Occupation (current) variable: Census 2021

Mnemonic: occupation_current
Applicability: Person
Type: Derived variable

Definition

Classifies what people aged 16 years and over do as their main job. Their job title or details of activities they do in their job and any supervisory or management responsibilities form this classification. This information is used to code responses to an occupation using the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2020.

It classifies people who were in employment between 15 March and 21 March 2021, by the SOC code that represents their current occupation. The lowest level of detail available is the four-digit SOC code which includes all codes in three, two and one digit SOC code levels.

Classification

Total number of categories: 105

*Students and schoolchildren living away during term-time, children aged 15 years and under, and people who were not employed in the week before 21 March 2021.

View all occupation (current) classifications.

Quality information

We advised users that two occupation categories “5221 Metal forming, welding and related trades” and “5222 Tool makers, tool fitters and markers out” were incorrectly coded to “521 Metal forming, welding and related trades”. These should have been coded to “522 Tool makers, tool fitters and markers-out”. We also advised users that two occupation categories “2211 Generalist medical practitioners” and “2212 Specialist medical practitioners” were incorrectly coded to “21 Science, research, engineering and technology professionals”. These should have been coded to “22 Health professionals”. These were corrected on 27 July 2023.

As Census 2021 was during a unique period of rapid change, take care when using Labour Market data for planning purposes.

Read more in our Labour market quality information for Census 2021 methodology.

Background

Read about how we developed and tested the questions for Census 2021.

Comparability with the 2011 Census

Not comparable

We changed the classification for Census 2021 and combined the categories previously available in the 2011 Census data.

What does not comparable mean?

A variable that is not comparable means that it cannot be compared with a variable from the 2011 Census.

England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland comparisons

Broadly comparable

The variable produced for England, Wales and Northern Ireland provides more detail on someone's current occupation than Scotland.

What does broadly comparable mean?

A variable that is broadly comparable means that outputs from Census 2021 in England and Wales can generally be compared with Scotland and Northern Ireland. Differences in how the data were collected or presented may reduce the ability to fully harmonise on outputs, but some harmonisation is still expected.

Find out more about variables produced for Census 2021 in Northern Ireland and Census 2022 in Scotland.

Census 2021 data that uses this variable

We use variables from Census 2021 data to show findings in different ways.

You can:

• get the occupation (current) dataset
• view occupation (current) data on a map
• view occupation (current) data for an area on Nomis (an Office for National Statistics service)

Alternatively, you can also create a custom dataset.

Other datasets that use this variable

• Occupation - minor groups
• Distance travelled to work by occupation
• Method used to travel to work by occupation
• Multi-language households by occupation of Household Reference Person
• Multi-religion households by occupation of Household Reference Person
• Occupation by age
• Occupation by economic activity status
• Occupation by ethnic group
• Occupation by hours worked
• Occupation by religion
• Occupation by sex
• Tenure by occupation - Household Reference Persons
• Veterans by occupation
• Ability to speak Welsh by occupation
• Gender identity by occupation
• Sexual orientation by occupation
• Number of non-UK born short-term residents by occupation
• Occupation (parishes)
• Cornish national identity by sex by occupation by highest level of qualification
• Kashmiri ethnic group by sex by occupation by highest level of qualification
• Nepali (includes Gurkha) ethnic group by sex by occupation by highest level of qualification
• Ravidassia religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by sex by occupation by highest level of qualification
• Sikh religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by sex by occupation by highest level of qualification
• Jain religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by sex by occupation by highest level of qualification
• Out of term-time population by occupation (Minor Groups)
• Workday population by occupation (minor groups)
• Workplace population by occupation (minor groups)
• Workplace population by occupation by age
• Workplace population by occupation by highest level of qualification
• Workplace population by occupation by industry
• Workplace population by distance travelled to work by occupation
• Origin and destination of international migrants by occupation by sex
• Origin and destination of migrants by occupation by sex
• Location of usual residence and place of work by occupation
• Location of usual residence and place of work by occupation by sex by student employment status