Technical Report: The Universal Credit Survey

Question 1

1. Introduction

Accepted Answer

Technical report overview

This report provides the technical and methodological details of the Universal Credit Survey quantitative research commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and conducted by Ipsos UK. This report provides detail on the methodology of the research, including sampling, recruitment and fieldwork materials (copies of these materials are included in Section 4, the Annex).

Research overview

DWP commissioned Ipsos to conduct the Universal Credit Survey in 2025. The survey aimed to:

investigate UC customer knowledge, awareness and understanding of UC and its incentives
capture UC customer aspirations towards work and progression, and map this against customer knowledge about UC incentives and support
uncover customer barriers to working or earning more

Additionally, Ipsos was commissioned to conduct a randomised control trial in tandem with the survey to investigate the impact of incentives on survey response rates among the UC customer population.

The survey was a mixed mode online email survey with CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviewing) follow-up interviews to target those who had not completed the survey online or those who may be digitally excluded. The findings were presented in a final report.

Question 2

2. Quantitative research

Accepted Answer

Sampling

DWP supplied Ipsos with a random sample of 120,000 UC customers sourced from DWP administrative data, drawn in March 2025. The sample was stratified by region, UC conditionality and length of time on UC and then randomly selected from the strata.

The sample included the following information: DWP identifier, contact details (name, address, email address, phone number), age, gender, details about UC claim (date of claim, claim type, needs type, length of time on UC), presence and age of children, UC characteristics (work allowance eligibility, advances, deductions, health journey status, benefits cap status, carer status, appointee status, conditionality regime, UC housing element status) and details of other related DWP benefits (live PIP claim).

The sample was cleaned by removing cases in the following conditions:

if the customer was included on Ipsos’s internal ‘Do not contact list’
if there were two customers with the same postal address, the duplicate record was removed randomly (DWP wanted to survey one customer per household only)
there were no contact details for the respondent (no email address or telephone number)

Of the remaining cases:

500 cases were randomly selected to take part in the initial pilot
4500 cases were randomly selected to take part in one of three arms of the incentives trial (1500 cases in each trial arm)
20,000 cases were randomly selected to be in the reserve sample to be used in the event of lower-than-expected response rate
the remaining cases (94,197 were randomly selected to take part in the mainstage sample (within the trial control condition)

In total, 119,197 cases were loaded to take part in the survey.

Survey and questionnaire development

The quantitative questionnaire (Annex 3.7) was developed in consultation with and signed off by colleagues in the DWP Universal Credit Analysis Team prior to scripting.

The questionnaire was developed to address the research questions and guided by prior relevant questionnaires from surveys of UC customers and priority areas of enquiry provided by DWP and their stakeholders. The questionnaire was reviewed and updated iteratively by Ipsos and DWP.

The questionnaire covered the following topics:

current circumstances: employment, work contract and hours, employment history
knowledge and awareness of UC
reasons for delaying making a claim to UC
whether they applied for a new claim advance and if it was helpful
motivations for making a claim to UC
whether support was accessed when making a claim to UC
aspirations for work and increasing earnings
barriers and enablers to working and increasing earnings
contact with and support from a work coach
demographic profile: gender, age, ethnicity, health status, level of education, housing tenure, how they are managing financially, caring responsibilities, whether they had experienced care, whether they were an ex-offender, whether they had experienced homelessness and whether they had a previous experience of substance dependency

All respondents were asked for permission to be recontacted for potential future follow-up interviews and were able to decline.

Cognitive testing

Ipsos conducted cognitive testing interviews on a selection of survey questions in March 2025, testing those questions which had not been previously used in surveys of the UC population or which contained complex or technical language.

The interviews involved reading out or displaying the survey questions to a small sample of participants to test if the language was understandable, and if the questions and responses were interpreted in the way that was intended. It further tested whether the responses were understandable, relevant and covered a broad range of suitable options.

In total, 10 current or former UC customers were recruited using free find recruitment to take part in one-hour cognitive interviews.

These interviews were carried out either via MS Teams (with screen sharing equivalent to online survey testing) or via telephone (equivalent to telephone interview testing).

A £40 shopping voucher was offered to compensate participants for their time. A cognitive testing report was provided to DWP, and the questionnaire was amended using the feedback from it.

Piloting

Ipsos conducted a survey pilot with 500 UC customers prior to launching mainstage fieldwork. The pilot was carried out to further test the survey, its functionality, including routing instructions, and levels of the engagement (for example high levels of “Don’t know” responses).

A pilot report was provided to DWP and the findings informed further refinements of the questionnaire before mainstage fieldwork.

Fieldwork

The mainstage fieldwork took place between 22 May and 13 July 2025. In total, 9,658 surveys were completed by UC customers, 7,106 (73.6%) were completed online and 2,552 (26.4%) were conducted by CATI.

A multimode approach was adopted to boost the representativeness of the sample against the sample frame, and to ensure that those who may be digitally less confident and less likely to complete an online survey were not excluded from the survey.

Communication to participants

An invitation email was sent to participants, including a URL to complete the survey online and contact details of the research team to opt-out of further contact. Customers who opted out did not receive further reminders or a telephone call.

The email invitation is included in the appendix (Annex 3.1). It included:

information about the research
a link to complete the survey online
information about potentially being contacted by the telephone team
details about how to opt-out of the research
a link to the survey privacy policy

An initial batch of 500 email invitations were sent for the pilot fieldwork phase. Following the pilot, invitations were sent to everyone in the mainstage sample who had an email address. Details of the number of email addresses can be found in the response rate section.

On the 25th of June, the reserve sample was invited to take part online only.

The number of customers opting out of further contact during fieldwork was 140.

Fieldwork management and monitoring

CATI fieldwork started nine days after the invitation was sent out. The telephone unit received a detailed briefing ahead of calling. They were provided with details about the project background, research objectives and how the project would be carried out.

Each sample record was called a maximum of 8 times before it was deemed to be uncontactable. The sample was called at different times during the day, such as after work, and on different days of the week to maximise the response rates.

Survey completes were monitored on a regular basis throughout the fieldwork period and reported to DWP in regular weekly updates. CATI interviews were weighted to each trial arm size to make sure each trial arm was being called at the proportionate level.

The research team monitored the number of CATI completes and online completes by quotas and asked the telephone unit to focus the CATI interviews on the quotas that were underperforming during fieldwork.

The initial estimated breakdown of completes was approximately 80% online completes and 20% CATI. During fieldwork, the progress of online completes was lower than expected. Consequently, the target estimates for mode completion were adjusted to 75% online and 25% CATI to improve response rates.

Other steps taken to help increase response rates included using the reserve sample. This was used for the online mode only to help reach the online target.

Due to the reserve sample having a shorter fieldwork window, an online only survey mode, and a different number of invitations, they were not analysed as part of the incentives trial where conditions were kept the same between trial arms.

Reminder schedule

In addition to the invitations, a total of 12 reminders were sent, which included eight email reminders and four text reminders.

The invitation and reminder schedule is included in Table 1. The reserve sample received a total of six reminders, which included four email reminders and two text reminders.

Table 1 Invite and reminder schedule

Reminder number	Reminder type	Recipients	Date issued (all 2025)
N/A	Email (invitation)	All mainstage sample	21st May
1	Email	All mainstage sample	30th May
2	Email	All mainstage sample	10th June
3	Text	All mainstage sample	13th June
4	Email	All mainstage sample	17th June
5	Text	All mainstage sample	20th June
6	Email	All mainstage sample	24th June
N/A	Email (invitation)	Reserve sample	25th June
7	Email	Mainstage and reserve sample	1st July
8	Text	Mainstage and reserve sample	3rd July
9	Email	Mainstage and reserve sample	4th July
10	Email	Mainstage and reserve sample	7th July
11	Text	Mainstage and reserve sample	9th July
12	Email	Mainstage and reserve sample	10th July

Impact of Reminder schedule

As shown in Figure 1, multiple reminders were needed to reach the target number of completes during fieldwork. Figure 1 displays the cumulative number of responses per reminder activity.

The email reminders varied slightly between versions, (however consistent between trial arms), in terms of their subject line and content, to encourage greater participation.

Figure 1 Cumulative number of completes resulting from each reminder activity

Activity	Cumulative number of completes resulting from each reminder activity
Invitation	612
Email Reminder 1	2007
Email Reminder 2	2836
Text Reminder 1	4021
Email Reminder 3	4566
Text Reminder 2	5478
Email Reminder 4	5880
Reserve Sample Invited	7010
Email Reminder 5	7449
Text Reminder 3	7924
Email Reminder 6	8320
Email Reminder 7	8623
Text Reminder 4	9124
Email Reminder 8	9658

Figure 2 displays the proportion of total completes per reminder activity. It shows that the proportion of completes reduced towards the later stages of fieldwork. Adding the reserve sample increased the number of completes, however later reminder activities still show lower proportions of responses than initial reminders.

Multiple additional reminders were required to achieve the target of 10,000. The first email (14%) and text reminders (12%) were particularly impactful in achieving completes. The results show that using a mix of email and text reminders were useful to reach the target completes.

Figure 2 Percentage of total completes resulting from each reminder activity

Activity	Percentage of total completes resulting from each reminder activity
Invitation	6%
Email Reminder 1	14%
Email Reminder 2	9%
Text Reminder 1	12%
Email Reminder 3	6%
Text Reminder 2	9%
Email Reminder 4	4%
Reserve Sample Invited	12%
Email Reminder 5	5%
Text Reminder 3	5%
Email Reminder 6	4%
Email Reminder 7	4%
Text Reminder 4	5%
Email Reminder 8	6%

Survey length

The survey took on average 25 minutes to complete via CATI. We have not included the average online completion time as this is heavily skewed by respondents who keep the survey online in the browser or return to the survey to complete later.

There was little variation in the average length of CATI interview across a range of UC customers characteristics.

Online completion device

Of the 7,106 who completed online, 6,288 (88.5%) took part via smartphone, 730 (10.3%) took part via desktop, 63 (0.9%) took part on a tablet, 1 (0%) took part on a phablet, and 24 (0.3%) could not be traced to a device.

Drop offs

We examined if there were any questions that caused a high number of drop-offs, that is questions where people stopped taking part in the survey. In total there were 7,022 people who started the survey either online or via CATI but did not complete it. Table 2 displays any question (with more than ten cases) where a participant reached the question and then stopped taking part. The questions are in order of when they appear in the survey. Questions with ten or less cases are not displayed.

The data shows that most respondents who dropped out did so towards the beginning of the survey (for example opening demographics, question about work status), and questions later in the survey did not constitute a major barrier to completion. Respondents were either likely to stop taking part at the beginning or go onto completion.

Table 2 Drop offs at each section of the survey

Question name	Frequency	Percentage
OPENINGDEMOGINTRO	645	9.2
WORK	1389	19.8
NUMBERJOB	88	1.3
CONTRACT	269	3.8
WORKHOURS	131	1.9
JOBSTABILITY	76	1.1
SECTOR	120	1.7
NOTWORKING	504	7.2
OUTOFWORK	230	3.3
KNOWLEDGEINTRO	106	1.5
ELEMENTSAWARENESS	839	11.9
PASSPORTAWARE	173	2.5
PASSPORTRECEIVE	59	0.8
REPORTCAPITAL	834	11.9
REPORTCHANGE	343	4.9
WORKALLOWANCEKNOWLEDGE	49	0.7
UNDERSTANDING	264	3.8
EARLYCLAIMINTRO	36	0.5
MOTIVATION	134	1.9
CHILDCAREUSE	20	0.3
WORKINTRO	17	0.2
WORKPERCEPTION	64	0.9
WORKBARRIERS	31	0.4
EARNINGBARRIERS	43	0.6
EARNINGENABLERS	74	1.1
EARNINGSBARRIERS2	54	0.8
WORKCOACHCONTACT	34	0.5
WCMINTRO	17	0.2
WORKCOACHCONTACT2	13	0.2
WORKCOACHSUPPORT	30	0.4
WCSUPPORTEFFECTIVE	11	0.2
MANAGINGFINANCIALLY	16	0.2
HIGHESTEDU	13	0.2
RECONTACT	27	0.4
Other	269	3.8
Total	7022	100.0

Online restart count

Participants were provided a unique survey link in their invitation. They could click their survey link and take part in one go or close the survey and return to it later by re-clicking their unique link in their invitation.

We looked at how many online clicks respondents used to complete the survey. 71.8% completed the survey in one go and did not re-enter the survey after first clicking on it. 3.7% took part after clicking back into the survey once. The remaining restart counts are displayed in Table 3.

Table 3 number of times participants re-entered the survey

Online Restart count	Frequency	Percent
0	5,103	71.8
1	261	3.7
2	951	13.4
3	164	2.3
4	323	4.5
5	55	0.8
6	125	1.8
7	29	0.4
8	38	0.5
9	7	0.1
10	20	0.3
11	5	0.1
12	13	0.2
13	3	0.0
14	4	0.1
15	2	0.0
17	1	0.0
19	1	0.0
24	1	0.0
Total	7,106	100.0

Response rates

Online

Online response rates are calculated using the mainstage and reserve samples. The pilot sample and completes are excluded from analysis.

A total number of 9,658 participants took part against a target of 10,000.

In total, 7,106 completed the survey online. The unadjusted online response rate, which is calculated as the number of online completes (7,106) divided by the number of available sample (119,417) was 5.95%.

An adjusted online response rate is calculated to assess the response rate of those who could complete online. Customers who did not complete online were called for a CATI interview.

Since UC customers who completed via CATI may have gone on to complete online, the adjusted online response rate removes the CATI completes from the total eligible online sample. It also removes those without an email address, or whose email address bounced back.

The adjusted online response rate is calculated as:

the number of online completes (7,106) divided by usable cases (111,223). Usable cases are the full sample minus:
- cases without email addresses (3,626)
- email bounce backs (2,016)
- CATI completes (2,552)

As such the adjusted online response rate was 6.39%.

CATI

CATI cooperation rates are calculated using the mainstage sample only.

In total, 2,552 completed the survey via CATI. However, calls stopped once the number of CATI interviews reached 2,552. As shown in Table 4, there were sample cases left in field when fieldwork closed. Consequently, the unadjusted CATI response rate is less meaningful for this study.

The CATI cooperation rate, which is the proportion of respondents who agreed to complete an interview compared with those who refused or abandoned was 47.66%.

Table 4 outlines the call outcomes and cooperation rate for the CATI fieldwork.

Table 4 CATI fieldwork outcomes and cooperation rate calculations (rounded to nearest whole number)

Outcome	Total
Total mainstage sample	98,697
Cases without telephone numbers	137
Wrong numbers^{[footnote 1]}	11,308
CATI sample left in field^{[footnote 2]}	23,936
Completed online	7,106
Completed CATI interviews	2,552
Scheduled but incomplete interviews	65
Refusals and optouts	2,738
CATI cooperation rate %^{[footnote 3]}	47.66

Data processing and weighting

Coding

Coding was applied to 9 questions which included “Other Specify” codes. Verbatim responses were back coded to existing questionnaire responses where appropriate. The threshold for including a new code was 5 or more mentions.

Weighting

Weighting was carried out to ensure that the achieved survey sample was representative of the UC customer population across the following characteristics:

age
gender
time on UC contract
UC conditionality

We used the UC customer population profile provided by DWP as of March 2025 to develop the weights. Weighted and unweighted sample profiles for claimants can be found in Table 5.

Table 5 Weighted and unweighted sample profiles

Age	Sample – unweighted (%)	Sample – weighted (%)
Under 25	7	10
25-49	58	64
50-64	33	24
Over 65	3	2

Gender	Sample – unweighted (%)	Sample – weighted (%)
Male	37	42
Female	63	58

Time on UC contract	Sample – unweighted (%)	Sample – weighted (%)
1-12 months	31	27
13+ months	69	73

UC Conditionality	Sample – unweighted (%)	Sample – weighted (%)
Earning enough	17	16
Intensive work search	23	24
Light touch in work	11	10
Light touch out of work	1	1
No work-related requirements	43	42
Work focused interview and work preparation	6	6

Data and statistical reliability

The final data from the survey are based on a weighted subset of the UC customers, rather than the entire population of UC customers. Percentage results are therefore subject to margins of error, which vary with the size of the sample and the percentage figure concerned.

In the main report we covered several sub-group analyses, such as gender, employment status, claim type, children, move customers, and health condition among others.

For each comparison between the aforementioned subgroups, Table 6 below shows how different the responses of each group need to be to fall within the 95% confidence interval.

For example, for a question where 50% of females gave a particular answer, the chances are 95 in 100 that this is significantly different to males if ± 2.1% of males gave the same answer (so greater than or equal to 52.1%, or less than or equal to 47.9%). This range is different under different percentage scenarios, such as 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and so on.

Table 6 Statistical reliability for each customer Group

	10% or 90%	20% or 80%	30% or 70%	40% or 60%	50%
Females (n = 6077) vs Male (n = 3581)	± 1.2	± 1.7	± 1.9	± 2.0	± 2.1
Employed (n = 4610) vs Unemployed (n = 5034)	± 1.2	± 1.6	± 1.8	± 2.0	± 2.0
Single claim (n = 6247) Couple claim (n = 3411)	± 1.3	± 1.7	± 1.9	± 2.0	± 2.1
Children under 16 (n = 4845) vs No children under 16 (n = 4813)	± 1.2	± 1.6	± 1.8	± 2.0	± 2.0
Move customer (n = 1543) vs non-move customers (n = 8115)	± 1.6	± 2.2	± 2.5	± 2.7	± 2.7
Health condition (n = 5934) vs No health condition (n = 3687)	± 1.2	± 1.6	± 1.9	± 2.0	± 2.1

Data on the characteristics of UC customers was a combination of data from DWP administrative datasets which were included in the sample, and from responses to survey questions. In cases where we have multiple data points for the same characteristic, for example whether the UC customer has caring responsibilities, we gave preference to the self-reported survey data when identifying subgroup differences.

Analysis and deliverables

An analysis session was conducted by the research team with representation from the Universal Credit Analysis team at DWP.

The purpose of the analysis session was to explore the main themes coming from the data and identify sub-groups of most prevalence and interest. Following the analysis meeting, Ipsos developed a findings presentation, which was delivered to DWP internal stakeholders in September 2025, followed by the written report of the findings which was finalised in November 2025.

Trial methodology

As part of the research, DWP commissioned Ipsos to conduct a randomised control trial in tandem with the survey to investigate the impact of incentives on survey response rates.

The primary objective of the trial was to test three experimental incentive packages against a control group receiving no incentive, with the aim of understanding whether the type and value of the incentive influenced several key outcomes related to survey participation and completion. The four trial arms comprising three treatment arms and the control group were offered the following incentives:

a control group received no incentive with their invitation to the survey
treatment group 1 received an unconditional upfront £10 voucher when invited to the survey
treatment group 2 received a £5 unconditional upfront voucher, followed by a £5 voucher conditional on completion
treatment group 3 received a £10 vouchers conditional on completion

Results of the trial can be found in the main research report (Chapter 8).

Question 3

3. Appendix

Accepted Answer

3.1 Invitation letter – Control

User ID: USER ID May 2025

Email Subject: Share your experiences of claiming Universal Credit

Dear FIRST NAME SURNAME

We are writing to invite you to take part in a survey to share your experiences of Universal Credit and DWP support offers. By sharing your experiences, you can help shape the future of Universal Credit and make a real difference for others.

The research is being conducted by Ipsos, an independent research organisation on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

How to take part

We invite you to share your views and experiences of claiming Universal Credit by taking part in this survey. It should take around 20 minutes to complete.

Participation in this research is voluntary and will not affect any benefits you may be claiming now, in the future, or your relationship with DWP. Your responses and any personal information you provide will be treated confidentially, and you will not be identifiable in any reports from this survey.

You can complete the survey on a phone, laptop, computer or tablet – whatever is easiest for you.

Please click here to take part by DATE.

If the survey link does not load, try refreshing the page or using a different browser. If you need to take a break, you can close the survey and re-enter by re-clicking on the link.

If you have any questions, or would prefer to take part by phone, or conduct the survey in Welsh, please email us at UC-Survey@ipsosresearch.com and provide the best phone number to call you on. Please remember to quote your User ID located at the top of this message when you contact us.

We may also call you in the next few weeks to invite you to take part. If you do not want to be contacted about this survey again, please email us at UC-Survey@ipsosresearch.com using your name and User ID.

Further information

Your data has been passed to Ipsos by DWP for the purposes of this research project.
By taking part in this survey your data will be combined, for research and statistical purposes only, with information held by DWP.
This research is being conducted as part of a trial being run by Ipsos on behalf of DWP to test ways of increasing response rates in surveys. By taking part your data will be analysed as part of this trial.
To find out how DWP use your data you can read DWP’s privacy policy
You can read Ipsos’ privacy policy here: Ipsos Privacy Policy

Thank you for considering being part of this important research

Yours sincerely,

Director
Ipsos

DWP Social Researcher
Department for Work and Pensions

3.2 Invitation letter – Control

User ID: USER ID May 2025

Email Subject: Share your experiences of claiming Universal Credit

Dear FIRST NAME SURNAME

We are writing to invite you to take part in a survey to share your experiences of Universal Credit and DWP support offers. By sharing your experiences, you can help shape the future of Universal Credit and make a real difference for others.

The research is being conducted by Ipsos, an independent research organisation on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

How to take part

We invite you to share your views and experiences of claiming Universal Credit by taking part in this survey. It should take around 20 minutes to complete.

Participation in this research is voluntary and will not affect any benefits you may be claiming now, in the future, or your relationship with DWP. Your responses and any personal information you provide will be treated confidentially, and you will not be identifiable in any reports from this survey.

You can complete the survey on a phone, laptop, computer or tablet – whatever is easiest for you.

Please click here to take part by DATE.

If the survey link does not load, try refreshing the page or using a different browser. If you need to take a break, you can close the survey and re-enter by re-clicking on the link.

If you have any questions, or would prefer to take part by phone, or conduct the survey in Welsh, please email us at UC-Survey@ipsosresearch.com and provide the best phone number to call you on. Please remember to quote your User ID located at the top of this message when you contact us.

We may also call you in the next few weeks to invite you to take part. If you do not want to be contacted about this survey again, please email us at UC-Survey@ipsosresearch.com using your name and User ID.

Further information

Your data has been passed to Ipsos by DWP for the purposes of this research project
By taking part in this survey your data will be combined, for research and statistical purposes only, with information held by DWP
This research is being conducted as part of a trial being run by Ipsos on behalf of DWP to test ways of increasing response rates in surveys. By taking part your data will be analysed as part of this trial
To find out how DWP use your data you can read DWP’s privacy policy
You can read Ipsos’ privacy policy here: Ipsos Privacy Policy

Thank you for considering being part of this important research

Yours sincerely,

Director
Ipsos

DWP Social Researcher

Department for Work and Pensions

3.3 Invitation letter Trial arm 2

User ID: USER ID May 2025

Email Subject: Share your experiences of claiming Universal Credit

Dear FIRST NAME SURNAME

We are writing to invite you to take part in a survey to share your experiences of Universal Credit and DWP support offers. By sharing your experiences, you can help shape the future of Universal Credit and make a real difference for others.

The research is being conducted by Ipsos, an independent research organisation on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

How to take part

We invite you to share your views and experiences of claiming Universal Credit by taking part in this survey. It should take around 20 minutes to complete.

Participation in this research is voluntary and will not affect any benefits you may be claiming now, in the future, or your relationship with DWP. Your responses and any personal information you provide will be treated confidentially, and you will not be identifiable in any reports from this survey.

You can complete the survey on a phone, laptop, computer or tablet – whatever is easiest for you.

Please click here to take part by DATE.

If the survey link does not load, try refreshing the page or using a different browser. If you need to take a break, you can close the survey and re-enter by re-clicking on the link.

If you have any questions, or would prefer to take part by phone, or conduct the survey in Welsh, please email us at UC-Survey@ipsosresearch.com and provide the best phone number to call you on. Please remember to quote your User ID located at the top of this message when you contact us.

To thank you for your time, we have provided a £5 online shopping voucher which can be used at a range of high street retailers or online.

Your shopping voucher is available now. Click here to it.

Once you have submitted your survey, we will send you another £5 online shopping voucher.

Please remember to click submit at the end of the survey to ensure your voucher is emailed directly to you.

Your vouchers will expire on DATE

We may also call you in the next few weeks to invite you to take part. If you do not want to be contacted about this survey again, please email us at UC-Survey@ipsosresearch.com using your name and User ID.

Further information

Your data has been passed to Ipsos by DWP for the purposes of this research project.
By taking part in this survey your data will be combined, for research and statistical purposes only, with information held by DWP
This research is being conducted as part of a trial being run by Ipsos on behalf of DWP to test ways of increasing response rates in surveys. By taking part your data will be analysed as part of this trial
To find out how DWP use your data you can read DWP’s privacy policy
You can read Ipsos’ privacy policy here: Ipsos Privacy Policy

Thank you for considering being part of this important research

Yours sincerely,

Director
Ipsos

DWP Social Researcher
Department for Work and Pensions

3.4 Invitation letter Trial arm 3

User ID: USER ID May 2025

Email Subject: Share your experiences of claiming Universal Credit

Dear FIRST NAME SURNAME

We are writing to invite you to take part in a survey to share your experiences of Universal Credit and DWP support offers. By sharing your experiences, you can help shape the future of Universal Credit and make a real difference for others.

The research is being conducted by Ipsos, an independent research organisation on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

How to take part

We invite you to share your views and experiences of claiming Universal Credit by taking part in this survey. It should take around 20 minutes to complete.

Participation in this research is voluntary and will not affect any benefits you may be claiming now, in the future, or your relationship with DWP. Your responses and any personal information you provide will be treated confidentially, and you will not be identifiable in any reports from this survey.

You can complete the survey on a phone, laptop, computer or tablet – whatever is easiest for you.

Please click here to take part by DATE.

If the survey link does not load, try refreshing the page or using a different browser. If you need to take a break, you can close the survey and re-enter by re-clicking on the link.

If you have any questions, or would prefer to take part by phone, or conduct the survey in Welsh, please email us at UC-Survey@ipsosresearch.com and provide the best phone number to call you on. Please remember to quote your User ID located at the top of this message when you contact us.

To thank you for your time, we will provide a £10 online shopping voucher which can be used at a range of high street retailers or online once you have submitted your survey. Please click submit at the end of the survey to ensure your voucher is emailed directly to you.

Your voucher will expire on DATE

We may also call you in the next few weeks to invite you to take part. If you do not want to be contacted about this survey again, please email us at UC-Survey@ipsosresearch.com using your name and User ID.

Further information

Your data has been passed to Ipsos by DWP for the purposes of this research project
By taking part in this survey your data will be combined, for research and statistical purposes only, with information held by DWP
This research is being conducted as part of a trial being run by Ipsos on behalf of DWP to test ways of increasing response rates in surveys. By taking part your data will be analysed as part of this trial
To find out how DWP use your data you can read DWP’s privacy policy
You can read Ipsos’ privacy policy here: Ipsos Privacy Policy

Thank you for considering being part of this important research

Yours sincerely,

Director
Ipsos

DWP Social Researcher
Department for Work and Pensions

3.5 Privacy notice Control

Universal Credit Survey Ipsos UK Privacy Policy

This privacy notice explains who we are, the personal data we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and what your legal rights are.

About Ipsos UK

Ipsos UK is a specialist research agency based in the UK. Ipsos UK is part of the Ipsos worldwide group of companies, and a member of the Market Research Society. As such we abide by the Market Research Society Code of Conduct and associated regulations and guidelines
Ipsos UK has been commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to measure people’s understanding of Universal Credit (UC)

About the Department for Work and Pensions

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is the British government department responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy. Universal Credit (UC) is a means tested benefit which is administered by DWP
DWP’s privacy notice can be reviewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/personal-information-charter
The data controller for the UC survey and the trial is DWP, while Ipsos will act as the data processor
By taking part in both the survey and trial your data will be combined, for research and statistical purposes only, with information held by DWP. DWP will retain your data until 31/12/2026 for additional analysis, after which it will be deleted. This will not affect any benefits you may be claiming now or in the future

What personal data has Ipsos UK received from DWP for this survey?

Ipsos UK has your personal data because we have been asked by DWP to carry out a research survey and a trial on their behalf
DWP has shared a limited amount of your personal data so that we can invite you to take part in this research survey
The personal data that the DWP has shared with us for this survey is:
- Your name
- Information about you including your age, gender, whether you have children and number of children, relationship status, needs, earnings, employment type
- Your contact details including your email address, telephone number and address
- Details about your UC claim status
- Whether you have an UC appointee
- Your appointee’s details including name, email address, postal address, phone number

What is Ipsos UK’s legal basis for processing your personal data?

Ipsos UK requires a legal basis to process your personal data. The legal basis under which DWP and its contractors process your personal data and ‘special category data’, such as information about your health/disability, racial or ethnic origin, is public task, which is to fulfil DWP’s public authority duty and for research that is in the public interest. If you wish to withdraw your agreement at any time, please see the section below covering ‘Your Rights’

How will Ipsos UK use any personal data including survey responses you provide?

Firstly, taking part in this survey and trial is entirely voluntary and any answers are given with your consent
Ipsos UK will keep your personal data and responses in strict confidence in accordance with this privacy notice. Pseudonymised individual responses will be shared with DWP, however Ipsos UK can assure you that you will NOT be identifiable to DWP or in any published results at an identifiable level
Ipsos UK and DWP will only use your personal data and responses solely for research and analysis purposes
This research is being conducted as part of a trial being run by Ipsos on behalf of DWP to test ways of increasing response rates in surveys. By taking part your data will be analysed as part of this trial
By taking part in this survey your data will be combined, for research and statistical purposes only, with information held by DWP

How will Ipsos UK ensure your personal information is secure?

Ipsos UK takes its information security responsibilities seriously and applies various precautions to ensure your information is protected from loss, theft or misuse. Security precautions include appropriate physical security of offices and controlled and limited access to computer systems
Ipsos UK has regular internal and external audits of its information security controls and working practices and is accredited to the International Standard for Information Security, ISO 27001

How long will Ipsos UK retain your personal data and identifiable responses?

Ipsos UK will only retain your data in a way that can identify you for as long as is necessary to support the research project and findings. In practice, this means that once we have satisfactorily reported the research findings to DWP, we will securely remove your personal, identifying data from our systems
For this project we will securely remove your personal data from our systems by 31/03/2026

Where will your personal data be held & processed?

All of your personal data used and collected for this survey will be stored and processed in the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Your rights:

You have the right to access your personal data within the limited period that Ipsos UK holds it
If you want to contact DWP about data they hold about you, please see DWP’s contact details below and/or their privacy notice (link provided above)
Providing responses to this survey is entirely voluntary and is done with your agreement. You have the right to withdraw your agreement and to object to our processing of your personal data at any time before analysis and reporting which is currently scheduled to start in July 2025
You also have the right to request from us the deletion or erasure of the personal information we hold about you
You also have the right to rectify any incorrect or out-of-date personal data about you which we may hold
If you want to exercise your rights, please contact us at the below Ipsos UK contact details

If you have any complaints, we will appreciate if you give us an opportunity to resolve any issue first, by contacting us as set out below. You have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you have concerns on how we have processed your personal data. You can find details about how to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at Make a complaint ICO.

How can you contact Ipsos UK & DWP about this survey and/or your personal data

Contact Ipsos UK:

Email: UC-Survey@ipsosresearch.com with “24-086531-01 Universal Credit Survey” in the email subject line

Post:

24-086531-01 Universal Credit Survey
Data Protection Officer, Compliance Department
Ipsos (market research) Limited and Ipsos MORI UK Limited
3 Thomas More Square
London E1W 1YW
United Kingdom

3.6 Privacy notice trial arm

Universal Credit Survey Ipsos UK Privacy Policy

This privacy notice explains who we are, the personal data we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and what your legal rights are. About Ipsos UK

Ipsos UK is a specialist research agency based in the UK. Ipsos UK is part of the Ipsos worldwide group of companies, and a member of the Market Research Society. As such we abide by the Market Research Society Code of Conduct and associated regulations and guidelines
Ipsos UK has been commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to measure people’s understanding of Universal Credit (UC)

About the Department for Work and Pensions

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is the British government department responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy. Universal Credit (UC) is a means tested benefit which is administered by DWP
DWP’s privacy notice can be reviewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/personal-information-charter
The data controller for the UC survey and the trial is DWP, while Ipsos will act as the data processor
By taking part in both the survey and trial your data will be combined, for research and statistical purposes only, with information held by DWP. DWP will retain your data until 31/12/2026 for additional analysis, after which it will be deleted. This will not affect any benefits you may be claiming now or in the future

What personal data has Ipsos UK received from DWP for this survey?

Ipsos UK has your personal data because we have been asked by DWP to carry out a research survey and a trial on their behalf
DWP has shared a limited amount of your personal data so that we can invite you to take part in this research survey

The personal data that the DWP has shared with us for this survey is: - Your name - Information about you including your age, gender, whether you have children and number of children, relationship status, needs, earnings, employment type - Your contact details including your email address, telephone number and address - Details about your UC claim status - Whether you have an UC appointee - Your appointee’s details including name, email address, postal address, phone number

What is Ipsos UK’s legal basis for processing your personal data?

Ipsos UK requires a legal basis to process your personal data. The legal basis under which DWP and its contractors process your personal data and ‘special category data’, such as information about your health/disability, racial or ethnic origin, is public task, which is to fulfil DWP’s public authority duty and for research that is in the public interest. If you wish to withdraw your agreement at any time, please see the section below covering ‘Your Rights’

How will Ipsos UK use any personal data including survey responses you provide?

Firstly, taking part in this survey and trial is entirely voluntary and any answers are given with your consent
Ipsos UK will keep your personal data and responses in strict confidence in accordance with this privacy notice. Pseudonymised individual responses will be shared with DWP, however Ipsos UK can assure you that you will NOT be identifiable to DWP or in any published results at an identifiable level
Ipsos UK and DWP will only use your personal data and responses solely for research and analysis purposes
This research is being conducted as part of a trial being run by Ipsos on behalf of DWP to test ways of increasing response rates in surveys. By taking part your data will be analysed as part of this trial
By taking part in this survey your data will be combined, for research and statistical purposes only, with information held by DWP
As part of this research, you will be offered a shopping voucher which is provided by Blackhawk Network. To see how Blackhawk Network process your data please visit their privacy notice at: https://blackhawknetwork.com/privacy-policy

How will Ipsos UK ensure your personal information is secure?

Ipsos UK takes its information security responsibilities seriously and applies various precautions to ensure your information is protected from loss, theft or misuse. Security precautions include appropriate physical security of offices and controlled and limited access to computer systems
Ipsos UK has regular internal and external audits of its information security controls and working practices and is accredited to the International Standard for Information Security, ISO 27001

How long will Ipsos UK retain your personal data and identifiable responses?

Ipsos UK will only retain your data in a way that can identify you for as long as is necessary to support the research project and findings. In practice, this means that once we have satisfactorily reported the research findings to DWP, we will securely remove your personal, identifying data from our systems
For this project we will securely remove your personal data from our systems by 31/03/2026

Where will your personal data be held & processed?

All of your personal data used and collected for this survey will be stored and processed in the United Kingdom and the European Union

Your rights:

You have the right to access your personal data within the limited period that Ipsos UK holds it
If you want to contact DWP about data they hold about you, please see DWP’s contact details below and/or their privacy notice (link provided above)
Providing responses to this survey is entirely voluntary and is done with your agreement. You have the right to withdraw your agreement and to object to our processing of your personal data at any time before analysis and reporting which is currently scheduled to start in July 2025
You also have the right to request from us the deletion or erasure of the personal information we hold about you
You also have the right to rectify any incorrect or out-of-date personal data about you which we may hold
If you want to exercise your rights, please contact us at the below Ipsos UK contact details

If you have any complaints, we will appreciate if you give us an opportunity to resolve any issue first, by contacting us as set out below. You have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you have concerns on how we have processed your personal data. You can find details about how to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at Make a complaint ICO.

How can you contact Ipsos UK & DWP about this survey and/or your personal data?

Contact Ipsos UK:

Email: UC-Survey@ipsosresearch.com with “24-086531-01 Universal Credit Survey” in the email subject line

Post:

24-086531-01 Universal Credit Survey
Data Protection Officer, Compliance Department
Ipsos (market research) Limited and Ipsos MORI UK Limited
3 Thomas More Square
London E1W 1YW
United Kingdom

3.7 Questionnaire

Universal Credit Survey Questionnaire

Sample variables for text fills/routing

Name

TEXT

Uc_email

TEXT

Sample variables for routing

Trial_arm

1. Control condition 1: No voucher incentive offered

2. Experimental condition 2: Unconditional £10

3. Experimental condition 3: Unconditional £5, conditional £5

4. Experimental condition 4: Conditional £10

Claim_type

1. Single Claim with Children

2. Single Claim without Children

3. Couple Claim with Children

4. Couple Claim without Children

First_uc_claim_start

DATE [DD-Mon-YY]

Children_flag

N: don’t have children

Y: have children

Youngest_child_age

NUMERIC

Self_employment_flag

2, 3, 4, 5: gainfully self-employed (will have the MIF applied either now or in the future)

0, 1, 7, 8, 9, 22, NO: should not be asked about the minimum income floor

Move_to_uc_flag

0: not m2uc

1: Tax Credits m2uc

2: other m2uc

Unaffected_pay_flag

N: for all those who do not have a work allowance

Y: for all those that have a work allowance; the variable takes the specific value of the work allowance for that household.

Carer_flag

Y: a carer

N: not a carer

Sample variables for monitoring

GOVERNMENT_OFFICE_REGION

1. East Midlands

2. East of England

3. London

4. North East

5. North West

6. Scotland

7. South East

8. South West

9. Wales

10. West Midlands

11. Yorkshire and The Humber

Ageband

1. Under 25

2. 25 to 49

3. 50 to 64

4. Over 65

SEX_TYPE

M: Male

F: Female

Introduction

CAWIINTRO

CAWI ONLY

SHOW TO ALL

Thank you for taking part in this survey by Ipsos on behalf of the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP). The aim of this research is to find out people’s experiences of claiming Universal Credit and DWP support offers for Universal Credit claimants. This is so that DWP can improve the services it provides.

Your contact details were provided by DWP to invite you to take part in research.

This research will be conducted in accordance with the Market Research Society code of conduct. It should take about 20 minutes to complete and your responses will be kept completely confidential. It will not be possible for anyone to identify you when we report the research findings.

Taking part in the survey is entirely voluntary and you can change your mind at any time. Taking part will not affect your benefits in any way, now, or in the future. Any feedback you give us will be entirely confidential and your responses will be treated anonymously.

By taking part in this survey your data will be combined, for research and statistical purposes only, with information held by DWP. This research is conducted as part of a trial being run by Ipsos on behalf of DWP to test ways of increasing response rates in surveys. By taking part your data will be analysed as part of this trial.

Our privacy policy explains the purposes for processing your personal data as well as your rights under data protection regulations to access your personal data, withdraw consent, object to processing of your personal data and other required information. If you would like to read the privacy notice you can click this link [LINK TO PRIVACY POLICY].

Please use the navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen to move through the survey. Please do not use your browser back button.

Click on the ‘Next’ button below to start the survey.

CATIINTRO

CATI ONLY

READ OUT

Good morning/afternoon. Could I please speak to [SAMPLE: name]? My name is…and I’m calling from Ipsos, an independent research agency.

IF CLARIFICATION NEEDED

We are conducting a survey on behalf of the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP). The aim of this research is to find out people’s experiences of claiming Universal Credit and DWP support offers for Universal Credit claimants. This is to that DWP can improve the services it provides. You should have received an email about this survey.

WHERE AVAILABLE, PLEASE SPEAK TO APPOINTED CONTACT. IF RESPONDENTS ARE NOT ABLE TO TAKE PART DUE TO HEALTH ISSUES, ASK FOR CARER/RESPONSIBLE ADULT/FAMILY MEMBER WHO IS HAPPY TO ANSWER ON THEIR BEHALF. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT IF CARER/GUARDIAN IS ANSWERING, THEY ARE THE ONES DEALING WITH DWP ON NAMED CONTACT’S BEHALF.

IF UNABLE TO TAKE CALL DUE TO HEATH ISSUES, OFFER SENDING THE SURVEY AGAIN VIA EMAIL.

ONCE CONTACT WITH NAMES/APPOINTEE CONTACT OR CARER IS ACHIEVED:

IF NOT ALREADY SAID: We are conducting a survey on behalf of the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP). The aim of this research is to find out people’s experiences of claiming Universal Credit and DWP support offers for Universal Credit claimants. This is so that DWP can improve the services it provides. You should have received an email about this survey.

Your contact details were provided to Ipsos by the Department for Work & Pensions to invite you to take part in research. This survey aims to understand people’s experiences of Universal Credit and should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete.

Before we begin, I want to clarify that taking part in the survey is entirely voluntary and you can change your mind at any time. Taking part will not affect your benefits in any way, now, or in the future. Any feedback you give us will be entirely confidential and your responses will be treated anonymously.

By taking part in this survey your data will be combined, for research and statistical purposes only, with information held by DWP. This research is conducted as part of a trial being run by Ipsos on behalf of DWP to test ways of increasing response rates in surveys. By taking part your data will be analysed as part of this trial. The privacy notice explains the purposes for processing your personal data as well as your rights under data protection regulations to access your personal data, withdraw consent, object to processing of your personal data and other required information. If you would like to read the privacy notice beforehand you can access it online at [LINK TO PRIVACY POLICY].

Are you happy to proceed with the interview?

I also just need to let you know that your call will be recorded for training and quality control purposes.

Ipsos will hold personal data for quality control and reporting purposes until 31st March 2026 after which time we will securely delete all personally identifiable data from our systems.

Opening demographics

OPENINGDEMOGINTRO

SHOW ALL

READ OUT

Thank you for agreeing to take part in this survey. [CAWI we] [CATI I] will start with a few questions about you to make sure we only ask relevant questions.

ASK ALL

WORK

Which of the following best describes your current work status?

Please select all that apply.

MULTICODE

READ OUT

1. Employed

2. Self-employed

3. Not working [EXCLUSIVE]

99. Prefer not to say [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP, EXCLUSIVE] [DO NOT READ]

ASK IF WORKING [WORK = 1 OR 2]

NUMBERJOB

Do you have more than one job?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Yes

2. No

99. Prefer not to say [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP] [DO NOT READ]

ASK IF EMPLOYED [WORK = 1]

CONTRACT

Which of the following best describes your contract in your job?

IF WORKING IN MORE THAN 1 JOB [CODE 1 AT NUMBERJOB] Please answer for the job where you work the most hours.

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT

1. A permanent contract with a fixed or minimum number of hours per week

2. A fixed term contract with a specified end date and regular or minimum number of hours

3. A seasonal contract

4. A zero hours contract with no specified minimum number of hours each week

5. Something else (Please specify) [OPEN TEXT BOX]

98. Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF WORKING [WORK = 1 OR 2]

WORKHOURS

How many hours do you currently work each week in total [IF NUMBERJOB = 1 across all jobs?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Less than 16 hours

2. Between 16 and 20 hours

3. Between 21 and 25 hours

4. between 26 and 30 hours

5. More than 30 hours

6. Too difficult to calculate / hours often vary

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF WORKING [WORK = 1 OR 2]

JOBSTABILITY

How long have you been doing your current job?

IF WORKING IN MORE THAN 1 JOB [CODE 1 NUMBERJOB] Please answer for the job where you work the most hours.

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Less than 1 month

2. 1 to less than 6 months

3. 6 months to less than 1 year

4. 1 year to less than 2 years

5. 2 years to less than 5 years

6. 5 years or longer

98. Don’t know / not sure [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF WORKING [WORK = 1 OR 2]

SECTOR

CAWI: Which of the following industries or sectors do you work in?

Please select one answer.

CATI: What industry or sector do you work in?

IF WORKING IN MORE THAN 1 JOB [CODE 1 NUMBERJOB] Please answer for the job where you work the most hours.

SINGLE CODE.

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Bank / building society/ financial services

2. Car maintenance / garage

3. Cleaning company

4. Construction

5. Food production / manufacture

6. Hairdressing/ beautician services

7. Hospital / other health services (e.g. GP surgery)

8. Nursery / other childcare (not school)

9. Restaurant/ hotel/ other food and accommodation services

10. Retail (clothes, supermarket, department store etc)

11. School / college

12. Security

13. Social care

14. Warehousing / distribution / delivery

15. Other (Please specify) [OPEN TEXT BOX]

98. Don’t know / not sure [EXCLUSIVE, ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP] [DO NOT READ]

ASK IF NOT WORKING [CODE 3 AT WORK]

NOTWORKING

Which of the following best describes your current circumstances?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT

1. Waiting to take up employment already accepted so currently not working

2. Not working, but currently looking for work

3. Not working, and not looking for work

4. In full or part-time education

5. On a government training / employment programme

6. Long-term sick / disabled

7. Full-time carer

8. Full-time parent

9. Retired

10. Other (please specify) [OPEN TEXT BOX]

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF NOT WORKING [CODE 3 AT WORK]

OUTOFWORK

How long has it been since you last did any paid work (either full or part time)?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Less than 6 months ago

2. Between 6 months and less than 1 year ago

3. Between 1 year and less than 3 years ago

4. Between 3 years and less than 5 years ago

5. More than 5 years

98. Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

Claimant knowledge and understanding of UC rules and processes

SHOW ALL

KNOWLEDGEINTRO

READ OUT

The next set of questions are about what you know about Universal Credit and its features. This is so that DWP can improve its information and communications about Universal Credit in the future.

ASK ALL

ELEMENTSAWARENESS

For each of the following statements, please [CAWI: mark each statement as] [CATI: tell me if you think the statement is] true, false, or you’re unsure.

Some statements are true, and some are false. This is not a test, we just want to understand what you know about Universal Credit.

Please select one answer for each statement.

RANDOMISE ROWS

A. ADVANCES: You can request an advance on your first Universal Credit payment

B. ADVANCE2: You need to pay back Universal Credit advances [KEEP UNDER A]

C. BUDGETADVANCE: After your first Universal Credit payment you cannot request an advance to help with unexpected costs, for example a broken washing machine

D. [ASK IF SAMPLE: unaffected_pay_flag = Y TAPERWA: Currently for every £1 you earn over your work allowance your Universal Credit payment is reduced by 55p

E. [ASK IF SAMPLE: unaffected_pay_flag = N] TAPER: Currently for every £1 you earn your Universal Credit payment is reduced by 55p

F. HOURS: You cannot work for more than 16-hours and claim Universal Credit

G. [ASK IF SAMPLE: first_uc_claim_start IS GREATER THAN 04/2024] WAIT: After you have made your Universal Credit claim there is at least a 5 week wait until your first payment

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT

1. True

2. False

3. Unsure

ASK ALL

PASSPORTAWARE

Before the survey today, were you aware that if you claim Universal Credit, you might also be eligible to receive…

Please select one answer for each statement.

RANDOMISE ROWS

A. [ASK ALL GOVERNMENT_OFFICE_REGION EXCLUDING Scotland and Wales] Free NHS prescriptions

B. Council Tax Reduction [ADD A HOVER OVER MESSAGE: ‘You can apply to your local council for Council Tax Reduction (also known as council tax support) to get a discount on your bill if you are eligible’]

C. Support with utility bills through your energy supplier or accessing cheaper phone and broadband options e.g. BT Home Essentials

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT

1. Yes, fully aware

2. Aware, but not in detail

3. No, not aware

98. Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK ALL

PASSPORTRECEIVE

And are you currently claiming…

Please select one answer for each statement.

1. ASK IF CODE 1 OR 2 AT PASSPORTAWARE_A] Free NHS prescriptions

2. ASK IF CODE 1 OR 2 AT PASSPORTAWARE_B] Council Tax Reduction

98. ASK IF CODE 1 OR 2 AT PASSPORTAWARE_C] Support with utility bills through your energy supplier or accessing cheaper phone and broadband options e.g. BT Home Essentials

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

A. Yes

B. No

C. Don’t know

ASK ALL

REPORTCAPITAL

CAWI: For each of the following types of capital, [HOVEROVER OR READ OUT IF NECESSARY: When determining your entitlement for Universal Credit, all the money, savings, and investments you [SAMPLE claim_type = 3 or 4 or your partner] own, or jointly own with someone else, are considered as ‘capital’. ] please select whether you think a change to them needs to be reported to Universal Credit.

CATI: For each of the following types of capital, please select whether you think a change to them needs to be reported to Universal Credit.

[READ OUT IF NECESSARY: When determining your entitlement for Universal Credit, all the money, savings, and investments you [SAMPLE claim_type = 3 or 4 or your partner] own, or jointly own with someone else, are considered as ‘capital’.]

Please select one answer for each statement.

RANDOMISE ROWS

A. Cash in a bank or building society account at the end your Universal Credit assessment period

B. Money which has been borrowed from others, for example family and friends

C. Savings and investments including money in trusts or from inheritance

D. Money saved for a purpose for small or big expenses (e.g. a new phone, holiday, medical care or children)

E. Money to pay off debts

F. Money invested into an ISA (e.g. Help to Save)

G. Property other than the home [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] live in

H. Business accounts and assets

I. Compensation payments (e.g. workplace injury payments)

J. [ASK IF WORK = 2] Changes to self-employed earnings

K. [ASK IF WORK = 2] Changes to self-employed expenses

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT 1. Yes, a change should be reported

2. No, a change does not need to be reported

98. Don’t know

ASK ALL

REPORTCHANGE

CAWI: For each of the following changes in your household [HOVEROVER: A “household” refers to all people living in the house.] circumstances, please select whether you would need to report it to Universal Credit, or not?

CATI: For each of the following changes in your household circumstances, tell me if you think you would need to report it to Universal Credit, or not?

[READ OUT IF NECESSARY: A “household” refers to all people living in the house.] Please select one answer for each statement.

RANDOMISE ROWS

A. Moving in with a partner

B. Moving out from a joint household [HOVEROVER OR READ OUT IF NECESSARY: A joint household consists of at least two people who live together and are either married, in a civil partnership, or cohabitating.]

C. Having a child

D. Changes in a health condition or a new health condition

E. Moving to a new address

F. Adults or non-dependent children moving into or out of your household

G. Becoming a carer/taking on caring responsibilities for a family member who is disabled, has an illness or long-term condition, or who needs extra help as they grow older

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT

1. Yes, should be reported

2. No, does not need to be reported

98. Don’t know

ASK IF SAMPLE: unaffected_pay_flag = Y

WORKALLOWANCEKNOWLEDGE

To the best of your knowledge, is your household eligible for the Work Allowance? [HOVEROVER or READ OUT IF NEEDED: Some Universal Credit claimants can earn a certain amount of money before their earnings affect how much they receive on Universal Credit. This is called the Work Allowance and is calculated for each household.]

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT

1. Yes

2. No

98. Don’t know

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF SAMPLE: WORKALLOWANCEKNOWLEDGE = 1

TAPERKNOWLEDGE

Under the Work Allowance, how much do you think your household can earn per month before your Universal Credit payments are affected?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT

1. Under £100

2. About £200

3. About £400

4. About £700

5. About £900

98. Don’t know

ASK IF SAMPLE VARIABLE: move_to_uc_flag = 1 or 2

M2UCTRANSITIONRECEIVE

Are you receiving the transitional element?

[HOVEROVER or READ OUT IF NEEDED: The transitional element is added to your Universal Credit to make up the difference if your entitlement is less than your previous benefits. You may have heard of the transitional element referred to as “transitional protection” or “transitional payment protection.]

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Yes

2. No

98. Don’t know

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF CODE 1 AT M2UCTRANSITIONRECEIVE

M2UCTRANSITIONAWARE

Before the survey today, were you aware or not that the transitional element may reduce or come to an end when you have a significant change of circumstance, such as having another adult move into or out of your household or your household earnings fall significantly for 3 months?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT

1. Yes, fully aware

2. Aware, but not in detail

3. No, not aware

98. Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK ALL

UNDERSTANDING

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

Please select one answer for each statement.

RANDOMISE ROWS

A. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] understand what would happen to [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] benefits if [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] don’t do what’s in [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] claimant commitment

B. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] understand what’s required of [CAWI: me] [CATI: you]to keep receiving Universal Credit payments

C. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] understand how [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] Universal Credit payments are calculated on [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] Universal Credit statement

D. [CAWI: My] [CATI: Your] Universal Credit statement makes it clear if any deductions are being made

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT SCALE

1. Strongly agree

2. Somewhat agree

3. Neither agree nor disagree

4. Somewhat disagree

5. Strongly disagree

98. Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

Early Claim for UC

EARLYCLAIMINTRO

SHOW ALL

READ OUT

Next, [CAWI we’d] [CATI I’d] like to know a little bit more about your experiences of claiming Universal Credit. [CAWI: We] [CATI: I] recognise you may have made your claim some time ago, so please answer to the best of your memory.

ASK IF SAMPLE VARIABLE: first_uc_claim_start IS GREATER THAN 04/2024 and move_to_uc_flag = 0

DELAY

When your circumstances changed, did you make your Universal Credit claim straightaway, or did you wait?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] made it straightaway (within two weeks)

2. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] waited a short time (between two to four weeks)

3. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] waited more than 4 weeks before making a claim

98. Don’t know / can’t remember [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF CODE 2 or 3 AT DELAY

DELAY2

CAWI: Were any of the following reasons why you waited for a time before making your claim for Universal Credit? Please select all that apply.

CATI: Why did you delay making your claim for Universal Credit?

MULTICODE. RANDOMISE ROWS 1-10.

PROMPT TO CODE

1. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] wasn’t sure how to make a claim

2. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] didn’t think [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] would be eligible for Universal Credit

3. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] thought [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] would find another job quickly

4. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] was waiting for support to make a claim (from friends, family or an organisation such as Citizens Advice) or through a support worker

5. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] didn’t have access to laptop / phone / other device to make the claim online

6. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] experienced difficulty using the Universal Credit claim website

7. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] had enough money to live on

8. Other (Please specify) [OPEN TEXT BOX] [FIX]

9. No reason [FIX, EXCLUSIVE]

98. Don’t know [FIX, EXCLUSIVE] [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF SAMPLE: first_uc_claim_start IS GREATER THAN 04/2024

ADVANCE

CAWI: Did you apply for an advance [HOVEROVER: After you have made your Universal Credit claim there is a 5 week wait until your first payment. You can request an advance on your first Universal Credit payment if you are in financial hardship] whilst waiting for your first Universal Credit payment?

CATI: Did you apply for an advance whilst waiting for your first Universal Credit payment? [READ OUT IF NECESSARY: After you have made your Universal Credit claim there is a 5 week wait until your first payment. You can request an advance on your first Universal Credit payment if you are in financial hardship]

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Yes

2. No

98. Don’t know

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF WHO APPLIED FOR AN ADVANCE [CODE 1 AT ADVANCE]

ADVANCEHELPFUL

Was this advance payment helpful in supporting you to get by before your Universal Credit payments started, or not?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT

1. Yes, and [CAWI: I was] [CATI: you were] able to get by when [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] started repaying it

2. Yes, but [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] then struggled to get by when [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] started repaying it

3. No, it was not helpful

4. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] did not receive an advance payment

98. Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF DID NOT APPLY FOR AN ADVANCE PAYMENT [CODE 2 AT ADVANCE]

ADVANCEREASON

CAWI: Were any of the following reasons why you did not apply for an advance payment? Please select all that apply.

CATI: Why did you not apply for an advance payment?

MULTICODE. RANDOMISE ROWS 1-7.

PROMPT TO CODE

1. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] found the process too complicated

2. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] had money / could get by

3. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] did not want to

4. [CAWI: I was] [CATI: You were] worried [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] wouldn’t be able to pay it back

5. [CAWI: I [CATI: You did not know how to apply for an advance

6. [CAWI: I wasn’t] [CATI: You weren’t] aware [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] could apply for an advance

7. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] did not think [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] would be eligible for an advance

8. None of the above [FIX, EXCLUSIVE]

98. Don’t know [FIX, EXCLUSIVE, ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP] [DO NOT READ]

ASK ALL NOT M2UC (move_to_uc__flag = 0)

MOTIVATION

CAWI: When you first made a claim for Universal Credit, were any of the following reasons why you made a claim? Please select all that apply.

CATI: When you first made a claim for Universal Credit, what were the main reasons, if any, why you claimed?

MULTICODE. RANDOMISE 1-8.

PROMPT TO CODE

1. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] experienced a change in [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] work circumstances and needed financial support

2. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] experienced a change in [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] health circumstances and needed financial support

3. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] experienced a change in [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] life circumstances (e.g. a divorce / separation from partner) and needed financial support 4. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] needed the money

5. To get more support to [IF CODE 3 AT WORK find] [IF CODE 1 OR 2 AT WORK progress in] work

6. Something else (please write in) [OPEN TEXT BOX] [FIX]

98. Don’t know [FIX, EXCLUSIVE, ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP] [DO NOT READ]

ASK IF SAMPLE: first_uc_claim_start IS GREATER THAN 04/2024

CLAIMHELP

CAWI: When you first made your claim to Universal Credit, did you access any of the following sources of information or support? Please select all that apply.

CATI: If at all, what help, support or information did you access when making your first claim for Universal Credit?

MULTICODE. RANDOMISE 1-12.

PROMPT TO CODE

1. A friend or relative

2. Call or home visit from DWP advisor

3. Move to UC helpline

4. Social media (e.g. Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram)

5. [CAWI: My] [CATI: Your] Work Coach

6. Advisor at the Jobcentre Plus (other than Work Coach) [KEEP UNDER CODE 5]

7. Online benefits calculator

8. Universal Credit claim helpline

9. Citizens Advice

10. Help to Claim (from Citizens Advice)

11. Support worker

12. GOV.UK web pages on Universal Credit

13. Other (Please specify) [OPEN TEXT BOX] [FIX]

14. I did not have support to make a claim [FIX, EXCLUSIVE]

99. Prefer not to say [FIX, EXCLUSIVE, ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP] [DO NOT READ]

Self-employment

SHOW IF CODE 2 AT WORK [SELF-EMPLOYED] or Self_employment_flag = 2,3,4,5

SEINTRO

READ OUT

[CAWI: The next set of questions are] [CATI: I’m now going to ask you a couple of questions] about claiming Universal Credit while being self-employed.

ASK IF CODE 2 AT WORK

SEREPORT

Which of these, if any, would you report as expenses as part of your monthly reporting under Universal Credit? Please select all that you would report.

MULTICODE. RANDOMISE 1-7.

READ OUT

1. Accounting fees

2. Phone, mobile and internet bills for an office

3. Full mortgage cost for home, where the business is based

4. Electricity/gas bills when working from home (where business is based)

5. Assets that do not lose their value over time, such as shares

6. Stock and goods for resale

7. Business travel

8. All of these [FIX, EXCLUSIVE]

9. None of these [FIX, EXCLUSIVE]

98. Don’t know [FIX, EXCLUSIVE, ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP] [DO NOT READ]

ASK IF Self_employment_flag = 2, 3, 4 or 5

INCOMEFLOORUNDERSTANDING

If you’re self-employed, your Universal Credit payment may be calculated using an assumed level of earnings, which is called a minimum income floor.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with these statements about the minimum income floor?

Please select one answer for each statement.

RANDOMISE ROWS

A. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] understand what the ‘minimum income floor’ is

B. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] understand how [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] Universal Credit payments may be affected by the minimum income floor

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT SCALE

Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

Childcare

SHOW ONLY TO SAMPLE: children_flag = Y

CHILDCAREINTRO

READ OUT

[CAWI: The next set of questions are] [CATI: I’m now going to ask you some questions] about Universal Credit and childcare. We’re interested in hearing your views even if you’re not currently using childcare.

ASK IF SAMPLE: children_flag = Y

CHILDCAREUSE

CAWI: Which, if any, of the following types of childcare [HOVEROVER: By childcare we mean time outside of school your child(ren) are cared for by someone who is not their parent / guardian.] do you use? Please include both term-time and school holidays. Please select all that apply.

CATI: What types of childcare do you use, if at all? Please include both term-time and school holidays. Please select all that apply.

[READ OUT IF NECESSARY: By childcare we mean time outside of school your child(ren) are cared for by someone who is not their parent / guardian.]

MULTICODE. RANDOMISE ROWS 1-5.

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Registered childminder

2. Nursery

3. After school / breakfast / holiday club

4. Family and friends

5. Nanny

6. Other (please specify) [OPEN TEXT BOX] [FIX]

7. [CAWI: I [CATI: You don’t use childcare [FIX, EXCLUSIVE]

98. Don’t know [FIX, EXCLUSIVE, ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP] [DO NOT READ]

99. Prefer not to say [FIX, EXCLUSIVE, ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP] [DO NOT READ]

ASK IF SAMPLE: children_flag = Y

CHILDCAREAWARE

Before the survey today, were you aware or not that…

Please select one answer for each statement. RANDOMISE ROWS A. Universal Credit can pay up to 85% of your childcare costs if you work B. DWP may be able to help pay your first set of childcare costs, upfront, if you start work or increase your hours SINGLE CODE READ OUT 1. Yes, fully aware 2. Aware, but not in detail 3. No, not aware 4. Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

Aspirations for work/employment

SHOW ALL

WORKINTRO

READ OUT

Thank you for your time so far. Next, [CAWI: we’d] [CATI: I’d] like to ask you some questions about your perceptions and feelings about work. This is so that DWP can understand more about how best to support customers to [IF CODE 3 AT WORK find work] [IF CODE 1 OR 2 AT WORK increase their earnings at work].

ASK ALL

WORKPERCEPTION

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

Please select one answer for each statement.

RANDOMISE ROWS

A. On Universal Credit [CAWI: I am] [CATI: you are] always financially better off working however many hours [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] work

B. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] know how much Universal Credit [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] will receive if [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] earnings increase

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT SCALE

1. Strongly agree

2. Somewhat agree

3. Neither agree nor disagree

4. Somewhat disagree

5. Strongly disagree

98. Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF NOT WORKING [CODE 3 AT WORK]

WORKBARRIERS

Which of the following statements best describes your current situation?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT SCALE

1. Even without support, paid work is a realistic goal for [CAWI: me] [CATI: you]

2. With the right support paid work is a realistic goal for [CAWI: me] [CATI: you] within the next 12 months

3. With the right support paid work might be a realistic goal for [CAWI: me] [CATI: you] but not in the next 12 months

4. Even with the right support, paid work is not a realistic goal for [CAWI: me] [CATI: you]

98. Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK ALL

EARNINGBARRIERS

CAWI: Do any of the following affect your ability to [IF CODE 3 AT WORK: work] [IF CODE 1 OR 2 AT WORK: increase your earnings at work]? Please select all that apply. CATI: What, if anything, affects your ability to [IF CODE 3 AT WORK: work] [IF CODE 1 OR 2 AT WORK: increase your earnings at work]?

Please select all that apply.

MULTICODE. RANDOMISE 1-9.

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Lack of flexible work options

2. Lack of jobs in [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] local area

3. Childcare

4. A physical or mental health condition or learning difficulty

5. [CAWI: My] [CATI: Your] age

6. [CAWI: My] [CATI: Your] housing situation

7. [ASK IF SAMPLE: carer_flag = Y] [CAWI: My] [CATI: Your] caring responsibilities

8. Lack of relevant skills/ qualifications / experience

9. Commute to work (either distance to travel, time to travel, cost of travel, or access to transport)

10. Something else (Please specify) [OPEN TEXT] [FIX]

11. None of the above [FIX, EXCLUSIVE]

98. Don’t know [FIX, EXCLUSIVE, ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP] [DO NOT READ]

ASK ALL

EARNINGENABLERS

CAWI: Would any of the following, if at all, help you to [IF CODE 3 AT WORK: find work] [IF CODE 1 OR 2 AT WORK: increase your earnings at work]? Please select all that apply. CATI: What help or support, if anything, would help you to [IF CODE 3 AT WORK: find work] [IF CODE 1 OR 2 AT WORK: increase your earnings at work]?

MULTICODE. RANDOMISE 1-8.

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Support to find and apply for jobs, for example help with a CV and online / internet job searches

2. Help to prepare for job interviews / develop interview techniques

3. Help with the cost of travel to and from work

4. Help to find and pay for further or higher education courses

5. Support to find training opportunities

6. Support to manage a physical or mental health condition

7. [ASK IF SAMPLE: children_flag = Y] Access to affordable / good quality childcare

8. [ASK IF SAMPLE: carer_flag = Y] Support to manage caring responsibilities

9. Something else (please specify) [OPEN TEXT BOX] [FIX]

10. Nothing, I don’t need any support [FIX, EXCLUSIVE]

11. Don’t know [FIX, EXCLUSIVE, ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP] [DO NOT READ]

ASK ALL

EARNINGSBARRIERS2

To what extent do you agree or disagree with these statements?

Please select one answer for each statement.

RANDOMISE ROWS

1. [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] don’t need to work [IF CODE 1 OR 2 AT WORK more hours] because [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] get by okay on what [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] currently earn

2. If [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] worked [IF CODE 1 OR 2 AT WORK more hours] [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] home life would suffer

3. [ASK IF SAMPLE: children_flag = Y] Childcare is too expensive to make working worthwhile

4. [ASK IF SAMPLE: children_flag = Y] It is difficult to find childcare that fits around working hours

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT SCALE

1. Strongly agree

2. Somewhat agree

3. Neither agree nor disagree

4. Somewhat disagree

5. Strongly disagree

6. Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

Work coach/employment coach

SHOW ALL

WCMINTRO

READ OUT

These next questions are about the support you have received from Jobcentre Work Coaches in the last six months, if at all.

ASK ALL

WORKCOACHCONTACT

Have you had contact with a Work Coach in the last six months? By ‘contact’ we mean seeing them in person, speaking to them on the phone or by video, sending or receiving an email, text message, or sending or receiving a journal message.

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Yes

2. No

98. Can’t remember [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF HAD CONTACT WITH WORK COACH WITHIN LAST 6 MONTHS [CODE 1 AT WORKCOACHCONTACT]

WORKCOACHCONTACT2

Thinking about the last six months, how often do you normally talk to a Work Coach either face to face, by phone or by video?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. About once a week or more

2. About once every two weeks

3. About once a month

4. Less than once a month

5. Never

98. Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF HAD CONTACT WITH WORK COACH WITHIN LAST 6 MONTHS [CODE 1 AT WORKCOACHCONTACT]

WORKCOACHSUPPORT

CAWI: Have you received any of the following types of support, if at all, from your Work

Coach in the last six months?

CATI: What support, if at all, have you received from your Work Coach in the last six months? Please select all that apply.

MULTICODE. RANDOMISE CODES 1-17.

READ OUT

1. [ASK IF SAMPLE: unaffected_pay_flag = Y] Explained the Work Allowance amount and how it works

2. Understanding [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] skills

3. Training or developing new skills

4. Identifying career goals

5. Finding available jobs

6. Writing a job application

7. Help and advice on writing a CV

8. Preparing for an interview

9. [ASK IF WORK = 1] Advice on how to ask [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] employer about increasing [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] hours or earning more

10. Contacting potential employers on [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] behalf

11. Advice relating to managing a health condition or disability

12. [ASK IF SAMPLE: children_flag = Y] Looking for childcare options in the local area

13. Information about the Flexible Support Fund (FSF)

14. Information about the National Careers Service (NCS)

15. Help with finances or debt

16. Finding housing/accommodation

17. Support with travel costs to work and job interviews

18. Something else (Please specify) [OPEN TEXT BOX] [FIX]

19. None of the above [FIX, EXCLUSIVE]

98. Don’t know [FIX, EXCLUSIVE, ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP] [DO NOT READ]

ASK IF SELECTED CODES 1-18 AT WORKCOACHSUPPORT

WCSUPPORTEFFECTIVE

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following…?

Please select one answer for each statement.

RANDOMISE ROWS

A. [ASK IF CODE 1 OR 2 AT WORK] The help [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] received helped [CAWI: me] [CATI: you] to progress in work, change career, increase [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] hours or earnings

B. [ASK IF CODE 3 AT WORK] The help [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] received brought [CAWI: me] [CATI: you] closer to finding a job

C. The help [CAWI: I] [CATI: you] received was tailored to [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] needs and circumstances

D. [ASK IF CODE 3 AT WORK] [CAWI: I] [CATI: You] feel supported by [CAWI: my] [CATI: your] work coach to prepare for work and move into employment

E. [ASK IF SAMPLE: children_flag = Y] [CAWI: My] [CATI: Your] work coach supported [CAWI: me] [CATI: you] to find childcare in the local area

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT SCALE

1. Strongly agree

2. Somewhat agree

3. Neither agree nor disagree

4. Somewhat disagree

5. Strongly disagree

6. Not applicable

98. Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

Demographics

SHOW ALL

DEMOGINTRO1

The next questions are considered sensitive. Just to remind you, all answers are kept confidential.

ASK ALL

MANAGINGFINANCIALLY

How has your household been coping financially over the last 12 months?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT SCALE

1. Not coping at all

2. It is difficult to cope

3. Managing okay

4. Managing fairly well

5. Managing very well Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK ALL

HEALTHCONDITION

Do you have any physical or mental health conditions, disabilities or illnesses lasting or expected to last for 12 months or more?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Yes – physical condition

2. Yes – mental health condition

3. Yes – both physical and mental health condition

4. No

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK IF HAS HEALTH CONDITION [CODES 1-3 AT HEALTHCONDITION]

HEALTHCONDITION2

How long have you had your current health condition?

If you have more than one health condition, please select an answer for the health condition that has impacted you the longest.

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Less than 6 months

2. 6 months to a year

3. Over a year

4. Since birth

5. My health condition fluctuates, that is I have good and bad days, weeks or months

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK ALL

ETHNICITY

How would you describe your ethnic background?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. White

2. Mixed / multiple ethnic groups

3. Asian / Asian British

4. Black / African / Caribbean / Black British

5. Other ethnic group (Please specify) [OPEN TEXT BOX]

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK ALL

HIGHESTEDU

Please indicate the highest educational or professional qualification that you have obtained to date, if any?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Degree level or above

2. A Levels, T Levels, Scottish Highers, NVQ 3, BTEC (nationals or diplomas) or equivalent

3. GCSEs, O Levels, CSEs, Scottish National 5, NVQ 1-2, BTEC (firsts) or equivalent

4. Other training or qualifications below GCSE level

5. Non-UK qualifications

6. No formal qualifications

98. Don’t know

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK ALL

TENURE

Is the current property you live in…?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

READ OUT

1. Owned with a mortgage

2. Owned outright

3. Rented from a local authority

4. Rented from a housing association

5. Rented from a private landlord

6. Other (Please specify) [OPEN TEXT BOX]

98. Don’t know [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

ASK ALL

CARE

Do you have caring responsibilities for anyone who needs help with everyday life due to illness, disability or old age?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Yes

2. No

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ] [ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP]

IF HAS CARING RESPONSIBILITIES [CODE 1 AT CARE]

CARE2

Who do you care for?

Please select all that apply.

MULTICODE

READ OUT

1. Parent

2. Child

3. Relative

4. Unrelated adult

5. Unrelated under 18-year-old

6. Other (Please specify) [OPEN TEXT BOX]

7. Prefer not to say [EXCLUSIVE, ONLY APPEAR IF RESPONDENT TRIES TO SKIP] [DO NOT READ]

Sensitive questions

SHOW ALL

DEMOGINTRO

READ OUT

These final questions are also considered sensitive. Just to remind you again, all answers are kept confidential. Please select ‘prefer not to say’ if you’d prefer not to answer.

ASK ALL

CAREEXPERIENCE

Before the age of 18, were you ever looked after by children’s services in the UK in any of the following places:

foster care
a residential children’s home
supported accommodation
or living with parents, grandparents, other family or friends with support from social services

This is also known as living ‘in care’ of a council or local authority.

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Yes

2. No

98. Don’t know

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ]

ASK ALL

EXOFFENDER

Have you ever had any criminal convictions that resulted in either a prison sentence, community sentence, suspended sentence, or time in a young-offender institution?

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Yes

2. No

98. Don’t know

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ]

ASK ALL

HOMELESSNESS

In the past two years, have you experienced homelessness?

This could include:

• Staying in temporary accommodation

• Staying in a hostel, refuge or emergency accommodation

• Sofa surfing with friends or family

• Sleeping rough

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Yes

2. No

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ]

ASK ALL

SUBSTANCEDEPENDENCY

In the past two years, have you been dependent on: alcohol, illegal drugs, or addicted to prescription drugs?

By dependent or addicted we mean that feeling the need to drink or take drugs is too strong to control and having difficulty coping with life without it.

Please select one answer.

SINGLE CODE

PROMPT TO CODE

1. Yes

2. No

98. Don’t know [DO NOT READ]

99. Prefer not to say [DO NOT READ]

Close

SHOW IF TRIALARM = 3, 4

INCENTIVE

Thank you for participating in this survey.

[IF TRIALARM = 3] As a thank you for your time, you can claim a £5 online shopping voucher that can be redeemed at a number of high street stores. This is additional to the £5 you have already received in your letter. You should receive your voucher within 7-10 days from now.

[IF TRIALARM = 4] As a thank you for your time, you can claim a £10 online shopping voucher that can be redeemed at a number of high street stores. You should receive your voucher within 7-10 days from now.

So that we can email you the link to your voucher, please confirm that your email address is SHOW SAMPLE: uc_email

SINGLE CODE

1. Yes, this is correct

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As part of the research into Universal Credit, Ipsos may conduct follow-up interviews to further explore some of the responses provided in this survey. This research will take place no later than May 2026. Please note that if you are invited to take part you will still be able to opt-out at the time.

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On behalf of Ipsos and the Department for Work & Pensions, we would like to thank you very much for your time.

[CAWI: SHOW ALL] [CATI: READ IF REQUESTED] If you have any questions about Universal Credit, you can visit the Universal Credit pages online at or call the Universal Credit helpline on 0800 328 5644. If you would like to receive advice about your benefits, you can also contact Citizens Advice on 0800 144 8848 or by visiting Citizens Advice.

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Ipsos standards and accreditations

Accepted Answer

Ipsos’ standards and accreditations provide our clients with the peace of mind that they can always depend on us to deliver reliable, sustainable findings. Our focus on quality and continuous improvement means we have embedded a “right first time” approach throughout our organisation.

ISO 20252

This is the international market research specific standard that supersedes BS7911/MRQSA and incorporates IQCS (Interviewer Quality Control Scheme). It covers the five stages of a Market Research project. Ipsos was the first company in the world to gain this accreditation.

Market Research Society (MRS) Company Partnership

By being an MRS Company Partner, Ipsos endorses and supports the core MRS brand values of professionalism, research excellence and business effectiveness, and commits to comply with the MRS Code of Conduct throughout the organisation. We were the first company to sign up to the requirements and self-regulation of the MRS Code. More than 350 companies have followed our lead.

ISO 9001

This is the international general company standard with a focus on continual improvement through quality management systems. In 1994, we became one of the early adopters of the ISO 9001 business standard.

ISO 27001

This is the international standard for information security, designed to ensure the selection of adequate and proportionate security controls. Ipsos was the first research company in the UK to be awarded this in August 2008.

Ipsos is required to comply with the UK GDPR and the UK DPA. It covers the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy.

HMG Cyber Essentials

This is a government-backed scheme and a key deliverable of the UK’s National Cyber Security Programme. Ipsos was assessment-validated for Cyber Essentials certification in 2016. Cyber Essentials defines a set of controls which, when properly implemented, provide organisations with basic protection from the most prevalent forms of threat coming from the internet.

Fair Data

Ipsos is signed up as a “Fair Data” company, agreeing to adhere to 10 core principles. The principles support and complement other standards such as ISOs, and the requirements of Data Protection legislation.

Numbers that were in a valid format but which turned out to be wrong numbers, fax numbers, business numbers or disconnected. ↩
Number of records that did not reach max calling attempts due to fieldwork closing but would have been tried if fieldwork continued. ↩
Cooperation rate is calculated as the proportion of completed interviews compared with interview refusals (complete/(complete + incomplete + refusals). ↩

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1. Introduction

Technical report overview

Research overview

2. Quantitative research

Sampling

Survey and questionnaire development

Cognitive testing

Piloting

Fieldwork

Communication to participants

Fieldwork management and monitoring

Reminder schedule

Table 1 Invite and reminder schedule

Impact of Reminder schedule

Figure 1 Cumulative number of completes resulting from each reminder activity

Figure 2 Percentage of total completes resulting from each reminder activity

Survey length

Online completion device

Drop offs

Table 2 Drop offs at each section of the survey

Online restart count

Table 3 number of times participants re-entered the survey

Response rates

Online

CATI

Table 4 CATI fieldwork outcomes and cooperation rate calculations (rounded to nearest whole number)

Data processing and weighting

Coding

Weighting

Table 5 Weighted and unweighted sample profiles

Data and statistical reliability

Table 6 Statistical reliability for each customer Group

Analysis and deliverables

Trial methodology

3. Appendix

3.1 Invitation letter – Control

3.2 Invitation letter – Control

3.3 Invitation letter Trial arm 2

3.4 Invitation letter Trial arm 3

3.5 Privacy notice Control

3.6 Privacy notice trial arm

3.7 Questionnaire

Universal Credit Survey Questionnaire

Ipsos standards and accreditations

ISO 20252

Market Research Society (MRS) Company Partnership

ISO 9001

ISO 27001

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018

HMG Cyber Essentials

Fair Data

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