ datasets for academic research. MoJ analysts will provide an overview of the Data First programme, which links administrative data from across the justice system—including Magistrates’ Courts, Crown Courts, Prison and Probation services, and Civil and Family Courts, as well as a data-share between MoJ and the Department for Education.
 
What to Expect:

• Overview of available MoJ datasets and how to access them
• Insights into how researchers are using this data for impactful studies
• Practical demonstrations from MoJ analysts 
• Presentation on a new statistical report
• Opportunity to network with the Ministry of Justice

NEW this year - MoJ analysts have produced a new statistical report "Profile of Repeat Offending by Children and Young People in England and Wales", using their linked datasets to explore repeat offending of young children and young people in England and Wales, which is an area of substantial policy interest. By linking criminal courts and offender assessment data, this analysis provided a completely fresh look at their offending patterns and how the characteristics and needs of young people who frequently offend differ from those who do not. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to explore how academia and government can collaborate for smarter policymaking.

AGENDA

• 14.00 - 14.10 Arrival
• 14.10 - 14.15 Welcome and Introduction
• 14.15 - 14.35 Introductory Session: What is Data First? What data is available, and how can it be accessed? 
• 14.35 - 14.45 Q&A
• 14.45 - 15.10 Research using Data First Data: Profile of Repeat Offending by Children and Young People in England and Wales Statistical Report
• 15.10 - 15.20 Q&A
• 15.20 - Post-Presentation Networking (the room is booked until 16.30)

About Ministry of Justice's Data First Programme

Data First is a ground-breaking data linkage programme led by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and funded by ADR UK to link and enable access to administrative data from across the justice system and beyond for research. 

Data First has enabled over fifty research projects covering the intersections of justice, education, health and more. These projects have investigated a wide range of issues across the justice system, including the ethnic inequalities in sentencing, the impact of interventions and programmes such as Universal Credit and enforced alcohol abstinence and an exploration of the links between care experience, ethnicity, and the involvement with the youth justice system.

With recent data refreshes expanding their linked datasets to include the Civil and Family courts, linking these to the criminal justice system datasets for the first time, the scope of the questions that can be addressed using Data First continues to widen.

Datasets Available

1. Data First: Cross-Justice System – England and Wales

The MoJ Cross-Justice linked dataset joins data from criminal courts, prison and probation services, as well as civil and family courts. This linkage enables research on who the individuals are who (re)appear in various parts of the justice system, questions about the overlaps and intersections between users of services in different justice jurisdictions, and their journeys and outcomes.

2.  Data First: Family Court linked to Cafcass and Census 2021 – England and Wales

The Data First Family court – Cafcass and Census linked dataset contains information on adoption, divorce, Family Law Act, public law and private law cases, and their legal outcomes, in England and Wales. Available via the SAIL Databank, the de-identified linked dataset enables unprecedented research of the family and household characteristics of family court users.

3. Ministry of Justice & Department for Education linked dataset – England

The Ministry of Justice & Department for Education linked dataset allows analysis of the links between childhood characteristics, educational outcomes and (re)offending. The dataset includes data from prisons, courts, the Police National Computer, the National Pupil Database, looked-after-children, and children in need.

UCL Opportunities

At UCL Grand Challenges and UCL Public Policy, we support cross-sector collaboration to drive evidence-based policymaking. The UCL Public Policy team will be there to answer questions about:

• How to access to high-quality administrative data
• How to translate research into actionable insights
• Your innovative approaches to policy challenges
• And more!

Discuss with the UCL Public Policy team on their Rapid Response Policy Advisory Scheme (UKRI-IAA's), an open call for up to £10,000, which enables the development and delivery of urgent short-term policy work in response to policy demand.

UCL’s Innovation and Enterprise will launch its next round of knowledge exchange funding in Spring 2025. While UCL's Knowledge Exchange team assists with your project and determining which scheme is right for you, UCL’s Public Policy has offered to help with applications if needed. 

Research, professional staff and students of all career stages are welcome to attend and engage.