Presenting ethnic and national groups data
National Statistics interim standard classifications for presenting ethnic and national groups data
| Ethnic group | National group (example presentation) | |
| Level 1 | Level 2 | |
| White |
White British
|
White ethnic group
English Scottish Welsh Irish British Other All Not stated |
| Mixed | White and Black Caribbean
White and Black African White and Asian Other mixed background |
All ethnic groups (including whites)
English Scottish Welsh Irish Other All Not stated |
| Asian or Asian British | Indian
Pakistani Bangladeshi Other Asian background All Asian groups |
|
| Black or Black British | Caribbean
African Other Black background All Black groups |
|
| Chinese or Other Ethnic Groups | Chinese
Other ethnic group All Chinese or Other groups |
|
| All ethnic groups | All ethnic groups | |
The accepted need to present White-Irish in National Statistics analyses about ethnic minority differences, such presentations will include the category 'White-Irish' in Level 2 analyses, between the British and Other White categories. A footnote is therefore required to clearly indicate that estimates of the White-Irish are derived by co-analysing respondents who chose the 'Irish' category in the national group question, with those who identified themselves as 'White' in the ethnic group question.
The data on other national groups (Scottish, Welsh etc) can be presented as required, but are likely to be of particular interest in geographically disaggregated outputs.
Generally, the preference is for outputs to be as detailed as possible. However, it is recognised that sample constraints for some data sources necessitate flexibility in outputs. As such, a mixture of Levels 1 and 2 for outputs may be used where there is a need to identify particular groups from Level 2 but data will only support Level 1 categories for the other groups. However, any mixture of Levels 1 and 2 must ensure consistency with at least Level 1 categories. In exceptional cases a binary classification may be employed for outputs where this is all that can be supported by sources.
Outputs will need to be supported by appropriate metadata. Details about the context in which the data are collected - for example, in person or by telephone, the list and order of categories used, and the geographical level at which it was collected.
This is important for comparability with the Census where questions differ between countries of the UK. It will help users comparing data from more than one source to make judgements about the quality and consistency of the different sources. ONS will offer such metadata and user guidance on this website in due course.
