Resources

Materials, information and guidance to help you use the ONS Longitudinal Study

• Want to use the ONS LS for your research?, for guidance and forms re applying to use the LS
• Disseminating your ONS LS research results, for guidance and form re outputs clearance
• The CeLSIUS data dictionary, detailing the different variables in the ONS LS 
• Derived variables list (PDF): information on the syntax files that are available for LS researchers to use
• The census forms used to collect LS data
• Summary of census questions, 1971 - 2011 (PDF)
• Thematic guides to using ONS LS data - information on the variables available in the LS
• CeLSIUS: ONS Longitudinal Study training - recording of September 2021 online event
• Research projects, for current and past LS research 
• Search outputs to see publications and other outputs resulting from LS research
• Linking our Lives blog, which showcases outstanding research using the LS
• Linking our Lives podcast: conversations about LS research
• Research and policy briefs: briefings on LS research
• Policy briefing on Windrush migrants in the ONS Longitudinal Study (PDF)
• Using more than one LS for your research, for guidance re combining the UK Census Longitudinal datasets, to compare regions or create a UK-wide sample
• The CALLS-Hub data dictionary, detailing variables from all three UK LSs
• Webinars:
  • 2011 Census: Flow Data (2014) (YouTube video)
  • Geography and longitudinal data - the UK Household Longitudinal Study and the UK Longitudinal Studies (2018)
  • An update on ONS's plans to transform the population and migration statistics system (2019)
  • Journey to work data in the UK - what data are available? (2019)
  • Education in the long run - which data are available? (2019)
  • Investigating religion in the UK - what data can I use? (2020)
  • Investigating language spoken in the UK - what data can I use? (2020)
  • Overview of CeLSIUS - Alison Sizer, for UKcenLS webinar (2021) (YouTube video)
  • Applying to use the ONS Longitudinal Study: A guide to completing the forms (2024)

  • Getting your ONS LS outputs cleared: A guide to completing the form (2024)

• Presentations from the UK Census Longitudinal Studies (UKCenLS) Annual Conference 2022: this event was hosted by CeLSIUS at Cardiff Castle on 20th September. It brought together the three UK Longitudinal Studies to demonstrate their unique contribution to UK population data.
• Stronger Towns event, which brought together researchers, policymakers, think tanks and charities to start conversations about how LS data might help to inform policy decisions on creating stronger and more prosperous towns (see also Stronger Towns: have the funds been allocated fairly? podcast)
• Cohort Profile: the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (the LS) by Nicola Shelton, Chris E Marshall, Rachel Stuchbury, Emily Grundy, Adam Dennett, Jo Tomlinson, Oliver Duke-Williams, Wei Xun, published in International Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 48, issue 2, 2019, pp. 383–384g
• Are 'health cohorts' real-world relevant? Comparing the National Child Development Study (NCDS) with the ONS Longitudinal Study (LS) by Gemma Archer, Wei Xun, Rachel Stuchbury, Owen Nicholas and Nicola Shelton, published in Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, vol. 11, no. 3, 2020, pp. 307-330
• 'Longitudinal Studies in the United Kingdom' by Nicola Shelton and Oliver Duke-Williams of CeLSIUS, Chris Dibben of SLS-DSU & Ian Shuttleworth of NILS-RSU; chapter 9 of 'The Routledge Handbook of Census Resources, Methods and Applications' edited by John Stillwell
• The LS Series, LS User Guides and LS Working Papers publications
• Related organisations
• Other longitudinal and cross-sectional studies