Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS)
The Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) is a free online data collection service that covers the adult social care workforce in England.
Contents
The standard
About this standard
- Publisher
- Skills for Care
- Reference code
- DCB2143
- Status
- Active
Show definitions of statuses
Active. Active standards are stable, maintained and have been approved, assured or endorsed for use by qualified bodies.
Deprecated Deprecated standards are available for use and are maintained, but are being phased out, so new functionality will not be added.
Retired standards Retired standards are not being maintained or supported and should not be used.
- Standard type
- Collections
Show definitions of standard types
Collections. A Collection is a systematic gathering of a specified selection of data or information for a particular stated purpose from existing records held within health and care systems and electronic devices.
Extractions. An extraction is a type of collection that is pulled from an operational system by the data controller and transmitted to the receiver without additional processing or transcription by the sender.
Information standards. Information standards are agreed ways of doing something, written down as a set of precise criteria so they can be used as rules, guidelines, or definitions.
Technical Standards and specifications. Technical standards and specifications specify how to make information available technically including how the data is structured and transported.
- Contact point
ascwds-support@skillsforcare.org.uk
Using this standard
- Associated medias
More information
Skills for Care's Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) is recognised as the leading source of high quality data and workforce intelligence for adult social care. The ASC-WDS collects information online about providers offering a social care service and their employees. Social care providers can register, maintain and access their business information at asc-wds.skillsforcare.org.uk. Our Workforce Intelligence team publish and share detailed information about the sector, add insight and interpretation via our written reports and create interactive visualisations to make the data more engaging. Repots and visualisations cover topics such as recruitment and retention, sickness, pay rates, qualifications and demographics. All information is based on estimates of the adult social care workforce, at national, regional and local level. Information can be found at www.skillsforcare.org.uk/workforceintelligence. Below, information is available about our methodology, workforce estimates, published in Excel, and how to request raw ASC-WDS data files. Skills for Care publish information in such a range of formats to promote transparency in the collected data and also to further encourage use of the data by audiences such as government policymakers, academics, researchers, local authorities and workforce planners, as well as any other user with an interest in social care and labour markets. Our high-quality information about the workforce is vital in helping to effectively develop strategy, commission and plan for the workforce together, and this will, in turn, improve outcomes for the people who use these services, both now and in the future.
Page last updated: 27 May 2026