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Census Learning Zone

Hi, I'm Professor GROS. Welcome to the Census Learning Zone!    I will be your guide to the Scottish Schools Census Project

Count ME in Scotland is a project which aims to encourage schools to learn about the national Census and to make use of past and present Census material. But it's not all dry-as-dust statistics!

The Census Learning Zone is all about people. It's about where we live, our relations, our friends. It's about what we do to study and to work. It's about people now, and in the past. And it's about our future.

In most countries around the world there is a regular count of how many people make up the population. In the United Kingdom that count of people - or Census, to give it its proper name - happens every 10 years. The very first official Census in Britain was in 1801. In Scotland it was the parish schoolmasters who carried out the Census until 1831. Ten years later the first Census was held which is very similar to the one held on April 2001.

Scotland's population was 1.6 million at the first official Census in 1801. It had doubled to 3.2 million in 1861 - today it is 5.1 million.

Lots of organisations and businesses need information about people so that they can plan to improve services, construct new buildings and make new products.

The national Census collects details of every person in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Everyone is included. Our family, our relatives and our friends. Newborn babies must be counted. And the oldest people. Information about the buildings we live in, educational qualifications, and work experience is also collected.

If you were born before 22 April 1991 and resident in Scotland you were counted then. Your name will be in the records of the 5.1 million people who make up the population of Scotland. And you were counted again on 29 April 2001.

Although you may have been counted on 29 April 2001, your name and address will not be available to anyone for 100 years because all the records are kept secret for that long period. Everything else about you - where you live, who you are related to, how old you are, and so on - is published as statistics. These are lists of figures, the numbers giving a highly detailed picture of the people of Scotland

So how does a Census work?

Click on the links below for more information, and to access the Schools Census Data Library

( Please note: because of changes over the past 100 years to local authority boundaries and in the Census questions, the data in the tables has been simplified for the purposes of this project and, therefore, exact comparisons are not always possible)

• Answers to Questions about Censuses
• Things you always wanted to know about Censuses
• Why use Postcodes?
• How is the Census information processed?
• The 2001 Census Form (This form is in Adobe Acrobat Format )
• The 1991 Census Form (This form is in Adobe Acrobat Format )
• Census Questions 1801 - 1991 (This form is in Lotus 1-2-3 .wk1 Format )
• GROS - Schools Census Data (Council Area Map)