Following user consultation in 2005, ONS launched a programme of question development and testing, to ensure that the 2011 Census meets as many user requirements as possible. New questions have been developed for topics where there is a new demand for information, and existing questions have been redeveloped to account for increasing or changing user requirements.

The first major milestone in this development programme is the 2007 Census Test, where the newly developed questions will be used on a large scale for the first time.

The Census Test in England and Wales will be held on 13 May 2007, and the questionnaires to be used have been published today.

To meet all user requirements for information, the 2011 Census would have to ask significantly more questions than is possible. As ONS is not yet in a position to decide the final census content, the 2007 Census Test will include a wide range of possible new questions to help inform the final selection process.

To achieve this, the questionnaire to be used includes an extra page of questions per respondent than was asked in the 2001 Census, or is likely for the 2011 Census. In addition to this, a number of existing questions being considered for the 2011 Census, but unlikely to change significantly before then, have been excluded to maximise the space available to test the new questions.

New questions to be tested include:

• National identity –to allow respondents to record their English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, Irish or other identity.
• Income – to collect level and sources of income.
• Language – to collect information on proficiency in English, Welsh, British Sign Language and other languages. In Wales, people will be asked about the frequency of their use of the Welsh language.
• Second address – to identify the number of people with a regular second address and the purpose and frequency of its use.
• Month and year of entry into UK – to collect extra information about international migration.

Redeveloped questions to be tested include:

• Illness and Disability – expanded to collect information on the nature of illness and disability.
• Marital or civil partnership status – expanded to include civil partnership equivalent for each marital status.

Each question included in the 2007 Census Test will be evaluated to assess the quality of information that can be collected and the public acceptability of the topic.

The final questionnaire for the 2011 Census will include a selection of questions from the questionnaires used in the 2007 Census Test, some from the 2001 Census excluded from the Test and others developed through a programme of small-scale testing. The analysis of the 2007 Census Test will be used to inform this selection.

Following the Test there will be a Census Rehearsal in 2009, before the proposed questions are put forward to Parliament in 2009.

The questionnaires published today are supported by a paper summarising the development work completed, the timetable for finalising questionnaires for the 2011 Census and ONS’ view on possible Census content.

Household questionnaire for England

Household questionnaire for Wales

The 2011 Census: Developing a questionnaire for the 2007 Census Test

The Welsh language version of the questionnaire for Wales will be available at the end of November. Anyone who would like a copy of this should email:Censustopics@ons.gsi.gov.uk

This page last revised: 31 October 2006