The response to Census 2021 has been very high, with 97 per cent of households across England and Wales making sure they count when it comes to local services like school places, GP surgeries and hospital beds.
For anyone who haven’t yet completed the Census online, time is running out with the online questionnaire closing on 17 May.
Now the main field operation has finished, around 350,000 households across England and Wales will be invited to take part in the Census Coverage Survey (CCS).
From this week, a sample of households will receive a card through the post asking them to take part.
An interviewer will then visit to fill in the questionnaire with you on your doorstep following Covid-19 safety guidelines. The interviewer will be able to show an ID badge on a Census 2021 branded lanyard.
This short, separate, interviewer-led survey will enable the ONS to get a final view of the response rates.
Not too late to fill in your census!
While Census Day was on Sunday 21 March, it’s still not too late to respond online. It only takes around 10 minutes per person.
If you have lost the letter or have a second address you have not visited, go to the census website to request an online completion code for your address via SMS text message.
After 17 May, only paper questionnaires will be available.
It is a legal requirement to take part take part in the census. Anyone refusing to take part could be taken to court and issued with a £1,000 fine and criminal record. The census non-compliance operation will begin on 25 May.
Community engagement is continuing to make sure all groups of the population are represented in the census.
Students, for example, need to make sure they have completed a questionnaire for their term-time address to help get the services they need in their university town now and in the future.
Students should complete a form even if they were included on their family form at home.
People with second addresses also need to fill out a short form for their properties whether it is a caravan, holiday home or commuter flat.
Local census support centres have now closed, but help and paper questionnaires are still available through the census contact centre on freephone 0800 141 2021.
