ADR England projects offer different geographic coverage depending on the data holder, with project data spanning England-only, England and Wales, Great Britain, or the UK as a whole.
Our partners
ADR England works with a wide network of government departments, data owners and academic institutions to deliver its programme of data linkage and research. These partnerships bring together data, expertise and policy insight to enable research that improves lives.
At the centre of ADR England’s delivery model is the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which provides secure access to data through the ONS Secure Research Service (SRS).
ADR England works closely with major government data partners including the Department for Education (DfE), NHS England, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), alongside academic partners including the UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, UCL Institute of Child Health, University of the West of England, and University of Leeds. We also award fellowship grants to researchers based at higher education and research institutions across England and the UK, supporting research using ADR UK flagship datasets with England coverage.
Together, these organisations contribute data, develop and maintain major linked datasets, enable secure access for accredited researchers, improve systems within trusted research environments (primarily the ONS SRS), and support research across a wide range of policy areas.
This partnership model combines ONS-led data infrastructure with cross-government data and academic expertise to support research for public good. It has enabled the development of ADR England flagship datasets such as the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset and the Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data (ECHILD) dataset, alongside a growing portfolio of linked data assets across the public sector.
Explore ADR England’s core partners below:
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Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) plays a central role in enabling secure access to administrative data for research.
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Department for Education
The Department for Education (DfE) leads the development and linkage of national education datasets, enabling researchers to access these for projects exploring outcomes for children, young people and learners.
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NHS England
NHS England provides national health data and enables secure linkage with education and social care records to support research into children and young people’s health and wellbeing.
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UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities
UCL CEPEO is working to improve the accessibility, usability and impact of data on education, skills, and the labour market.
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UCL Institute of Child Health
UCL ICH leads the development of linked education and health data, facilitating research on how the links between children's educational experiences and their health outcomes.
Our projects
Data for ADR England projects is primarily accessed by accredited researchers via the ONS Secure Research Service. With remote access infrastructure, including the SafePod Network and approved secure connections (Assured Organisational Connectivity), ADR England researchers can be based throughout England and the rest of the UK.
ADR England also supports researchers using administrative data through a range of training and development opportunities, as well as community initiatives that connect researchers across themes and datasets.
The ADR England project portfolio is commissioned and managed by a team in the ADR UK Strategic Hub, embedded within the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Projects are commissioned in line with the ADR England strategy, which prioritises research for public good that cuts across traditional policy boundaries. Delivery of the strategy is coordinated in part by a joint implementation group comprising members of the ADR UK Strategic Hub and the ONS. The new ADR England strategy for the 2026–2031 funding period will be published soon.
How are we funded?
ADR England has been awarded £66.2 million from the wider ADR UK investment made by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). This funding supports the next five-year period, including a range of academic funding opportunities to be announced from 2026 onwards.
To find out more about how ADR UK is funded, see About ADR UK. Further details of ADR England’s confirmed funding can be found in this news item, and individual ADR England project grants are available on UK Research and Innovation’s Gateway to Research platform, with additional project info on our project pages.
Our priorities
Current areas of focus for ADR England include:
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Driving up the use of ADR England flagship datasets available to accredited researchers. The ADR UK flagship datasets page features each of these datasets. You can also explore all the data available via the ADR UK Data Catalogue.
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Developing documentation, tools, resources and training courses to support researchers and analysts in their use of ADR England flagship datasets. Plans in England are aligned with the ADR UK Training and Capacity Building Strategy 2026-31.
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Funding a growing cohort of researchers using ADR England flagship datasets including ADR UK Research Fellows, PhD studentships, and data linking projects which include early-pathway research. Funding opportunities are promoted on the funding opportunities page or you can sign up for updates.
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Funding projects to link public sector data from a range of sources, including government departments. These will create or develop new linked administrative datasets which will become available to accredited researchers for public good research.
“Thanks to our partnerships with a multitude of government and academic partners, ADR England is driving forward data research to improve lives. As we move into our new funding period, we have projects planned across policy priorities from economic growth to improving cancer detection. The next five years will continue to demonstrate the power and potential of administrative data research, in England and across the wider UK.”
ADR England projects
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ADR England Research Community Catalyst: Youth Transitions
23 July 2024
This project aims to build a research landscape informed by existing research and evidence gaps in the field of youth transitions. It provides opportunities to address these gaps using administrative data and offers a platform for existing and prospective researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and voluntary and community sector organisations to learn, collaborate and innovate.
Read more
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ADR England Research Community Catalyst: Children at Risk of Poor Outcomes
22 July 2024
This project will build a community of researchers and analysts focused on children and young people supported by early intervention services or children’s social care in the UK. This community will serve as a vital point of connection, information sharing, and coaching, and provide national strategic leadership for administrative data and research in this field.
Read more
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Support for development of Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data
21 August 2023
The Department for Education’s Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset provides transformational insights about pathways within and beyond education in England. This grant will enable Dr Claire Crawford and a small team of researchers to work in partnership with the LEO Programme team in the Department for Education to help develop the LEO external access offer.
Read more
ADR England news
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ADR England launches new website spotlighting partnerships, datasets, and research
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New derived variables available as part of Longitudinal Education Outcomes - Iteration 2.1
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Youth transitions into and out of crime – and what we’re missing
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Why are some pupils persistently absent from school? We asked young people for their views
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Longitudinal Education Outcomes synthetic data: What is it and why is it useful?
Publications
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Data Insight: School exclusions and criminal justice system involvement
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Data Insight: Worker-firm matching across places
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Data Insight: Firms and earnings growth gaps by education
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Data Insight: Socio-emotional characteristics in early childhood and offending behaviour in adolescence
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Data Insight: From school absences to crime involvement
