Study Permissions Dataset

Study Permissions Dataset#

Last modified: 28 Nov 2025

UK LLC has created a study permissions dataset which serves as the UK LLC denominator or 'spine'.

1. Summary#

The study permissions dataset, formerly know as the denominator dataset, incorporates all participants across all LPS. Each project in the TRE is automatically provisioned a file named ‘study_permissions_v0000_YYYYMMDD’ (formerly known as ‘CORE_denominator_file1_v0000_YYYYMMDD’). The date in the dataset name relates to the “File 1” freeze (permissions) to which each project is fixed. Participant permissions are correct and applied to each dataset as of this date.

The dataset enables researchers to:

  • calculate linkage rates (when joined to linked datasets)

  • contextualise LPS participants within UK LLC in relation to the LPS datasets.

When considering NHS England and Wales linkage permission flags (nhs_e_linkage_permission and nhs_w_linkage_permission), you need to also consider the national_opt_out flag. When national_opt_out is set to “0”, this means that the participant has set explicit consent with their LPS. Where national_opt_out is set to “1”, this means that the participant has flowed for linkage under Section 251 support. Participants who flow under Section 251 are filtered by linked data owners for national data opt-outs (NDOOs)- the health records of any section 251 participant who has set an NDOO will not flow to UK LLC. Note, however, that exclusion of participants whose national_opt_out flag is set to “1”, cannot be inferred to mean that they had set an NDOO. NHS data owners do not notify UK LLC of which participants have set NDOOs and there are other reasons for participants’ health data not flowing, such as failed linkage due to quality of personal identifiers.

Dataset Descriptor Dataset-specific Information
Name of Dataset in TRE UKLLC_study_permissions
Citation (APA) UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration. (2025). UK LLC Managed: Study Permissions Dataset - Dated 03 Sep 2025. UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration (UK LLC). https://doi.org/10.71760/ukllc-dataset-00479-01
Download Citation Citeproc JSON     BibTeX     RIS
Series UK LLC Managed
Owner UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration
Temporal Coverage Unknown - Unknown
Keywords
Participant Count 332157
Number of variables 15
Number of observations 819155
Specific Restrictions to Data Use None
Build a Data Request https://explore.ukllc.ac.uk/

2. Variables#

Variable Description
study_id_e None
cohort Longitudinal Population Study participant belongs to
ukllc_status Overall UK LLC permission
nhs_e_linkage_permission Permission to link to NHS England records
nhs_ni_linkage_permission Permission to link to NHS records in Northern Ireland
nhs_s_linkage_permission Permission to link to Scottish NHS records
nhs_w_linkage_permission Permission to link to Welsh NHS records
geocoding_permission Permission to geocode and link to records with postcode/UPRN
zoesymptomtracker_permission Permission to link to Zoe Sympton Tracker data
national_opt_out LPS is using opt-out and opt-out to be applied to participant
avail_from_dt None
llc_join_date Date participant join UK LLC
hmrc_linkage_permission None
dwp_linkage_permission None
dfe_linkage_permission None

3. Version History#

TBC

4. Useful Syntax#

Below we will include syntax that may be helpful to other researchers in the UK LLC TRE. For longer scripts, we will include a snippet of the code plus a link to Git where you can find the full scripts.