Centre for longitudinal studies

NCDS Age 50 Sweep

Year
Age
Select alternative sweep
1965
7
1969
11
1974
16
1981
23
1991
33
2000
42
2002
44
2004
46
2008
50
2013
55
2020
62
2026
68
1958
Birth
On this page:
Sweep details Special features Documentation More related content

Sweep details

Dates August 2008 - April 2009
Age 50-51
Achieved sample 9790 (cohort members)
Respondents Cohort members
Fieldwork agency NatCen Social Research
Survey mode Face to face plus paper self-completion
Data access

Main dataset available via the UK Data Service [SN 6137]. Visit the UK Data Service website to access the data.
Description

The age 50 sweep comprised a 60 minute CAPI interview (which included a series of memory and concentration tasks and a 10 minute self-completion section), and a 16-page self-completion questionnaire which was mailed to all cohort members before their interview.

The main topics covered in the interview were: household composition, housing, relationships, pregnancies, children and wider family, employment and income, education and training, use of computers, physical and mental health, smoking and drinking, exercise, height and weight, social participation and voting. The interview also included four cognitive assessments measuring memory, verbal fluency and concentration.

The main topics covered in the paper self-completion questionnaire were: leisure activities, personality, sleep, values, attitudes and well-being. An open question at the end asked respondents to describe their imagined lives at 60.

Cohort members (and their partners) were also asked for permission to link their survey responses with health records held by the NHS and economic records held by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Special features at age 50

Cognition

The age 50 survey included a module comprised of a series of cognitive assessments which sought to measure memory, verbal fluency, perception and attention at age 50.

These assessments were the first cognitive assessments conducted since cohort members were age 16; meaning that for the first time since adolescence analyses can be performed which use cognitive function as an outcome variable rather than a predictor.

The rich information which has been collected over the life-time of the study allows the determinants of cognitive ability at age 50 to be examined. For example, researchers are able to investigate the impact of a full range of life-time health behaviours such as exercise, diet, smoking and alcohol consumption, all of which are potentially modifiable at the individual level. Understanding the impact of these behaviours on cognitive function is vital if levels of dementia in the general population are to be reduced in the future.

Data Linkage

Cohort members were asked for consent to link their survey data with health and economic information held by the NHS, DWP and HMRC.

Co-resident partners were also asked for consent to health and economic data linkage.

Combining information from these records with the survey data collected over the years will provide a much fuller picture of the health and economic circumstances of cohort members.

Personality

The paper self-completion questionnaire included a 50 item personality inventory which measured the so-called ‘Big-5’ personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, agreeableness and intellect).

These personality traits are generally considered to be relatively stable and reliable indicators of how individuals differ in response to particular situations. A significant number of publications have already examined links between personality and other issues ranging from obesity to voter turn-out but many more questions can be researched using these measures.

Imagine you are 60

On the final page of the paper self-completion questionnaire respondents were asked to imagine the lives they would be living at 60 and to write a few lines describing their interests, home life, health, well-being and work at this time.

This paralleled a question asked in the age 11 sweep when cohort members had been asked to write about their imagined life at age 25.

Anonymised transcripts of the ‘Imagine you are 60’ responses are available from the UK Data Service. The responses collected provide a fascinating insight into the differing ways in which NCDS cohort members felt about their future.

The next NCDS sweep will take place at 62, so it will be possible to compare these projections with actual circumstances.

Documentation

  • User guides
  • Questionnaires
  • Technical reports
  • Data notes
  • Additional
User guides

NCDS Age 50 Guide to the Dataset

Final version of the dataset userguide for NCDS age 50 sweep

Date published: 01/10/2012
PDF: 865,42 KB

Download

Harmonised indicators of self-reported asthma in five British cohort studies User Guide

This user guide documents the harmonised indicators of all self-reported measures related to asthma in five British cohort studies: the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD), the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS), the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS), Next Steps, and the Millennium Cohort Study.

Date published: 18/07/2025
PDF: 728,48 KB

Download

Harmonised indicators of self-reported diabetes in five British cohort studies User Guide

This user guide documents the harmonised indicators of all self-reported measures related to diabetes in five British cohort studies: the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD), the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS), the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS), Next Steps, and the Millennium Cohort Study.

Date published: 18/07/2025
PDF: 487,42 KB

Download

Fertility histories in four British cohort studies User Guide

This user guide accompanies the deposit of datasets on the Cohort Members (CM) fertility histories in four UK cohort studies: MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD), the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS), the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS), and Next Steps.

Date published: 18/07/2025
PDF: 594,92 KB

Download

Handling mode effects in the CLS cohort studies user guide (Nov 2024)

A user guide which provides guidance and recommendations for handling mode effects in CLS’ cohort studies through applied examples, using data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS) and Next Steps.

Date published: 26/11/2024
PDF: 2,3 MB

Download

NCDS Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) User Guide

This guide describes the data linkage of health administrative records from the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) to survey data for cohort members in the National Child Development Study (NCDS). User guide updated: 2025.

Date published: 01/09/2022
PDF: 387,7 KB

Download

NCDS Age 50 ‘Imagine You Are 60…’ User Guide

This document has been prepared to accompany the deposit, with the UK Data Archive at the University of Essex, of a data set of textual responses to an open ended question asked as part of the 2008/9 follow-up of NCDS.

Date published: 01/06/2012
PDF: 501,83 KB

Download

NCDS Age 23-50 Partnership Histories

A guide to the partnership histories dataset collected from age 23 onwards

Date published: 01/11/2011
PDF: 245,98 KB

Download

Partnership Histories Guide (1974-2013)

Date published: 01/11/2017
PDF: 374,82 KB

Download

Activity Histories Guide (1974-2013)

Date published: 01/10/2016
PDF: 594,01 KB

Download

NCDS revised region variables

Date published: 01/03/2012
PDF: 523,56 KB

Download

Handling missing data in the CLS cohort studies – User Guide

This user guide aims to describe and illustrate a straightforward approach to missing data handling, while detailing some more general considerations around missing data along the way.

Date published: 03/06/2024
PDF: 1000,62 KB

Download
Questionnaires

NCDS Age 50 Questionnaire Documentation

Paper representation of CAPI and CASI interviews

Date published: 01/10/2009
PDF: 1,4 MB

Download

NCDS Age 50 Self-Completion Questionnaire Documentation

Questionnaire given to cohort members for the Age 50 sweep of NCDS.

Date published: 01/05/2008
PDF: 751,45 KB

Download

NCDS Age 50 Summary Of Questionnaire Content

Summary of questionnaire content for the age 50 sweep of NCDS.

Date published: 22/07/2008
PDF: 37,79 KB

Download
Technical reports

NCDS Age 50 Technical Report

Technical Report for NCDS Sweep 8 conducted at age 50

Date published: 01/04/2010
PDF: 1,05 MB

Download

NCDS Age 50 Technical Report Appendices

Appendices to accompany the technical report for NCDS age 50 survey

Date published: 01/10/2009
PDF: 9,51 MB

Download

Evaluation of paper self-completion questionnaire planned for NCDS age 50 sweep

Technical report to evaluate the usefulness of a supplementary paper self-completion questionnaire as a data collection instrument.

Date published: 01/07/2008
PDF: 381,38 KB

Download
Data notes

NCDS Age 50 Paper Self Completion – Response rates and response bias

The aim of this brief descriptive paper is to provide information on response to the paper self-completion questionnaire that formed part of the data collection for the eighth sweep of the 1958 British birth cohort study

Date published: 02/12/2011
PDF: 146,72 KB

Download
Additional

Deriving highest qualification in NCDS and BCS70

This Data Note explains the derivation of variables on Highest Educational Qualification obtained by cohort members in the National Child Development Study (NCDS) and the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70).

Date published: 01/01/2011
PDF: 514,11 KB

Download

NCDS Birth-Age 50 Target and Achieved Samples

Table of target and actual sweep samples for NCDS up to age 50

Date published: 01/05/2008
PDF: 21,84 KB

Download

NCDS Ethical Review and Consent

Review of the ethical practices throughout NCDS

Date published: 02/06/2014
PDF: 1,76 MB

Download

Visit the CLS bibliography

Our online bibliography is an excellent resource for finding publications based on data from the National Child Development Study as well as from our other three cohort studies. It includes over 5,000 publications and is searchable by study, year, author, journal name, title and abstract.
Contact us

Centre for Longitudinal Studies
UCL Social Research Institute

20 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AL

Email: clsdata@ucl.ac.uk

Funded by
Follow us
© Centre for Longitudinal Studies
Privacy policy Cookie policy Accessibility