Best practice guidance

Part of the remit of ONS Geography's work is to promote a standardised, 'Best Practice' approach to the use of geography in statistics.

The Coding and Naming Policy for UK Statistical Geographies provides details of the new coding structure to be implemented on 1 January 2011. The Register of Geographic Codes (RGC) is a 'light' but key document that summarises the range of area instances within each geographic entity for the UK.

The draft Geography Policy for National Statistics provides details of the approach now being promoted for the production of National Statistics. Please see the Downloads section.

The Presentation order guidance, Standard Names and Codes (SNAC), Area classifications and Beginner's Guide to Geographic Referencing also support the aim of harmonising how geography is used to produce UK statistics. Please see Related links.