ONS UPRN Directory: User Guide for UK Address and Postcode Data

ONS UPRN Directory user guide details content, methodology, and limitations for UK address and postcode data. The Government Digital Service provides this documentation, last updated on the platform in August 2025. It includes PDF and ODT versions totaling 356 KB.

Use Cases

• Understanding data currency and update cycles based on the guide's information on data currency.
• Applying area assignment methodologies for postcodes based on the described methodology.
• Assessing dataset suitability for projects based on the documented data quality and limitations.

Strengths

• Includes detailed methodological documentation for assigning areas to postcodes.
• Provides both PDF and ODT versions of the guide, offering format flexibility.
• Explicitly documents data quality and limitations to inform users.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service

Collection Method

Official government methodology and compilation.

Time Range

September 2024 (Epoch 112) for the directory version referenced.

Freshness

Last updated 2025-08-11 08:22:40; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Likely United Kingdom, based on ONS (Office for National Statistics) scope.