Corrections and revisions policy for official statistics
Updated 30 October 2025
Applies to England
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We aim to minimise changes to our statistical publications once published, but sometimes changes are necessary.
These changes can come in the form of:
- unscheduled corrections – these are unplanned and occur when errors in either the data or the methodology are found after release of the publication and need to be corrected
- scheduled revisions – these are planned in advance and are usually done in order to include additional data that was unavailable at the point of publication.
Unscheduled corrections
As outlined in our quality framework for statistical publications, we have robust procedures in place to minimise errors. However, errors do sometimes occur.
Where an error does occur, we assess the extent to which an error could affect interpretation of the publication and take appropriate action. If an error which could affect interpretation is found after a release has been published, the report will be republished.
When issuing corrections, we will:
- republish the release in a timely manner – if the correction will take some time to prepare, we will add a prominent message to the published page to advise users of the nature of the error and when we intend to correct it; we may decide to preannounce a date for republishing on our preannouncements calendar, depending on the nature of the error and the correction needed
- once corrected, publish detailed and prominent correction notices within the release to advise users of the cause of the error, what we have done to correct it, the extent of the impact, and which sections have been affected
Scheduled Revisions
We may occasionally plan to make scheduled updates to published statistics. This may include, for example, situations where some data was missing at the time of initial publication but where the release could still go ahead in a meaningful way without it.
For the initial release, we may decide to exclude whole sections or publish figures with a prominent caveat. Those sections would then be added or updated at a later date, once that data becomes available.
When planning and publishing scheduled revisions, we will:
- be clear and transparent in the initial publication where we are expecting additional data, what the impact of this missing data is, and when we intend to publish an update
- preannounce a date for republishing on our preannouncements calendar
- publish the revisions in a timely manner, to the preannounced date wherever possible, as soon as is practical after receiving and processing the additional data
- include in the republished release prominent revision notices to advise users of the revision, the extent of the impact, and which figures have been affected
Pre-release conditions applied to corrections and revisions
See our pre-release policy for official statistics for more information on pre-release access.
In most cases, we will not provide 24-hours pre-release access to revisions and corrections, so that we can openly publish them in as timely a manner as possible. However, depending on the scale, nature and impact of the changes to be made, we may on occasion consider this.
Where we do decide to offer 24-hours pre-release access, the change would be subject to the same pre-release conditions as new official statistics, as outlined in our pre-release policy.