About the census : About the Census Coverage Survey

We try our hardest to make sure everyone is counted in a census. However, no census is perfect, and some people will be missed. We want to make sure the number missed is as small as possible.

To do this we conduct the Census Coverage Survey (CCS). The CCS is a short survey to find out how many people have been missed and how many people have been counted more than once. If your house is chosen, someone will come to your door and ask you some questions.

Information the Census Coverage Survey collects

The CCS asks similar questions to those on the census questionnaire, just fewer of them. It’s carried out six weeks after the census in a sample of areas across England and Wales.

The CCS records are then compared with those from the census. If needed, the census data is then adjusted. This is all to make sure the information produced is as accurate as possible for planning services such as health, education, housing and transport.