About the National Survey for Wales

This survey provides an opportunity for the people of Wales to help shape the actions we take. The information collected is used to help develop policies and decide how services are delivered. By taking part, you are helping us to understand the needs of people in Wales and to make sure that money is spent in the right places and in the most effective way.

The survey is carried out by the Office for National Statistics on behalf of the Welsh Government, Sport Wales, Natural Resources Wales and the Arts Council of Wales.

If your address has been selected for the survey, we will have sent you the following letter and leaflet.

You may also receive a postcard from your interviewer.

The first part of the survey lasts around 30 minutes by phone. This is followed by an online section which takes about 10 minutes. If the person taking part does not use the internet, this section can be done on the phone.

Households are chosen randomly from the Royal Mail’s publicly-available list of all addresses in Wales. We then write to the selected households with instructions on how they can provide their phone number to us. If we don’t hear back from a household, we will sometimes make a brief, socially-distanced visit to ask for a phone number.

One of our interviewers will then phone to randomly select one person in the household, aged 16 or over, to carry out the survey.

To say thank you, those who take part will receive a £15 gift voucher.

We keep all answers confidential and only ever use them for research purposes. If you have any questions about the survey, please get in touch with the survey contractor, Office for National Statistics, on 0800 496 2119 or at nationalsurveyforwales@ons.gov.uk

Alternatively, you can contact Welsh Government on 0300 025 2021 or at surveys@gov.wales.

For more information about how we use the information collected, please see our privacy notice.

The organisations below provide information, advice and support on topics covered in the survey.

Advice from the Welsh Government on coronavirus (COVID-19)

Age Cymru: support and advice for older people.
Tel: 0300 303 4498

Community Advice & Listening Line, Mental Health Helpline for Wales
Tel: 0800 132 737
Text ‘help’ to 81066

Citizens Advice: advice on a wide range of issues.
Tel: 0800 702 2020

Help me quit: help to quit smoking.
Tel: 0800 085 2219

Live Fear Free: support for victims of domestic abuse 24 hours a day.
Tel: 0808 80 10 800

Money Helper: free, independent advice on money issues.
Tel: 0800 138 7777

Universal Credit Helpline 
Tel: 0800 328 5644

Working Wales: information, advice and guidance about support if you are made redundant.
Tel: 0800 028 4844

NHS 111 Wales: health advice and information, 24 hours a day.
Tel: 111

Volunteering Wales: Register as a volunteer.

Wales Drug and Alcohol Helpline DAN 24/7: Help with alcohol and drug problems, 24 hours a day.
Tel: 0808 808 2234 or text DAN to 81066

National Gambling Helpline: support and advice on gambling problems.
Tel: 0808 802 0133 

Mencap Cymru: learning disability helpline Wales. 
Tel: 0808 808 1111

Is the study confidential?

Yes, any personal information you give us will be kept confidential and in accordance with the Data Protection Act. It will not be possible to identify you from any report based on the results.

Your details will not be used for marketing purposes.

What happens if I don’t have internet access and can't complete the online section?

If you don’t have internet access, the interviewer will be happy to ask you these questions over the phone instead.

Where can I redeem my gift voucher?

E-voucher

You can redeem your e-voucher at the following retailers (subject to change).

Online only

Asos, Bloom & Wild, Boohoo, BuyaGift, Cineworld, Crown Carveries, Deliveroo, Eurostar, Flightgiftcard, Google Play, Hotels.com, Inspire Travel, Inspire UK Staycation, iTunes, Jet 2 Holidays by Inspire, lastminute.com, London Theatre Direct, MANGO, Naked Wines, , Not on The High Street, Photobox, Red Letter Days, Royal Carribean by Inspire, Swarovski, Ticketmaster, TripGift, TUI by Inspire, Uber, Uber Eats, Virgin, Virgin Experience, Wingly, Zalando

Online and in-store

Adidas, Argos, Arsenal F.C., ASDA, B&Q, Blackwells, Butlins by Inspire, Currys PC World, Decathlon, Ernest Jones, H&M, H.Samuel, Habitat, HomeSense, John Lewis & Partners, JoJo Maman Bébé, Laithwaite's, Lavish Spa & Beauty, Marks and Spencer, National Book Tokens, National Trust, New Look, Nike, River Island, Sainsbury's, Sports Direct, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, The Entertainer, The White Company, TK Maxx, Waitrose

Paper voucher

You can redeem your paper voucher at the following retailers (subject to change).

American Golf, Argos, Barclays Diamonds, Beaverbrooks, Bensons for Beds, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Boots, Boots Opticians, Boux Avenue, British Heart Foundation, Champneys, Chisholm Hunter, Clarks, Denby, DV8, Eason, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Ernest Jones, Euronics, F. Hinds Jewellers, , Foot Locker, FOPP, Fraser Hart, GO Outdoors, Goldsmiths, Gulliver’s Theme Parks, H. Samuel, Halfords, Hard Rock Café, Harveys, Hastings Hotels, Heron Foods, HMV, HomeSense, Iceland, iFly Indoor Skydiving, Laithwaites, Lakeland Leather, Lightwater Valley, Liverpool F.C. Official Club Stores, London Bridge Experience, London Tombs, Loofe’s Clothing, Mamas & Papas, Mappin & Webb, Matalan, New Look, Optical Express, Peacocks, Pizza Express, Ponden Home, Pontin's, River Island, Robert Dyas, Rox Jewellers, Ryman, Schuh, Semichem, Shoe HQ, Shoe Zone, Silverstone Rally School, Simon One, Slaters, Spaghetti House, Sporting Targets, Tenpin, The Food Warehouse, The Original Factory Shop, The Perfume Shop, The Works, TJ Hughes, TK Maxx, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club Shop, Unique Track Days, Virgin Experience Days, Waltons the Jewellers, Watches of Switzerland, Waterstones, West Cornwall Pasty Co., WHSmith, Wilko, Wookey Hole Caves, Wynsors World of Shoes

Data linking is the process of bringing together person-level records from different sources.

What are the benefits of data linking?

Linking information to other records:

• reduces demands on people to take part in surveys such as the National Survey for Wales
• greatly reduces the cost of collecting information
• allows different types of information to be more readily available, and so allows research to be carried out more quickly
• allows better use to be made of already existing information

Data linking in the National Survey

The Health Information Research Unit (HIRU) for Wales is a research unit based at Swansea University. The core of HIRU’s work is linking information from a number of surveys and databases across Wales.

Respondents to the National Survey have their anonymised survey answers linked to other data sources by HIRU. Names, addresses and postcodes are not included in the linked data. The information is used for research purposes only.

Respondents are able to opt out of having their answers linked. This can be done when taking part in the survey, or afterwards by contacting Siobhan Evans, in the Welsh Government’s National Survey project team, on 0300 025 6685 or at surveys@gov.wales.