Sharing our expertise: Training, events, and collaborations
ADR UK’s work has implications for a wide range of sectors across academia, government and beyond; to make the best possible progress, we must collaborate and share our expertise.
This year, ADR UK has actively engaged with partners to exchange ideas and shape our programme. By working together towards a shared vision, we can maximise the impact of administrative data research in improving lives.
Expanding our reach
Dr Emma Gordon, Director of ADR UK, continues to play a vital role in shaping the data and research landscape across the UK and internationally. This year, she was honoured to be elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, recognising her leadership and influence across academia and government. Emma also continued her role as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Population Data Science, reinforcing her position as a leading voice in the field. From forums on civil justice and youth transitions to regional engagement events and policy showcases, Emma’s contributions highlight ADR UK’s commitment to bridging data and policy.
ADR UK launched a new podcast this year, Connecting Society, offering an exciting new way for people to engage with administrative data research. Co-host Shayda Kashef reflects:
“We have enjoyed taking our listeners on a journey through the wonderful world of the everyday data that shapes our lives. We’ve had the pleasure of working with a variety of people, from our interesting guests on the show (and their interesting statistics!), to our talented producers and the insightful Public Insights Panel members who helped shape the podcast.
“As hosts, we’ve developed a newfound understanding of the power of language when it comes to communicating complex topics to a general audience. With our strict ‘no jargon, please!’ rule, we have packaged interesting data stories into digestible episodes we hope are suitable to anyone who is interested in learning more. We can’t wait to launch our exciting new season later this year – stay tuned!”
International engagement has also been central to our knowledge sharing efforts. In March 2025, we welcomed members of the South African National Treasury and their research collaborators, SA-TIED (Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development), to showcase our experience of making administrative data available for public good research. Together, we shared ideas around infrastructure and public acceptability. At the International Data Population Data Linkage conference in Chicago (September 2024), ADR UK ran a wide variety of presentations and workshops from across the partnership. Topics included innovative research, novel methods for communicating with diverse audiences, and approaches to public engagement.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has remained active on the global stage. This year, ONS hosted delegations from the Japanese Bureau of Statistics, the Ghana Parliament and Statistical Service, and Stats New Zealand. In July 2025, the team led a capacity-building trip to the National Institute for Statistics in Rwanda. These opportunities have allowed ONS to demonstrate how it enables secure access to sensitive data for research and how it collaborates with academia through the ADR UK partnership.
This year, SAIL colleagues attended an event in the Welsh Parliament and presented directly to Members of the Senedd (MS) and ministers on the impact and value of data linkage.
Sharing best practice through resources and training
This year has seen greater sharing of best practice across ADR UK and the wider sector, with collaborative and partnership work at its core. The ADR UK Learning Hub has been an essential resource, with a key development this year being the consolidation of our community and user group on the platform.
ADR Wales has supported numerous PhD researchers, developed early career talent, seen growing demand for its internship programme, and launched the successful Datacise Open Learning platform. Technical developments in trusted research environments are shared openly, and international knowledge exchange continues to drive impactful progress in data linkage. Through a ‘team science’ approach, ADR Wales works across projects to generate shared value and lasting benefits. ADR Wales also supports PhD and early career ‘public mentoring’ where a researcher has a member of the consumer panel support them outside of the panel meeting structure to guide and advise on public engagement matters.
In Northern Ireland, the Engage, Inform and Train project is supporting researchers and voluntary and community sector organisations to use Census 2021 data in ways that benefit underrepresented populations. Led by ADR Northern Ireland, the initiative provides training, workshops, and resources to build census data literacy and awareness. By improving access and understanding around census data, the project is enabling organisations to target support more effectively and researchers to deliver impactful, inequality-focused research.
Demystifying technical skills
Across the ADR England portfolio, grant holders have continued to share their expertise by building linked datasets and supporting the scale up of researcher capability. Training courses on all ADR England’s flagship datasets have been delivered for new and prospective users. In response to demand, courses on coding; understanding data quality; and government, policy and impact have also been delivered, drawing on the expertise of affiliated researchers and the wider community. Community Catalyst projects and Research Fellows using ADR England data have provided research leadership and community building. This collaboration enables researchers to conduct impactful analysis, who otherwise might be working in isolation inside secure environments.
The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)’s Research Support Unit has delivered training through online webinars accompanying the release of each new themed dataset. These sessions are widely promoted, including through university networks and direct communications with researchers in the NISRA secure setting and ONS Secure Research Service. Specifically, for the Education Outcomes Linkage – Northern Ireland flagship dataset, NISRA worked with the National Centre for Research Methods to create a dedicated workshop offering a comprehensive overview of the data.
ADR Scotland hosted a two-day ADR UK workshop on privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL), covering key concepts, methods and challenges. International experts shared real-world applications and insights into future developments in the field.
In May 2025, Research Data Scotland and Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) co-hosted a webinar exploring the potential of synthetic data. Find out more about ADR UK’s work in this area.
Engaging across sectors through conferences and events
Conferences and events have provided valuable opportunities for shared learning this year. In-person themed conferences, such as Advancing youth transitions research, have convened the expertise of data owners, funders, researchers and voluntary and community sector organisations. Areas of focus included bid development and research design workshops; methodological sessions, for example on household level deprivation; and progressing research on early intervention.
ADR Scotland presented findings from the Growing Up in Kinship Care study in a webinar hosted by CELCIS (the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection). The webinar shared insights from more than a decade of data on 19,000 children and young people in kinship care, highlighting what’s needed to support Scotland’s kinship families. Watch a recording of the webinar.
ADR Scotland also hosted a webinar with HDR UK to showcase the nursing and midwifery workforces project. The session covered how linked census and administrative data can help understand workforce dynamics, as well as the challenges of linking health data for children in kinship care.
In October, ADR Northern Ireland hosted a launch event for the Education Outcomes Linkage – Northern Ireland dataset. The event welcomed more than 100 delegates, including senior figures from the Northern Ireland government, academia, the voluntary and community sector, the Longitudinal Education Outcomes project, and ADR UK.
ADR Wales attended the Government Social Research Conference, raising the partnership’s profile and opening new avenues for collaboration. The team showcased innovative approaches to gathering evidence through existing government-held data.
ADR Wales research has also been presented at the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) and featured in Science at the Senedd. These events have helped reinforce the role of data linkage in policy development. ADR Wales programme leads continue to be recognised as subject matter experts, contributing vital data-driven insights that inform and shape evidence-based policy.
ADR Wales are hosting the ADR UK Conference 2025 in Cardiff. As part of the scientific committee, there is a strong public representation ensuring direct public involvement in the format of the event.
At the UK Evaluation Society Conference in Scotland, Dr Emma Gordon highlighted work across the four nations that is transforming how decisions are made and improving efficiency. Ivan McKee, the Scottish Minister for Public Finance, delivered a keynote setting the stage for the role of data in evaluation, including ADR Scotland’s work on strengthening public policy through effective use of data linkage based research. A workshop by ADR Wales further strengthened the message about the key role administrative data linkage can play in driving evaluation and impact.
