New NCDS and BCS70 data available to researchers

New data have been released from the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) and the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS).

Revised NCDS childhood dataset: additional variables from the birth survey

Researchers can now access a new version of the NCDS childhood dataset, which covers information collected from 1958-1974 in the first three NCDS surveys. The updated dataset contains additional variables that have been restored from the original birth survey – known as the Perinatal Mortality Survey– from which the NCDS evolved.

There are 51 newly-available variables, providing further information on areas such as:

• Antenatal care and abnormalities during pregnancy
• Type of labour and details of anaesthesia and pain relief
• Drugs given to the baby and illness during the first week of life.

Researchers will now have the opportunity to look at the long-term outcomes of these factors in more detail by comparing the new data to information collected in later NCDS surveys.

BCS70 10-year follow-up: audiogram results

The BCS70 age 10 dataset has also been updated with results from the audiogram and pure-tone tests conducted as part of the 1980 survey. These seven new variables providing information on hearing loss have recently come to light after an exercise to update archived files.

The new data will allow longitudinal comparisons with the BCS70 age 16 audiogram results, as well as enabling cross-cohort analysis between BCS70 at age 10 and the audiogram findings from the earlier NCDS age 11 survey.

Download user guides to the new data

• NCDS Perinatal Mortality Survey: Additional variables
• BCS70 10-year follow-up: Audiogram results

Access the data

The updated datasets are available to download from the UK Data Service:

• NCDS childhood data: sweeps 0-3, 1958-1974 (SN5565)
• BCS70 ten-year follow-up, 1980 (SN3723)