Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.Background: The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), previously known as the British Crime Survey (BCS), has been in existence since 1981. The survey traditionally asks a sole randomly selected adult, in a random sample of households, details pertaining to any instances where they, or the household, has been a victim of a crime in the previous 12 months. These are recorded in the victim form data file (VF). A wide range of questions are then asked covering demographics and crime-related subjects such as attitudes to the police and the criminal justice system (CJS). Most of the questionnaire is completed in a face-to-face interview in the respondent's home; these variables are contained within the non-victim form (NVF) data file. Since 2009, the survey has been extended to children aged 10-15 years old; one resident of that age range has also been selected at random from the household and asked about incidents where they have been a victim of crime, and other related topics. The first set of children's data, covering January-December 2009, had experimental status, and is held separately under SN 6601. From 2009-2010, the children's data cover the same period as the adult data and are included with the main dataset. Further information may be found on the ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales web page and for the previous BCS, from the GOV.UK BCS Methodology web page. Self-completion data: A series of questions on drinking behaviour, drug use and intimate personal violence (including stalking and sexual victimisation) are administered to adults via a self-completion module which the respondent completes on a laptop computer. Children aged 10-15 years also complete a separate self-completion questionnaire. The questions are contained within the main questionnaire documents, but the data are not available with the main survey; they are available only under Secure Access conditions. Lower-level geographic variables are also available under Secure Access conditions to match to the survey. History: Up to 2001, the survey was conducted biennially. From April 2001, interviewing was carried out continually and reported on in financial year cycles and the crime reference period was altered to accommodate this change. The core sample size has increased from around 11,000 in the earlier cycles to over 40,000. Following the National Statistician's Review of Crime Statistics in June 2011 the collation and publication of Crime Statistics moved to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) from 1st April 2012, and the survey changed its name to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) accordingly. Scottish data: The 1982 and 1988 BCS waves were also conducted in Scotland. The England and Wales data for 1982 and 1988 are held at the UKDA under SNs 1869 and 2706, but the Scottish data for these studies are held separately under SNs 4368 and 4599. Since 1993, separate Scottish Crime and Justice Surveys have been conducted, see the series web page for more details.New methodology for capping the number of incidents from 2017-18The CSEW datasets available from 2017-18 onward are based upon a new methodology of capping the number of incidents at the 98th percentile. Incidence variables names have remained consistent with previously supplied data but due to the fact they are based on the new 98th percentile cap, and old data sets are not, comparability has been lost with previous years. More information can be found in the 2017-18 User Guide and the article ‘Improving victimisation estimates derived from the Crime Survey for England and Wales’. ONS intend to publish all micro data back to 1981 with incident data based on the 98th percentile cap later in 2019.

The main CSEW 1996-2020 Secure Access dataset (SN 7280) includes:the adult and child data also held in the standard End User Licence (EUL) versionadult self-completion modules on drinking behaviour, drug use, stolen goods, children's self-completion modules and sexual identity and low-level geography variables formerly held under Special Licence access conditions (please note that not all modules occur for each year - see the survey year's documentation for details)hate crime variables HATEMT3A-HATEMT3I and HATEPS3A-HATEPS3I from the Victim Formthe interpersonal violence (IPV) data (comprising the modules on domestic violence, sexual victimisation and stalking)Users who do not require access to the modules noted above should apply for the EUL version. The Secure Access version has more restrictive access conditions than the standard EUL version - see the 'Access' tab. All studies in the series can be viewed from the Crime Survey for England and Wales series webpage. This study also includes the following low-level geography variables from 2008 onwards:Local Authority DistrictRural and Urban Area ClassificationPolice Force AreaONS District Level Classification: SupergroupONS District Level Classification: GroupONS District Level Classification: SubgroupOutput Area Classification - Supergroup (7 categories)Output Area Classification - Group (21 categories)Output Area Classification - Subgroup (52 categories)A further CSEW low-level geography file including variables down to Super Output Areas (Lower Layer) is available under separate Secure Access study SN 7311. Latest edition information: For the 12th edition (November 2023), a 'bolt-on' data file containing incident numbers for the 2011-2012 Victim Form, and an accompanying data dictionary, were added to the study.

Main Topics:

The study includes information from the adult and child questionnaires. Data from the adult and child samples are available as separate files. Adults: The adult non-victim form questionnaire covered: perceptions of crime and local area; performance of the CJS; mobile phone and bicycle crime; experiences of the police (Module A); attitudes to the CJS (Module B); crime prevention and security (Module C); ad-hoc crime topics (Module D); plastic card fraud; mass-marketing fraud; anti-social behaviour; demographics and media. The adult victim form contains offence-level data. Up to six different incidents were asked about for each respondent. Each of these constituted a separate victim form and can be matched back to the respondent-level data. Topics covered included: the nature and circumstances of the incident; details of offenders; security measures; costs; emotional reactions; contact with the CJS; and outcomes where known. Self-completion modules for adult respondents covered drug use, drinking behaviour, and interpersonal violence (IPV) (domestic violence, sexual victimisation and stalking) and nature of partner domestic abuse. Children: The child questionnaire included: schooling and perceptions of crime; crime screener questions; victimisation module; perceptions of and attitudes towards the police; anti-social behaviour; and personal safety, crime prevention and security. The child self-completion questionnaire covered: use of the internet; bullying; street gangs; school truancy; personal security; drinking behaviour and cannabis use.

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Face-to-face interview

Self-administered questionnaire

Face-to-face interview: Computer-assisted (CAPI/CAMI)