Glossary
Definitions of the geographic and statistical terms used on this site.
Administrative areas
- Ward
- The smallest unit of local government in England and Wales. Each ward elects one or more councillors to the local authority. There are around 8,000 wards in England.
- Parish
- A civil parish is the lowest tier of local government, mostly in rural areas. Parishes have a parish council (or town council in larger settlements). Not all areas have a parish.
- County
- A traditional administrative division of England. Some areas still have a two-tier system with a county council overseeing several district councils. In other areas the county and district functions are combined into a unitary authority.
- Region
- One of nine broad geographic regions of England (e.g. South East, North West, London), used for statistical reporting. These replaced the former Government Office Regions.
- Country
- One of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Political areas
- Parliamentary Constituency
- An area that elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons. The UK has 650 constituencies, redrawn periodically by the Boundary Commissions.
Health
- Integrated Care Board
- An NHS body responsible for planning and funding health services in a geographic area. ICBs replaced Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in July 2022. There are 42 ICBs in England.
- Sub-ICB Location
- A subdivision of an Integrated Care Board, broadly corresponding to the former CCG areas. Used for more local health service planning and reporting.
- NHS Region
- One of seven NHS England regions that oversee the performance of Integrated Care Boards and NHS trusts within their area.
Police
- Police Force Area
- The geographic area covered by a single police force. England and Wales have 43 territorial police forces, each led by a chief constable and overseen by a Police and Crime Commissioner.
Statistical areas
- Lower Super Output Area
- A small statistical area designed by the ONS for reporting neighbourhood-level data. Each LSOA contains roughly 1,000–3,000 people (average 1,500). There are 33,755 LSOAs in England. They are the basis for deprivation indices and many other local statistics.
- Middle Super Output Area
- A medium-sized statistical area, each containing roughly 5,000–15,000 people (average 7,500). MSOAs are built from groups of LSOAs and are used for data that would be too volatile at LSOA level, such as income estimates and house prices.
- Output Area
- The smallest unit of census geography, designed to have roughly similar population sizes (around 100–600 people). Output Areas are the building blocks from which LSOAs and MSOAs are constructed.
- Travel to Work Area
- A statistical area where at least 75% of the resident workforce also work within the area. TTWAs are designed to approximate self-contained labour markets and are used to analyse commuting patterns and local economies.
- Built-up Area
- An ONS-defined area of continuous urban development — essentially, the physical extent of a town or city as determined from satellite imagery, regardless of administrative boundaries.
- Local Enterprise Partnership
- A voluntary partnership between local authorities and businesses to drive economic growth in a functional economic area. LEPs were established in 2011 and are being wound down, with their functions transferring to combined authorities and upper-tier councils.
- National Park
- A protected landscape designated for its natural beauty, wildlife, and cultural heritage. England has ten National Parks, each with its own planning authority.
Other terms
- Index of Multiple Deprivation
- A measure of relative deprivation for small areas (Lower Super Output Areas) in England, combining seven weighted domains: income (22.5%), employment (22.5%), education (13.5%), health (13.5%), crime (9.3%), housing & services (9.3%), and living environment (9.3%). Published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, most recently in 2025. Ranks run from 1 (most deprived) to 33,755 (least deprived). The indices measure relative deprivation only — they compare areas but don't quantify absolute deprivation levels. See the research report for detailed interpretation guidance, or explore areas on the Local Deprivation Explorer.
- IMD: Income domain
- Measures the proportion of the population experiencing deprivation relating to low income (22.5% of the overall IMD). Drawn from benefits and tax credits data. Includes two supplementary indices: the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) for under-16s and the Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDAOPI) for over-60s. See the technical report for full methodology.
- IMD: Employment domain
- Measures the proportion of the working-age population involuntarily excluded from the labour market (22.5% of the overall IMD). Drawn from benefit claimant data including Universal Credit, ESA, and Incapacity Benefit. See the technical report for full methodology.
- IMD: Education, Skills and Training domain
- Measures the lack of attainment and skills in the local population (13.5% of the overall IMD). Includes pupil absence, attainment at Key Stage 4, entry to higher education, and adults lacking qualifications or English language proficiency. See the technical report for full methodology.
- IMD: Health Deprivation and Disability domain
- Measures the risk of premature death and impairment of quality of life through poor physical or mental health (13.5% of the overall IMD). Incorporates mortality and morbidity indicators and health-related benefit data. See the technical report for full methodology.
- IMD: Crime domain
- Measures the risk of personal and material victimisation at local level (9.3% of the overall IMD). Drawn from police-recorded crime including violence, burglary, theft, and criminal damage. See the technical report for full methodology.
- IMD: Barriers to Housing and Services domain
- Measures the physical and financial accessibility of housing and local services (9.3% of the overall IMD). Includes household overcrowding, housing affordability, homelessness, distance to key services (GP, shops, primary school, post office), and broadband connectivity. See the technical report for full methodology.
- IMD: Living Environment domain
- Measures the quality of both the indoor and outdoor local environment (9.3% of the overall IMD). Indoor measures include housing condition (via Energy Performance Certificates) and central heating. Outdoor measures include air quality, noise pollution, access to private gardens, and road traffic accidents. See the technical report for full methodology.
- Attainment 8
- A school performance measure based on GCSE results across eight subjects. The average score for all pupils in a school, with a maximum possible score of 90. Used as the headline measure of school performance in England.
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective schools admit pupils regardless of academic ability (the vast majority of state schools). Selective schools use entrance exams to select some or all pupils by ability (grammar schools). Independent (private) schools set their own admissions criteria and are shown as “—”.
- English & Maths 5+
- The percentage of pupils achieving grade 5 or above (“strong pass”) in both English and Mathematics GCSEs. Grade 5 is the standard considered a “good” pass by the Department for Education.
- GSS Code
- A nine-character identifier assigned to geographic areas by the ONS Geography team (e.g. E05000001 for a ward). The prefix letter indicates the country (E = England, W = Wales, S = Scotland, N = Northern Ireland).
- Straight-line distance
- Some distances are shown as straight-line ("as the crow flies") rather than walking or driving distance. This happens when there is no road route between two points, usually because they are separated by water. The actual travel distance may be longer if a ferry or bridge is involved. Straight-line distances are marked with an asterisk (*).