For Census 2021, we will be asking questions about your household and you individually. You can fill in your census questionnaire online and get help to do this at our Census Support Centres. There will be questions about your household, and some about each person living there. If you’re aged 16 years or over, you can answer these privately. You can request a paper version and there will be support in different languages and accessible formats.
Census 2021 will be the first digital-first census. Ahead of Census Day – Sunday 21 March 2021 – we will send you a letter with a household access code, an individual access code or a manager access code. Simply go online and enter the code into our secure website to start. You will be able to complete the online census questionnaire on smartphones and tablets, as well as laptops and desktop computers. We aim to make things as easy as possible for everyone, but if you need help taking part in the census, we’ve got it covered.
For starters, we will have a census help area on our website. It will cover everything from who to include on the questionnaire, to how to answer each question. If you cannot find what you’re looking for, there will be a dedicated contact centre where we will be on hand to help.
You will be able to get in touch with us by phone, webchat, email, social media or text message. We will also be setting up Census Support Centres across England and Wales where you can get help to fill in the online questionnaire.
If you have not returned your questionnaire by 21st March, our census field staff will also be out visiting households that have not yet returned their questionnaires to offer help and encouragement, if needed. You still have a period of time after this date to complete the questionnaire but do not forget, filling in your questionnaire is a legal requirement.
Shortly after Census Day during Census 2021, Office for National Statistics (ONS) field officers will start visiting some households. Because the census counts every person in England and Wales, we will need at least 30,000 field staff. They will visit homes to give help and encouragement to those who’ve not yet filled in their census form. They can answer any questions and offer advice. Census field staff will be visiting homes from 9am to 8pm on
Mondays to Saturdays and from 10am to 4pm on Sundays and bank holidays. We’d prefer not to disturb your evenings or weekends, but this is when most people are home.
Your safety and security are very important to us.
Our field staff will:
• follow a strict code of practice
• wear and show you an ONS identity card
• give you a number to call and check they’re genuine, if you have any concerns
If you’d prefer us not to visit you, the best thing to do is to complete your census form and send it back as soon as possible. Rest assured, we keep the personal information you give us in the census safe and confidential by law. We follow strict government security standards. What’s more, when we publish our statistics, we make sure that they include no personal information.
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The census during the coronavirus pandemic
