About the Secure Research Service

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service (SRS) is a Trusted Research Environment (TRE). We give accredited or approved researchers secure access to a wealth of de-identified, unpublished data to work on research projects for the public good.

The Secure Research Service will remain open, continuing to provide accredited researchers with access to data.

We have been accredited as a Digital Economy Act (DEA) 2017 processor by the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) for the provision of data for research purposes.

For safe use of secure data, the Secure Research Service (SRS) uses the Five Safes Framework. This is a set of principles adopted by a range of secure labs, to which researchers and their organisations must adhere. These protocols provide complete assurance for data owners. The Five Safes are:

• Safe People: trained and accredited researchers trusted to use data appropriately

• Safe Projects: data that are only used for valuable, ethical research that delivers clear public benefits

• Safe Settings: settings in which access to data is only possible using our secure technology systems

• Safe Data: data that have been de-identified

• Safe Outputs: all research outputs that are checked to ensure they cannot identify data subjects

The Secure Research Service (SRS) is not the only Trusted Research Environment (TRE) accredited under the Digital Economy Act (DEA). Becoming an accredited researcher under the DEA will also enable access to other TREs. A complete list can be found on the UK Statistics Authority website.

Most datasets are available to access through remote access to the Secure Research Service (SRS). In some instances, the data can only be accessed from an approved safe setting. Our online metadata catalogue lists all available datasets and any associated access restrictions.

If you would like to access our data, and are not already an accredited or approved researcher, then please follow the steps outlined in Become an accredited researcher.

You can contact the Secure Research Service (SRS) Customer Support team for more information by email srs.customer.support@ons.gov.uk.

If you require initial log on credentials or a password reset, please contact by telephone on +44 1329 447871 between the hours of 9am and 11am and 1pm and 3pm.