ONSUD: User Guide for the ONS UPRN and Postcode Directory

ONSUD is the official user guide for the UK's Office for National Statistics UPRN and Postcode Directory, a key geospatial linking resource. The guide details the methodology for assigning administrative and statistical areas to postcodes, covering data formats, quality, and limitations. Its cross-platform presence on UK and EU open data portals signals its importance for official geospatial referencing.

Use Cases

• Linking postcodes to administrative boundaries based on the documented assignment methodology.
• Understanding data quality and limitations for geospatial analysis using the ONS directory.
• Referencing the structure and content of the ONS UPRN and Address Directory for data integration projects.

Strengths

• Provides official, authoritative documentation from the UK's Office for National Statistics.
• Includes detailed methodology for area assignment and explanations of data quality, as described in the user guide.
• Available in multiple formats (PDF, ODT) within the download package.

Limitations

• The dataset is a documentation guide, not a primary data file, so it contains no tabular records or UPRNs itself.
• Metadata for row count, specific columns, and license is consistently absent or 'None' across all platform entries.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (e.g., 2026-04-29 vs. 2023-02-13) across entries create uncertainty about the guide's current version.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service (UK), Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Collection Method

Official government publication of methodology and user documentation.

Time Range

Referenced editions span from 2022 to 2024 (e.g., APR_2022, APR_2024).

Freshness

Last updated dates range from 2023-02-13 to 2026-04-29 across platforms, indicating potential version conflicts.

Geography

United Kingdom, Great Britain, GB.