MCS Age 17 Sweep

Sweep details

Sweep status Completed
Dates January 2018 to March 2019
Age 17
Achieved sample 10,757 (cohort members); 10,625 (families)
Respondents Cohort members, parents
Fieldwork agency Ipsos MORI
Survey mode Face-to-face and web
Data access

Main dataset available via the UK Data Service [SN 8682]. Visit the UK Data Service website to access the data

The Millennium Cohort Study: Longitudinal Family File, 2001-2018 [SN 8172]. Visit the UK Data Service website to access the data

Description

The Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) is renowned for the evidence it provides on the experience of growing up in the United Kingdom in the 21st century. The age 17 sweep was completed in 2019. This period of transition to adulthood marked a pivotal stage in cohort members’ development, as their paths diverged in a way that will greatly influence their future wellbeing.

Previously, schooling will have been the main activity common to the majority of cohort members. However, by age 17, cohort members will have taken important decisions in relation to schooling, further education, training, work, and living at home. Capturing these transitions well, alongside the contemporary factors underlying them was critical.

To this end, it was important to build up a picture of daily life, including factors such as:

  • relationships with parents
  • family and peers
  • risky behaviours
  • social media engagement
  • effort on activities such as education/school

Additional factors affecting decisions at this age include attitudes and preferences, such as preferences for education, attitudes to risk, willingness to trade off resources at different points in time, and expectations about future life events. Measuring social and emotional development, mental health and cognitive development and using well-validated instruments, was also a critical component of the survey.

Initial findings from the Age 17 Sweep

Here you can read our initial findings from the Age 17 Sweep. These examine a range of issues, including mental health, obesity, substance use and antisocial behaviour.

Find out more about our initial findings

Video: The Age 17 Sweep – Millennium Cohort Study Webinar

This introductory webinar looked at what was new in the Age 17 survey and answered questions from data users.

The Age 17 Sweep – Millennium Cohort Study Webinar

Documentation

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

MCS Age 17 Sweep User Guide

User guide for the Age 17 Sweep of the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS7).

Date published: 08/12/2020
PDF: 1,07 MB

Download

User guide to the MCS linked health administrative datasets – Scottish Medical Records (SMR)

This user guide describes the linkage of medical records, child health reviews and prescription and immunisation records in Scotland (henceforth “Scottish Medical Records”) to cohort members’ data in the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS).

Date published: 15/02/2021
PDF: 313,94 KB

Download

Longitudinal Family File Guide

This guide provides information about the mcs_longitudinal_family_file which is an important dataset of the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS).

Date published: 02/09/2020
PDF: 166,27 KB

Download

MCS Data Handling Guide

The Data Handling guide explains the data structures of MCS and provides solutions with different data handling strategies.

Date published: 02/09/2020
PDF: 1,14 MB

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

MCS Age 17 Young Person Online Questionnaire

Young person online (CAWI) questionnaire for MCS 7.

Date published: 04/02/2020
PDF: 938,1 KB

Download

MCS Age 17 Young Person Self Completion Questionnaire

Young person self-completion questionnaire for MCS 7.

Date published: 30/01/2020
PDF: 913,59 KB

Download

MCS Age 17 Young Person Interview

Young person interview for MCS 7.

Date published: 30/01/2020
PDF: 1,17 MB

Download

MCS Age 17 Parent Online Questionnaire

Paper representation of the parent online questionnaire (CAWI) for MCS 7.

Date published: 30/01/2020
PDF: 1,1 MB

Download
Technical reports

MCS Age 17 Technical Report

This report provides an account of the design, development and conduct of the Age 17 Survey.

Date published: 30/01/2020
PDF: 1,97 MB

Download

MCS Age 17 Technical Report Appendix A: Script releases

Date published: 30/01/2020
PDF: 320,19 KB

Download

MCS Age 17 Technical Report Appendix B: Materials

Date published: 30/01/2020
PDF: 6,44 MB

Download
Data notes

No material of this type is available.

Additional

No material of this type is available.

Contact us

Centre for Longitudinal Studies
UCL Social Research Institute

20 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AL

Email: clsdata@ucl.ac.uk

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