Helping you get started
We have produced a series of short videos to help you understand and make best use of the Flexible Table Builder.
Building a simple table
This video shows you how to create a custom table, filter or pivot data within your table, and download your table.
Improving your results
This video shows you a number of techniques that can help improve the results of data confidentiality checks.
Accessing and customising ready-made tables
This video shows you how to access and customise our set of ready-made tables.
User feedback
In our series of short videos, Census Office has endeavoured to cover the basics of the Flexible Table Builder. However, we are always looking to improve users’ experience and we recognise there may be other topics that would benefit from tutorial-style videos.
Please email census@nisra.gov.uk with queries or topic suggestions for additional videos.
User survey
We welcome feedback on the Flexible Table Builder from users through our short survey.
The survey aims to collect information relating to the performance and content of the Flexible Table Builder for evaluation purposes. All responses will be treated in strict confidence.
Statistical disclosure control approach
Statistical disclosure rules for the Flexible Table Builder are designed to return as much data as possible. We use three methods to ensure we protect confidentiality:
- Record swapping: to protect persons and household with unique or unusual characteristics.
- Cell key perturbation: to protect against disclosure by differencing.
- Disclosure checks: to protect against sparse tables that allow identification.
Read our paper on statistical disclosure control methodology for 2021 Census (PDF, 206 KB) for more information.
When creating a custom table, in some instances to prevent individuals being identified, limited or no results will be returned. Reducing the number or granularity of the variables you've chosen can help improve coverage. Watch our short video on improving your results to get more advice.
Revisions and corrections policy
The Flexible Table Builder is a digital product that may routinely be updated with software patches and/or fixes. Any enhancements to the system relating to changes in census data and/or metadata are documented in the Census 2021 quality notes, issues and corrections page.