Wording changes census 2011 to 2021

​FOI Ref: FOI/2022/4628

You asked

Can you please provide:

1. A list of the questions for which the wording changed between the 2011 Census and the 2021 Census

2. The original 2011 Census question wording and the changed 2021 Census wording.

We said

Thank you for your request.

Please find attached specimen census household questionnaires for England for both 2011 and 2021 enabling you to compare the wording of all the questions asked and the response options. There were also changes to the order in which the options were presented in some questions.

In most cases, the questions have remained the same. Where there have been changes, these mostly provide either more or the same detail. However, in a few instances, less detail was collected in Census 2021 than was collected in the 2011 Census. In the 2011 Census there was a single, complex question on qualifications held. For Census 2021, separate questions on degree-level or above qualifications and on apprenticeships were asked.

For the first time we collected information on veterans (question 32), and two voluntary questions - sexual orientation (Q26) and gender identity (Q27).

Full details of the work that we carried out to determine the questions for Census 2021 are available on the question development pages of the ONS website.