Bodleian Library Map Room - Census 2001 part 1

Updated: 3rd February 2005

2001 CENSUS - An easy guide for new users

The UK 2001 Census data and boundary files in MapInfo format are available in the Map Room and this guide explains how to extract data and create thematic maps.

For an explanation of the relationship between the various census output areas, relationship to postcodes and other background information, see the ONS website

This guide assumes that users are familiar with basic MapInfo procedures. If you are a new MapInfo user, then have a look at: MapInfo Professional - an easy guide for new users

The PDF documents (table lists, topic lists, etc., referred to in this guide are on the workstations in the Map Room

They can also be accessed on the Office of National Statistics website

Census data tables

Census data tables are available on the Map Room GIS workstations. The tables are in comma-delimited text format and can be opened in Excel or other applications. The tables are read-only, so they cannot be modified. However data can be copied into new tables for editing and further processing by users. Note that the tables contain raw values, not percentages, so new calculated values should produced (easily done using formulae in Excel, for example) for use when mapping and comparing areas. Remember that the data has to be saved in Excel format to be able to use formulae.

Boundary files

Digital boundary data is available in the Map Room for use in MapInfo and can be used to create thematic maps.

Counties, districts, unitary authorities...

The changes to administrative boundaries which have taken place since the 1991 Census have created new census geographies. The Metropolitan Counties which existed at the time of the 1991 Census (Greater London, Greater Manchester, etc) no longer exist. New units called Unitary Authorities have also appeared and these effectively act as both counties and districts, having powers of both. Also the old Enumeration Districts have been replaced by Output Areas (OAs), created from one or more postcode units.
This means that the old tiers of census geography (county, district, ward, ED) have changed, with the most important difference being that where Unitary Authorities now exist, there is no county and no district level - UAs are subdivided directly into wards.

London boroughs are classed as UAs, so data for London boroughs is in the UA level tables. Likewise data for the areas covered by the old metropolitan counties is now at UA level.

Area codes

Each area has a unique code which can be used to join a data table to a boundary table.

Nations have a two- or three-digit code:
England & Wales: 727
England: 64
Wales: 220

Counties have a two-digit code starting with 09 for Bedfordshire through to 47 for Worcestershire (Welsh counties no longer exist). Greater London and the old metropolitan counties are coded 00 (the old metropolitan counties are included as they are still used for other statistics.

Unitary authorities are also coded 00, but with an additional two letters to identify them. English UAs run from EB (Hartlepool) to MW (Isle of Wight) - the order is roughly geographical, north to south. Welsh UAs are coded NA (Anglesey) to PT (Cardiff).

London boroughs (and the UAs for the equivalent old metropolitan counties) are coded AA (City of London) to DB (Wakefield), but in the data tables they are in the tables at District level.

Districts are coded in a similar way, but as they are subdivisions of counties, the numbers are the same as the county and they have a two-letter suffix, always beginning with U (eg: Bedford is 09UD).

Ward codes are the district or UA code with an additional two letters (e.g: Perivale is 00AJGW
). .

Output Areas use the ward code plus a four digit number. The OAs are numbered sequentially within each ward, starting with 0001.

Super Output Areas codes are 'E' followed by 8 digits.

Urban area and Urban area sub-divisions have a letter followed by 6 (5 for sub-divs) digits.

Postcode to Output Area look-up file

A postcode to output area look-up file is also available in the Map Room. This file (in Excel and DBF formats) has every full unit postcode (at 2001) with its output area, ward etc. An indicator field shows if the postcode falls entirely within the OA or is split between OAs.

Rural and Urban Classification

Urban areas are defined as those which have the majority of the population inside a settlement of more than 10,000 persons. This means that each output area and ward can be classified as rural or urban.
Rural areas are further classified as small town and fringe, village or dispersed etc.
For more information see the Introductory Guide on the ONS website:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/downloads/Rural_Urban_Introductory_Guidev2.pdf

Current availability (see date at top of page):

Level:	Boundaries	Data
National	Available	Available
Government Office Region	Available	Available
National Parks	Available	Available
County and Unitary Authority	Available	Available
Local Authority District and UA	Available	Available
Ward	Available	Available
Output Area	Available	Available
Civil Parishes/Communities	Not available from ONS	Not yet available
Health Areas	Not available from ONS	Available

Boundaries are also available for London only:

London boroughs

London wards

London output areas (oas)

Scotland is divided into Council Areas and these have been included in the boundary data sets for consistency, but data is not available at this level.

The following links will take you to step-by-step guides to accessing the data and creating thematic maps:

Accessing Census data

Creating thematic maps in MapInfo

Map Room
Bodleian Library 2005