Millennium Cohort Study (UK) (MCS)
MCS is a national longitudinal birth cohort study following the lives of around 19,000 young people born across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Between 2001 and 2002, the study recruited participants aged 9 months born between September 2000 and January 2002 from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. At the baseline sweep, data were collected on over 18,800 children. Data has been collected from participants and their families 10 times between 2001 and 2023.
Study design
Cohort - birth
Number of participants at first data collection
18,818 (participants)
Age at first data collection
9 months (participants)
Participant year of birth
2000 - 2002 (participants)
Participant sex
All
Representative sample at baseline?
The United Kingdom population born in 2000 - 2001.
Sample features
Countries
Year of first data collection
2001
Primary Institutions
University College London (UCL)
Links
cls.ucl.ac.uk/cls-studies/millennium-cohort-study/
discovery.closer.ac.uk/item/uk.cls.mcs/0d8a7220-c61b-4542-967d-a40cb5aca430
Profile paper DOI
Funders
Department for Education (DfE)
Department for Education and Skills
Department for International Development (DFID) now known as Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Department of Education (An Roinn Oideachais, DENI)
Ongoing?
Yes
Data types collected
- Computer, paper or task testing (e.g. cognitive testing, theory of mind doll task, attention computer tasks)
- Interview – face-to-face
- Physical or biological assessment (e.g. blood, saliva, gait, grip strength, anthropometry)
- Secondary data
- Wearable devices
- Self-completed questionnaire – paper or computer assisted
- Self-completed questionnaire – online
- Interviews or focus groups
- None
- Education data
- Geographic, spatial & environmental data
- Healthcare data
- Medical birth registry
- Mortality data
- Tax, income & benefit data
Engagement
Keywords
Consortia and dataset groups
