Annex A – Census publication timeline

6 January 2023:

ONS published the first outputs: Gender identity, England and Wales: Census 2021.

4 April 2023:

ONS published a package of datasets on gender identity data combined with other variables. It also published a blog alongside the release, which said that later in 2023, it would be publishing analytical articles further exploring the data to help users interpret the data and understand interactions between variables.

14 April 2023:

ONS released a statement setting out its intention to publish further research on the topic within two months.

8 June 2023:

ONS preannounced four articles due to be published on 19 June 2023. These articles would cover question testing, collection and processing, microanalysis and macroanalysis.

19 June 2023:

ONS published an article, Collecting and processing Census 2021 data on gender identity, as well as an update on the research into gender identity data. In this update, ONS said it planned to publish the remaining articles later in Summer 2023.

30 August 2023:

ONS cancelled the release of the remaining research articles and published a statement saying it was conducting ongoing research and undertaking wide user engagement, and would publish further updates in due course.

9 October 2023:

OSR published the interim review, which sets out OSR’s expectations for ONS in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics on what it considered was needed to provide assurance on the gender identity census data and the gender identity harmonised question.

1 November 2023:

The last revision of Census 2021 Sexual orientation and gender identity quality information for Census 2021, which sets out the known quality information affecting sexual orientation and gender identity data from Census 2021 in England and Wales to help users correctly interpret the statistics.

8 November 2023:

ONS’s research report, Quality of Census 2021 gender identity data, was published. Alongside the report, ONS released an additional dataset.

27 June 2024:

The Scotland Census 2022 data for sexual orientation and trans status or history were published by National Records of Scotland (NRS). As well as the statistical publication, NRS published a separate quality assurance document for the variables included in the statistical release.