About the census : 2019 Rehearsal

To prepare for Census 2021, we at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently held a census rehearsal.

The rehearsal gave us a great chance to check our processes, systems and services were running smoothly ahead of the real thing. It took place in four local authority areas: Carlisle, Ceredigion, Hackney and Tower Hamlets.

Thank you if you took part

We’d like to say a big “thank you” if you filled in and submitted your census rehearsal questionnaire – we’re grateful for your time. You’ve played an important part in making Census 2021 a success.

What’s next?

We’re now starting to look back at how things went in the rehearsal to see if there’s anywhere we need to make improvements before the census in 2021.

We’re also holding a Census Coverage Survey rehearsal and we’ll soon be running a Census Quality Survey rehearsal. These are both smaller surveys that will take place in the same rehearsal areas. They will help us test those parts of the census operation.