MCS Age 7 Sweep

Sweep details

Dates January to December 2008
Age 7
Achieved sample 14,043 (cohort members); 13,857 (families)
Respondents Cohort members, parents, class teachers
Fieldwork agency NatCen Social Research and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
Survey mode Face-to-face and postal
Data access

Main dataset available via the UK Data Service [SN 6411]. Visit the UK Data Service website to access the data.

Description

The Age 7 Sweep examined mid-childhood experience of schooling alongside childhood health, childcare, education, social and family circumstances.

Interviewers visited the cohort members’ homes and conducted face-to-face interviews with both parents. Parents also answered some questions via self-completion. Information collected from parents covered family composition, housing, parental health, employment and income, parenting attitudes and activities, cohort member’s health, child behaviour and development, leisure activities, schooling and child care arrangements.

Cohort members, for the first time, completed a short paper questionnaire on their own, about their lives, school, relationships and attitudes.

The interviewer conducted a number of age-appropriate cognitive assessments with the cohort member. These included a repeat (from age 5) of both the Story of Sally and Anne, and Pattern Construction (British Ability Scales). They also conducted assessments of Word Reading (British Ability Scales) and Progress in Maths (developed by the National Foundation for Educational Research).

Cohort members’ height, weight, waist circumference and body fat were measured.

The cohort members’ class teachers completed a postal questionnaire. This collected information on the development and behaviour of the cohort child from their teacher’s point of view, as well as providing additional information about the child’s study environment.

Cohort members wore an activity monitor for seven days after the home visit to understand physical and sedentary behaviours.

Parents were asked to post cohort members’ shed milk teeth to the study, in order to assess levels of lead exposure.

Parents were asked for permission to link administrative data covering health records for cohort members, parents and siblings; education records for cohort members and siblings; and economic records for parents.

Special features at age 7

Objective measurement of physical activity

Cohort members were asked to wear an activity monitor around their waists for seven days after the household visit, to provide an objective measure of physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

Body Fat

For the first time, a measurement of body fat was added to the physical measurements, providing a more comprehensive picture of physical development.

Cohort member questionnaire

It was the first time cohort members completed their own questionnaire, covering topics including their daily lives, activities, schooling, friendships and parents.

Collection of shed milk teeth

Parents were asked to send cohort members’ shed milk teeth to the study, in order to understand the relationship between stored lead and children’s development.

Documentation

  • User guides
  • Questionnaires
  • Technical reports
  • Data notes
  • Additional
User guides

User Guide for MCS Sweeps 1-5

User guide for Sweeps 1-5 of the Millennium Cohort Study

Date published: 02/09/2020
PDF: 2,19 MB

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User guide to the MCS linked health administrative datasets – Scottish Medical Records (SMR)

This user guide describes the linkage of medical records, child health reviews and prescription and immunisation records in Scotland (henceforth “Scottish Medical Records”) to cohort members’ data in the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS).

Date published: 15/02/2021
PDF: 313,94 KB

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MCS User Guide to the Linked Education Administrative Datasets

This user guide accompanies the datasets linking education data to the records of MCS participants based in England.

Version 2 (May 2021)

Date published: 01/05/2021
PDF: 598,74 KB

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Longitudinal Family File Guide

This guide provides information about the mcs_longitudinal_family_file which is an important dataset of the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS).

Date published: 02/09/2020
PDF: 166,27 KB

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MCS Data Handling Guide

The Data Handling guide explains the data structures of MCS and provides solutions with different data handling strategies.

Date published: 02/09/2020
PDF: 1,14 MB

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MCS 9 Months-Age 11 Guide to the Datasets (Eighth Edition)

Eighth Edition of MCS User Guide to the Datasets

Date published: 01/02/2014
PDF: 934,04 KB

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MCS Age 7 Guide to the Teacher Survey Dataset

The Teacher Survey was first implemented in MCS4, that took place in 2008 when the children were aged around 7 and had been in primary schooling for around 3 years

Date published: 01/07/2011
PDF: 407,8 KB

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MCS Age 7 User Guide to Initial Findings (Second Edition)

Second edition of the user guide to initial findings in MCS4

Date published: 01/12/2010
PDF: 5,71 MB

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MCS SPSS User Guide

User guide to using MCS Data sets using SPSS – written in 2010 after age 7 sweep

Date published: 01/11/2010
PDF: 1,33 MB

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MCS 9 Months-Age 11 Guide to psychological and developmental inventories

Guide to the psychological and developmental inventories in MCS, covering 9 months old to age 11.

Date published: 05/01/2015
PDF: 741,77 KB

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Questionnaires

MCS Age 7 Child Self-Completion Form

Child Self-completion survey for MCS4

Date published: 01/05/2008
PDF: 79,4 KB

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MCS Age 7 CAPI Questionnaire Documentation

Paper representation of the CAPI questionnaire for MCS4

Date published: 01/10/2009
PDF: 2,09 MB

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MCS Age 7 Teacher Questionnaire: England

Teacher questionnaire used for MCS4 surveys conducted in England

Date published: 01/05/2009
PDF: 582,88 KB

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MCS Age 7 Teacher Questionnaire: Wales

Teacher questionnaire used for MCS4 surveys conducted in Wales

Date published: 01/05/2009
PDF: 583,45 KB

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MCS Age 7 Teacher Questionnaire: Scotland

Teacher questionnaire used for MCS4 surveys conducted in Scotland

Date published: 01/05/2009
PDF: 564,88 KB

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MCS Age 7 Teacher Questionnaire: Northern Ireland

Teacher questionnaire used for MCS4 surveys conducted in Northern Ireland

Date published: 01/05/2009
PDF: 564,49 KB

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MCS Age 7 Teacher Survey Appendices

Appendices to accompany the teacher survey for MCS4

Date published: 01/05/2008
PDF: 13,04 MB

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MCS Age 7 Main Stage Draft Questionnaire

Draft version of the main stage questionnaire for MCS4

Date published: 01/09/2008
PDF: 845,25 KB

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MCS Age 7 Cognitive and Physical Assessments Documentation

This paper representation covers the following sections of the CAPI questionnaire for MCS4: child cognitive assessments, child physical measurements and parent physical measurements.

Date published: 01/09/2009
PDF: 618,86 KB

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Technical reports

MCS Age 7 Technical Report (Second Edition)

Technical Report for MCS sweep 4

Date published: 01/09/2010
PDF: 769,3 KB

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MCS Age 7 Technical Report Appendix

Appendix to accompany the technical report for MCS4

Date published: 01/05/2009
PDF: 8,01 MB

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MCS Age 7 Teacher Survey Technical Report

This report contains details of the design and conduct of the MCS4 Teacher Survey

Date published: 01/05/2010
PDF: 824,24 KB

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MCS Age 3-7 Technical Report on Response (Third Edition)

Third edition of the MCS technical report on response rates including sweeps 2,3 and 4

Date published: 01/06/2010
PDF: 719,47 KB

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Data notes

MCS Geographical Identifiers

Geographic Identifiers in MCS

Date published: 01/06/2009
PDF: 45,77 KB

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MCS data note – Interpreting test scores at ages 3, 5 and 7

One particularly valuable element of MCS is the standardised tests undertaken by the cohort members to assess their cognitive skills and educational attainment. This data note gives an overview of the variables on performance in these tests at ages 3, 5 and 7.

Date published: 01/09/2013
PDF: 570,24 KB

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Additional

MCS Age 7 Showcards: Wales

Showcards used for MCS4 surveys conducted in Wales

Date published: 01/05/2009
PDF: 98,08 KB

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MCS Age 7 Showcards: Scotland

Showcards used for MCS4 surveys conducted in Scotland

Date published: 01/05/2009
PDF: 97,44 KB

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MCS Age 7 Showcards: Northern Ireland

Showcards used for MCS4 surveys conducted in Northern Ireland

Date published: 01/05/2009
PDF: 49,86 KB

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MCS Age 7 Showcards: England

Showcards used for MCS4 surveys conducted in England

Date published: 01/05/2009
PDF: 253,65 KB

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MCS Ethical Review and Consent

This note reports on the approach adopted to ethical review and informed consent for the various stages of the Millennium Cohort Study.

Date published: 01/02/2019
PDF: 7,98 MB

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Coding the aspirations for MCS age 7 sweep

This document explains how the CLS derived variables related to children’s responses to the question “when you grow up, what would you like to be?” in the MCS age 7 sweep

Date published: 01/09/2012
PDF: 134,62 KB

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Email: clsdata@ucl.ac.uk

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