Achievements & milestones

September 2025

ADR Wales hosts the largest ADR UK Conference to date, bringing together administrative data researchers from across the UK and beyond.

Scottish Government’s Data for Research: Change Management Board is established with ADR England and ADR Scotland providing contributions.
ADR UK’s intern publishes a guide on communicating about data.
ADR UK hosts an online researcher symposium showcasing research on the theme of climate and sustainability.

ADR UK Director Emma Gordon becomes Deputy Chair of the Cancer Data-Driven Detection (CD3) Scientific Advisory Board.
NI Business Data for Research (BDR) 2022 is released to all accredited researchers, enabling analysis of business performance and outcomes.
A report from the Children’s Commissioner references findings from ADR UK Research Fellowships.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) hosts Research Capability 2025, including the Research Excellence Awards hosted by Acting National Statistician Emma Rourke.
A new iteration of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes – England dataset was made available in the ONS Secure Research Service.
ADR UK evidence on social mobility data informs recommendations made by the House of Lords.
New research by ADR Northern Ireland on care leavers and homelessness informs the NI Executive’s New Foundations Programme.

ADR Scotland hosts ADR UK’s Annual PhD Student Gathering at the Edinburgh Futures Institute.
Delyth James from ADR Wales is awarded the Analysis in Government Rising Star award.
The ONS Research Excellence Series 2026 begins with ADR UK Fellow Dr Paul Garcia Hinojosa, discussing socio-emotional characteristics in early childhood and offending behaviour in adolescence.
The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) linked to Migrant Worker Scan – England, Scotland and Wales dataset is released in the ONS Secure Research Service.
The first SafePoint hub for secure research is launched in London.
Series two of ADR UK’s Connecting Society podcast begins with an episode on ‘Can administrative data save your life?’

ADR UK confirms continued funding for its national partnerships (ADR England, ADR NI, ADR Scotland and ADR Wales) to deliver data-driven impact across the UK over the next five years.
ADR UK takes part in the national Love Data Week campaign, with activity across our channels raising the profile of administrative data.
This month’s Connecting Society episode questions whether evaluation can be a violent act.

A new cohort of the ADR England Public Insights Panel begins contributing insights to ADR England activities, building on the impact of the previous panel and ensuring public perspectives continue to shape data research and engagement.
The ADR NI team at Queen’s University Belfast hosts the Children’s Social Care and Homelessness in Northern Ireland: Connecting Data, Changing Futures event at Stormont, including the launch of a report and animation.
ADR Scotland and University of Glasgow host a joint event focusing on Scottish Child Payment and its broader impacts on eradicating child poverty.
This month’s Connecting Society episode explores what the UK can learn from the Netherlands on data, power and trust.

ADR UK enters its new investment period running to March 2031.
ADR Wales welcomes new Co-Directors Lucy Griffiths and Simon Thompson, and thanks David Ford for his exceptional leadership on his retirement.
ADR UK’s first UK-wide flagship dataset, RAPID: Population interactions with employment, benefits and pensions - UK, is released in the ONS Secure Research Service.
New SQL code to support use of Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data is now available in the ONS Secure Research Service Code Library.
ADR UK hosts SynthSprint, a four-week data sprint exploring how synthetic data performs across different levels of fidelity and real-world use cases.
This month’s Connecting Society episode explores how the science of storytelling can drive action on climate change.

New websites focused on ADR England, ADR NI and ADR Scotland are launched, joining the existing website for ADR Wales.
ADR UK hosts a live public event as part of the Pint of Science festival, discussing how data can be used to improve our lives.
Administrative Data | Agricultural Research Collection (AD|ARC): 2011 – Northern Ireland is released to accredited researchers, enabling analysis of agriculture and farming household characteristics.
The first researcher meeting with the newly recruited Scotland Talks Data panel takes place, with further meetings planned.
This month’s Connecting Society episode asks: ‘What do people really think about AI?’

14 new ADR UK Ambassadors are welcomed to the programme to advocate for administrative data research.
ADR Wales Ambassador Professor Ann John receives an OBE and is elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and ADR UK Ambassador Andrew Morris is knighted.
ADR Wales welcomes another successful intern programme, including Welsh Government-based interns for the first time.
Three ADR UK affiliate communities of practice are launched.
This month’s Connecting Society episode is a live recording from ADR UK’s Pint of Science event, featuring a talk on the everyday data that shapes our lives.

The first release of Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) NI is made available to all accredited researchers, enabling analysis of educational participation, attainment and progression.
ADR NI delivers a briefing to the Committee for Communities at Stormont.
The ONS Research Excellence Awards 2026 are launched, including an ADR UK Excellence in Methods Award.
This month’s Connecting Society episode features the second part of our live Pint of Science recording, with an exploration of the power of crime data.

ADR UK announces funding for 17 Research Fellows using ADR England flagship datasets for policy-relevant research.
ADR UK announces new investment in the Cancer Data-Driven Detection (CD3) programme, to support a clearer picture of why screening patterns and cancer outcomes vary between different communities.
Initial results are published from a project exploring the early careers of nursing graduates in Scotland using the Scottish Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset.
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings linked to Census 2021 Northern Ireland is released to accredited researchers, enabling longitudinal analysis of earnings and employment.
This month’s Connecting Society episode explores how we can find the story in data.

ADR UK announces funding for two Academic Leads, focused on Better Economic Data and the Ministry of Justice Data First programme.
Applications close for Economic and Social Research Council Doctoral Training Partnerships to host a cohort of PhD studentships using ADR UK linked administrative data.
ADR Wales Co Director Professor Lucy Griffiths is elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.
This month’s Connecting Society episode uncovers surprising stories from the census.