The 2021 Classification for Output Areas (2021 OAC) is a hierarchical geodemographic classification across the UK which identifies areas of the country with similar characteristics. The classification contains the following breakdown of Output Areas into 8 different supergroups, into which are nested 21 groups and and 52 sub-groups.

IMPORTANT: If you need the data for just areas within England and/or Wales, you can download it directly from this page rather than applying for it here.

UK-OAC is a a full-area-coverage interim release of 2021 OAC, covering the whole of the UK. Because the Census 2021 in Scotland was delayed until 2022, and the resulting small-area aggregate Scottish statistics have not yet been published, this version of OAC includes modelled data for Scotland and Northern Ireland (which has had a slower release schedule compared with England and Wales). Please see the linked academic paper for details of the modelling that was applied.

This product has identical subgroups, groups and supergroups to the Output Area Classification 2021, and the classification result for England and Wales is also identical. The Output Area Classification 2021 has been separately released in partnership with the Office for National Statistics as an Open CDRC product and is available here.

It is hoped to replace this interim version of the classification with a real-data version covering the whole of the UK, once the underlying source data is available, most likely some time in late 2024. It is not anticipated that it will be necessary to change the classifications or definitions for any areas in England/Wales.

To avoid confusion between the modelled-data and real-data parts of UK-OAC, the dataset itself has been retained as a Safeguarded-level dataset and is only available upon application through the normal CDRC application process for controlled datasets.

The reference paper for 2021 OAC is available at https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12550