Transparency data

Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data

Published 17 April 2024

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/longitudinal-education-outcomes-leo-dataset/longitudinal-education-outcomes-leo-data

Overview

The Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data is a recently developed database from the Department for Education (DfE), which contains information on the labour market outcomes for learners from schools, colleges and universities.

The LEO standard extract is the version of the LEO data that is available to external researchers, via the Office of National Statistics Secure Research Service (ONS SRS).

This is a unique source of information, with the potential to provide transformative insight and evidence on the long term employment outcomes and educational pathways of around 39 million individuals, as of April 2022.

LEO brings together data from DfE’s LEO partners:

  • the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
  • His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
  • Joint Information Systems Committee (Jisc)

Availability

LEO is available for approved third party researchers to access and analyse on the ONS SRS platform. The LEO standard extract available via the ONS SRS is a relational database comprising a range of tables where access is restricted on a needs basis.

One of the advantages of linking data from existing administrative sources is that it provides a rich and extensive insight into the destinations of individuals, without imposing any additional data collection burdens on education institutions, employers, or members of the public.

In addition to this, compared to existing sources of other education outcomes data, LEO is based on complete cohorts of individuals located in the education datasets utilised. It therefore tracks outcomes longitudinally to a greater extent than has been possible previously.

Applying for the LEO data

DfE have provided guidance on applying for the LEO standard extract.

Higher level data structure

The LEO standard extract links education data and labour market data allowing users to track individuals through compulsory education, into post-compulsory education and into the labour market. The following are key parts of the LEO standard extract.

National Pupil Database (NPD)

This contains a range of information from early years and compulsory education including:

  • socio-economic and demographic variables
  • attainment data
  • absence and exclusions
  • children’s social care data

Longitudinal Individualised learner record (LILR)

This includes data from further education, including:

  • apprenticeships
  • vocational training
  • other learning

Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)

This data is provided by Jisc and includes information on higher education, such as degrees and postgraduate study.

University College Admissions System (UCAS)

Includes data on applications to university for degree study.

HMRC, DWP and ONS data on labour market outcomes, such as:

  • employment
  • earnings
  • sector
  • organisation type and size
  • benefits claims
  • geography

Data coverage

Education data is sent for matching with labour market data from HMRC and DWP. The coverage is:

  • all people born since 1985 who have engaged with the school education system in England (Scottish and Welsh learners will appear in this data if they have attended an English setting at some point)
  • people who are older than this and have been in English further education institutions since 2002 to 2003 (individuals located within the Longitudinal Individualised Learner Record (LILR) data)

More information on the LEO standard extract

UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) accredited researchers seeking more information on the LEO standard extract should read the LEO standard extract user guide. This includes more detailed information on:

  • matching and linking
  • data coverage
  • variables included
  • data quality
  • data structure and size
  • exemplar code

It is recommended that this is read alongside the variable request form which includes detailed information about datasets, variables, categorisations and coverage.

The variable request form and the user guide can be found in the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) Research Community.

The LEO Research Community provides a community and knowledge base for researchers accessing LEO via the ONS SRS.

This is a restricted group and members will need to be accredited UKSA researchers and request access to the group. For those not registered the variable request form can be found at Discover secure research data on the ONS website (under bullet point 6). The user guide can be supplied on request from the LEO programme team: leo.programme@education.gov.uk.  

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