More About Areas
Main Content
A central repository for items and articles relating to NeSS Geography can be found on the Neighbourhood Statistics Geography page.
Super Output Area
Super Output Areas (SOAs) are small areas specifically introduced to improve the reporting and comparison of local statistics.
Within England and Wales there is a Lower Layer (LSOA) (minimum population 1000) and a Middle Layer (MSOA)(minimum population 5000).
Unlike electoral wards, these SOA layers are of consistent size across the country and are not subjected to regular boundary change.
In Northern Ireland there is a single layer of SOAs with minimum population 1300.
The Scottish equivalents of SOAs are 'data zones' (minimum population 500) and 'intermediate zones' (minimum population 2500).
Postcode
Neighbourhood Statistics allows you to use postcodes to 'pinpoint' an area but data are not provided at postcode level. A full postcode has between 5 and 7 characters, with a space in the middle. An example is PO15 5RR. Postcodes are assigned by Royal Mail to identify postal delivery areas across the UK.
Further information on postal geography. This includes information on postcode structure, large and small user postcodes and the use of postcodes for referencing data.
Local Authority
In general terms 'local authority' can refer to any local government area in the UK. In the Neighbourhood Statistics context, however, it only refers to the lower tier of local government. This includes non-metropolitan districts, metropolitan districts, unitary authorities and London boroughs in England; unitary authorities in Wales; council areas in Scotland; and district council areas in Northern Ireland.
Electoral Ward/Division
Electoral wards are the base unit of UK administrative geography, being the areas from which local authority councillors are elected. They are commonly referred to just as 'wards'. Electoral wards are found across Scotland, Northern Ireland and most of England, whereas the equivalents in Wales and the Isle of Wight are known as electoral divisions.
National Statistics Area Classifications
Area classifications for Great Britain have been produced after every census since 1971, and as of the 2001 Census they have been extended to cover the whole UK. Using socio-economic and demographic data from each census, they aim to identify areas of the country with similar characteristics. This information is useful to many groups including government departments, local authorities, health authorities and academics. Possible applications include demonstrating broad geographic patterns, categorising data for further analysis, identifying similar areas for comparative studies, and providing information for marketing purposes.
ONS is intending to update most or all of the 2001 Area Classifications (covering 1. local authorities, 2. Health areas, 3. Wards, 4. Super Output Areas/Data zones and 5. Output Areas) using data from the 2011 Census.
More information can be found on the 2011 Area Classifications page of the Office for National Statistics website.
New Deal For Communities
New Deal for Communities (NDC) was a key programme in the Government's strategy to tackle multiple deprivation in the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country, giving some of our poorest communities the resources to tackle their problems in an intensive and co-ordinated way. The aim was to bridge the gap between these neighbourhoods and the rest of England. An assessment of the New Deal for Communities Experience in pdf format can be found on the National Archives website.
More Areas
Data are also provided for further geographic areas.
Geography can be a complex subject!
The Beginners' Guide to UK Geography is a simple, informative and colourful tour of the main geographic units used in National Statistics work.
