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Topics Statistical designation or status

Overview

It is important that we provide users of our statistics with information about their official designation.  

We do this by: 

  • using the accredited official statistics badge on our content and datasets 
  • including clear subsections in our statistical articles  

This helps users to understand the trustworthiness, quality and value of the statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics (opens in a new tab) 

Subsections within your statistical article

All statistical articles that include accredited official statistics or official statistics in development must include a short statement about the official designation or status of the statistics.  

Include this at the end of the Quality, methods and data sources section of your statistical article. Read more about how to structure this section in our statistical article guidance.

Accredited official statistics subsection

Include this subsection with the following short statement for statistics that are officially designated as accredited official statistics (opens in a new tab) 

The Office for Statistics Regulation independently reviewed these accredited official statistics in [month/year]. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics (opens in a new tab)  and should be labelled “accredited official statistics”.

To find out the month and year when the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) independently reviewed the statistics, follow these instructions:  

  1. Visit the OSR web page on accredited official statistics (opens in a new tab) 
  2. Select the “List of accredited official statistics” link, which will generate a spreadsheet listing all accredited official statistics that the UK government produces.
  3. Filter the spreadsheet by “Producer”, selecting “Office for National Statistics”. 
  4. Filter the spreadsheet by “Domain”, selecting the relevant subject area, for example, “Labour Market and Welfare” for Employment in the UK. 
  5. Locate the date in column H, “Month of accreditation”.

Official statistics in development subsection

Include this subsection and the following short statement for statistics that are designated as official statistics in development (opens in a new tab) .

These statistics are labelled as “official statistics in development”. They are based on information from [insert main data sources]. We are developing how we collect the data and produce the statistics to improve their quality. Read more in our [topic] quality and methods guide. 

Once we have completed the developments, we will review the statistics with the Statistics Head of Profession. 

If the statistics meet trustworthiness, quality and value standards based on user feedback, we will remove the “official statistics in development” label to publish under the “official statistics” label. 

If they do not meet trustworthiness, quality and value standards, we will further develop them and might stop producing them.

If they were “accredited official statistics” before the start of the developments, we will ask the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) to reassess and re-accredit them.

We will inform users of the outcome of our, and any OSR, review and any changes.

Include detailed information on the methods used, quality limitations of the data and ongoing improvements in the supporting quality and methods guide or data sources guide. 

Statistical research and methods not yet official statistics

Sometimes we publish statistical research and methods that are not yet official statistics. Include this subsection in your content.

These are not official statistics. We are publishing them as research into [a new/an alternative] method for producing [topic] statistics. Do not use them for policy- or decision-making.

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