ONS Codes

ONS Codes ( English for National Statistics - National Statistical Service) is a series of codes of the National Statistical Service (NSS) of the United Kingdom to represent the geographical units of the United Kingdom, used to calculate census results and other statistics. Sometimes it is also called GSS codes ( Eng.G overnment S tatistical S ervice - State Statistical Service), since the NSS is part of the latter.

The hierarchical system of codes previously used in the United Kingdom in January 2011 was replaced by a nine-digit system of codes for administrative-territorial units of all types without a link between codes of administrative-territorial units of different levels ^[1] . The old coding system is no longer used ^[2] .

UK Census Geography

The information includes a wide range of types of administrative units , including:

Counties of England ;
Districts in the counties of England and the districts of unitary units, served by one council, performing the functions of the district and county;
Unitary council areas in Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland ;
Communities in England and Wales;
. The territorial units defined for the election of local councilors, but are also widely used to present statistics in territories smaller than the district;
Census sites ( Eng. Census output areas , OA). The smallest territorial units for which census data are published were originally created to publish the 2001 census results. As a rule, include at least 40 households and 100 people, with a target size of 125 households. Highlighted on the basis of blocks of postal codes after the census data became available, with the aim of standardizing the population, geographical shape and social uniformity (in terms of types of housing and ownership structure of housing). Census plots allocated in 2001 were, as far as possible, saved for the 2011 census (less than 3% of plots were affected ^[3] ). Until 2001, census data were published for larger census sites (ED), which were identified prior to the census and were the organizational units for data collection.

Previous Code System

The previous ONS code system was organized hierarchically:

The two-digit code denoted the administrative district ( county ). For example, 12 is Cambridgeshire .
A four-digit code indicates the area , with the first two characters indicating the district in which the area was located. For example, 12UB for the Cambridge area or 12UD for Fenland .
In the case of unitary authority (including the metropolitan counties and London boroughs ), the first two digits were 00. For example, 00AL for Greenwich (borough in London) or 00EC for Middlesbrough .
Election districts received a two-letter code within their administrative unit. For example, 12UBGA for the Petersfield constituency in the Cambridge area.
The lowest level is enumeration areas, initially indicated by an additional 4 digits, for example, the first enumeration area in the Petersfield constituency was encoded 12UBGA0001.
Parishes were also encoded using this hierarchical system, for this an additional 3 digits were used after the administrative education code. For example, the Tide St. Giles parish in Fenland County (12UD) was encoded as 12UD010.

Existing GSS Code System

The current code system uses 9-digit codes. The first three characters of the code define the administrative-territorial unit, and the next six digits - a specific area. For example, boron Greenwich has the code E09000011, Middlesbrough - E06000002, Cambridge - E07000008 and Fenland - E07000010.

The meaning of some three-digit codes is given in table ^[4] ^[5] .

England	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Other	An object
E00	W00	S00	N00	-	Census Office (OA); small plots (N)
E01	W01	S01	-	-	Low Level Census Sites (LSOA); Data Zone (S)
E02	W02	S02	-	-	Mid-Level Census Sites (MSOA); Intermediate Zone (S)
-	W03	-	-	-	Top Level Census Sites (USOA)
E04	W04	S35	-	-	Parish (E / S); Community (W)
E05	W05	S13	N08	-	Polling station
E06	W06	S12	-	-	Unitary unit
E07	-	-	-	-	Non-metropolitan area (two-level)
E08	-	-	-	-	Metropolitan District
E09	-	-	-	-	Borough of London
E10	-	-	-	-	County
E11	-	-	-	-	County Metropolis
E12	-	-	-	-	England region
E14	W07	S14	N06	-	Westminster Parliamentary constituency
E15	W08	S15	N07	-	MEP
E18	-	-	-	L00 / M00	Strategic Health Authorities
E23	W15	S23	N23	-	Police station
-	-	-	N24	-	Police districts
E32	W09	S16	-	-	Assembly of London; Wales Assembly; Constituency of scotland
-	W10	S17	-	-	Wales Assembly; Scottish Parliamentary District
E26	W18	S21	-	-	National park
E30	W22	S22	N12	K01	Driveways to work areas
E33	W35	S34	N19	-	Working areas
E34	W37	-	-	K05	Development zones
E35	W38	-	-	K06	Subdivisions of development zones
E38	-	-	-	-	Clinical Commissioning Groups
E41	E40	-	-	-	United Local Government
E92	W92	S92	N92	-	A country

In 2019, the library of the House of Commons proposed for convenience to denote MSOA not by numerical codes, but by names.

Notes

↑ New Geography Codes and Naming Policy implemented 1 January 2011 (neopr.) . Office for National Statistics. Date of treatment June 1, 2011.
↑ GSS Coding and Naming - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (unspecified) . Office for National Statistics. Date of treatment August 1, 2012.
↑ Output Areas (neopr.) . ONS.
↑ Register of Geographic Codes (RGC) (neopr.) . Coding and Naming for Statistical Geographies . ONS. Date of treatment September 4, 2011.
↑ ONS Geography Linked Data (unopened) . Coding and Naming for Statistical Geographies . ONS. Date of treatment June 17, 2017.

Links

[1] New Geography Codes and Naming Policy implemented 1 January 2011 (neopr.) . Office for National Statistics. Date of treatment June 1, 2011.

[2] GSS Coding and Naming - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (unspecified) . Office for National Statistics. Date of treatment August 1, 2012.

[3] Output Areas (neopr.) . ONS.

[4] Register of Geographic Codes (RGC) (neopr.) . Coding and Naming for Statistical Geographies . ONS. Date of treatment September 4, 2011.

[5] ONS Geography Linked Data (unopened) . Coding and Naming for Statistical Geographies . ONS. Date of treatment June 17, 2017.