Department for Education

ADR England works in partnership with the Department for Education (DfE) to unlock the value of education data for research that improves outcomes for children, young people and learners.

As a major data owner and policy department, DfE plays a central role in developing, linking and enabling access to administrative data that underpins high-impact research across the ADR England programme.

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Enabling access to education data

DfE is responsible for some of the most important administrative datasets for understanding life trajectories in England, including the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset and the Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data (ECHILD) dataset. Together with ADR England and partners including UCL and NHS England, DfE is increasing the availability and usability this data for accredited researchers via the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service.

The LEO dataset links education data from DfE with tax and benefits records from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to provide insights into how people move through education and into the labour market. It enables analysis of long-term outcomes for millions of individuals, supporting research on social mobility, skills, productivity and regional inequality. The ECHILD dataset contributes education and social care data that can be linked with health records to better understand children’s experiences and outcomes. 

DfE has also made other key datasets available for research, including the Ministry of Justice - Department for Education (MoJ-DfE) linked dataset (in partnership with the Ministry of Justice), the Growing Up in England (GUIE) dataset (in partnership with ONS), and Grading and Admissions Data for England (GRADE) (in partnership with Ofqual and UCAS). These datasets broaden the range of questions that can be explored using linked administrative data across a range of areas - from interactions with the justice system, to academic outcomes, to wider life experiences.

Improving access, tools and usability

A key priority for DfE is streamlining access to administrative data. This includes increasing the use of the Digital Economy Act to enable secure sharing through the ONS Secure Research Service, and improving consistency in researcher access pathways. DfE is also working with the UK Data Service and UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration to increase the availability of DfE data within those environments. 

In addition, DfE is developing synthetic datasets and improving documentation and metadata to make data easier to understand and use, while maintaining strong safeguards around privacy and confidentiality.

Driving research for public good

DfE actively works to align data development with policy priorities through its Areas of Research Interest, covering topics such as skills, schools, early years, children at risk of poor outcomes, and emerging technologies.

The department also supports engagement between policymakers and researchers through workshops, roundtables and collaborative initiatives, helping ensure that administrative data is used to generate insights that are directly relevant to policy.

DfE is committed to maintaining public trust in the use of administrative data for research. This includes participation in public engagement initiatives, supporting transparency around data use, and ensuring that research reflects the interests and concerns of the public.