Alana Bowen-Burford, Senior Analytical Impact Lead from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), introduces the 2025 ONS Research Excellence Awards.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Research Excellence Awards are back—and once again, they’re shining a spotlight on the power of secure data to drive meaningful change.
Each year, these awards celebrate the people and projects that create and use ONS-managed data to deliver public good, inform policy, and deepen our understanding of society. From health and education to crime and the economy, the research recognised by these awards reflects the diversity and depth of work happening across the UK’s data landscape.
For more information and to apply, visit ONS Research Excellence Awards 2025 – Office for National Statistics.
Why It Matters
Every impactful research project is built on collaboration, innovation, and a shared commitment to unlocking the potential of data. The ONS Research Excellence Awards recognise the people behind this work, whether you’re generating new evidence, improving access to data, or supporting others to do so.
These awards are a chance to celebrate how secure data are being used to inform decisions, drive progress, and deliver public good.
If your project has helped create, provided access to, or used ONS-managed data within a Trusted Research Environment (TRE) – such as the ONS Secure Research Service (SRS) or the UK Data Service’s SecureLab – and has delivered new insights in the past 18 months, we encourage you to apply!
Award Categories for 2025
This year’s categories reflect the wide range of contributions across the research community:
- Impact of Analysis Award – For research that demonstrates excellence in methodology, collaboration, communication, and public benefit.
- Government-led Impact of Analysis Award – For projects led by UK government departments that involved cross-sector collaboration and delivered visible outcomes.
- Data Creation Award – For those who’ve built, enhanced, or prepared secure datasets for use in TREs.
- Organisational Innovation Award – For organisations that have improved infrastructure, capability, or support to enable secure data access.
- ONS People’s Choice Award – All eligible entries will be entered into this public vote.
Please note: the award types have changed this year, so titles may look different to last year’s.
Celebrating Past Success
Last year’s winners demonstrated the breadth and depth of what’s possible when working with secure data. These projects showed how rigorous analysis, thoughtful collaboration, and innovative use of data can lead to real-world insights. You can read about last year’s winners below.
Impact of Analysis Award
Joint winners:
Dr Katie Hunter, Manchester Metropolitan University
Project title: Understanding the intersections between ethnicity, care experience and youth justice involvement
This project used newly linked administrative datasets from the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education. It explored how children who have been in out-of-home care, as well as those from racially minoritised backgrounds, are disproportionately drawn into the youth justice system in England.
Read the highlighted publication on the ADR UK website to learn more.
Watch the related animation on YouTube
Allen Joseph and Whitney Crenna-Jennings, Education Policy Institute
Project title: Early adult outcomes for suspended and excluded pupils
This research demonstrated that young people who are suspended during secondary school experience a range of poorer outcomes in late adolescence and early adulthood compared with their peers.
Read the highlighted publication from the Education Policy Institute to learn more.
Impact of Analysis Award – Collaboration with Government
Christina Palmou (Office for National Statistics), Jakob Schneebacher (Competition and Markets Authority) and Thiemo Fetzer (University of Warwick)
Project title: How do firms cope with economic shocks in real time?
This work built a new toolbox of high-frequency linked microdata, to estimate firm responses to economic shocks in near real-time.
Read the highlighted publication from the Competition and Markets Authority website to learn more.
Secure Data Creation Award
The ECHILD Team, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health at University College London
Project title: Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data (ECHILD)
The ECHILD project has enabled linkage of multi-agency data to provide a more holistic understanding of children’s lives and how they interact with services spanning health, education and social care.
Learn more on the ECHILD website.
Organisational Excellence Award
The DRAGoN Team, University of the West of England Bristol
Project title: Data Research, Access and Governance Network (DRAGoN)
This multi-disciplinary research group brought together researchers and practitioners from academia, think-tanks, industry and government to help improve tools, operations and skills in relation to output checking in Trusted Research Environments.
Learn more on the DRAGoN website.
ADR UK Research Excellence Award
Dr Kitty Lymperopoulou, University of Plymouth
Project title: Ethnic inequalities in the Criminal Justice System
This research addressed knowledge gaps on wide ethnic disparities in the Criminal Justice System highlighted in recent government reports. It provided evidence on the extent and drivers of ethnic disparities, identifying effective ways of addressing them.
Read the highlighted publication from the British Journal of Criminology to learn more.
ONS People’s Choice Award
The Virus Watch Team, University College London
Project title: Virus Watch
This work led to the creation of a new linked dataset in 2020. It provides evidence on which public health approaches are most effective in reducing transmission, and investigates community incidence, symptoms, and transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) in relation to population movement and behaviours. Learn more on the Virus Watch website.
Apply Now
Nominations are now open and will close at midnight on 15 September 2025.
Winners will be announced at our ONS Research Capability Event on Wednesday 4 December—a fantastic opportunity to hear about the latest work using secure data and celebrate the people behind it. Save the date and join us for this inspiring showcase of research excellence.
For more information and to apply, visit
If you have any questions, feel free to contact the team at REA2025@ons.gov.uk.
Let’s celebrate the power of secure data to make a difference.
About the author
Alana is the Senior Analytical Impact lead for the Secure Research Service and the Integrated Data Service at the Office for National Statistics. Alana has a background in social research and has worked at ONS for over 3 years. Her team focuses on measuring and demonstrating outcome and impact from research use of ONS controlled data assets.
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