Key developments across the partnership

About ADR UK

Explore developments in each nation

This year ADR UK focused on consistent data and research delivery, while solidifying our priorities and activities for the final phase of our current investment period, concluding in March 2026.

As a result, we have seen increases across our work: in our flagship dataset provision, through dataset usage across the UK, and consequently in new policy-driven insight generation. Alongside this, new programmes of work, such as our synthetic data programme and Community Catalyst initiatives, have ensured ADR UK remains at the forefront of using administrative data for the public good.  

 

Understanding the impact of our work 

An independent mid-term evaluation of the ADR UK programme in November 2024 estimated that ADR UK delivers a benefit-cost ratio of 5.05 – meaning every £1 spent generates over £5 in benefits. 

Using interviews, case studies, surveys, and economic analysis, the report finds that ADR UK’s cost savings and projected socio-economic impacts significantly outweigh its costs. 

Some of the highlights include: 

• Enabling over 200 new datasets to be acquired, linked, and cleaned 

• Expanding secure remote data access via SafePods and trusted research environments 

• Building support for data sharing across government 

• Strengthening ties between researchers and policymakers. 

Increasing opportunities for researchers and wider engagement  

This year, 13 more academics joined our Fellowship programme, with 22 PhD students also being directly supported by ADR UK. These fellows and PhD students are accessing the full breadth of ADR UK flagship datasets to conduct quantitative research and answer policy-relevant research questions.   

A £3.5 million investment by ADR UK also supports the ADR UK Training and Capacity Building Strategy (2021-2026), which aims to increase the number of researchers trained to analyse complex linked administrative datasets. This complements existing ESRC-funded programmes to grow awareness of and opportunities for using administrative data across researchers’ careers.  

We are regularly bringing researcher events to our community, sharing insights from across all four nations on the important analysis taking place which is having real-world impact. 

ADR UK continues to support internships, a valuable way to co-produce data research within specific projects and allow people to experience what it means to work within a trusted research environment. ADR Wales achieved the highest-ever number of interns this year, and had a record number of applications for places. The internship programme reflects our continued commitment to developing the next generation of data professionals. 

We have also achieved our milestone of hosting a public panel in each nation to ensure regular and meaningful engagement with the public on our work and research findings.  

Building strong relationships with our data partners 

Our evaluation identified that the greatest societal and financial benefits from administrative data research are often achieved when data generated by one government department or public service is linked to data from others. Linking data surfaces new insights that can otherwise remain hidden.   

This year, across the UK, we have extended and strengthened our data owner partnerships to create new datasets and ensure insights mined from them connect back to policymakers.  

During this period, we are delighted to have funded and facilitated a suite of new and updated flagship datasets, with our current total standing at 21. Our first UK-wide flagship dataset, Administrative Data | Agricultural Research Collection, continues into its second phase, developing an updated and expanded collection across the four nations. 

Generating greater policy impact 

This year we have continued to utilise the power of administrative data to impact policy design, by providing both the evidence needed to identify priority policy areas for development and new data-led insights to help shape solutions.  

This year a range of projects have directly supported policymakers. For example, in Scotland, researchers who delivered the Growing Up in Kinship Care report were invited to present their findings to the Scottish Government policy team to inform decision making. 

In Northern Ireland at the start of the year, the All-Party Group on Policy and Public Data was established. It provides a forum for discussion around data linkage for research and policymaking.  A policy brief published by ADR NI in May 2025 provided policymakers with early access to emerging findings from their research examining employment and health outcomes for disabled people.  

The Welsh Government commissioned ADR Wales teams and partners to undertake complex analysis of multiple data sources to examine the pathways taken through tertiary education across a wide range of personal characteristics. By using linked data, the team provided a far more detailed analysis than had previously been possible, informing the future of tertiary education policy in Wales. 

ADR England's Community Catalyst programmes have provided online and in-person opportunities to bring researchers, data owners, funders, practitioners, and policymakers together. This shapes research agendas and sets up meaningful connections between research and policy priorities. 

This year, ADR UK Director Emma Gordon provided key evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on Social Mobility, highlighting the need to better understand the barriers and opportunities that administrative data can reveal for policy development.