As we mark Members’ Week 2025, we’re celebrating the heart of our organisation: our members. With a growing community now numbering over 12,600, the Royal Statistical Society has never been more vibrant, engaged or impactful.  

It has been a record-breaking year. From our largest ever annual conference in Edinburgh to a packed calendar of events across sections and local groups, our members have come together to share knowledge, shape the future of statistics and advocate for data-informed decision making. 

“The RSS conference is my favourite week of the year in my professional calendar.” 

    - Jack, RSS Member 
 

“It was honestly the best organised event I’ve ever attended!”

   - Francesca, RSS Member 

 

Shaping the Future for Our Members  

Throughout the year, the RSS runs initiatives designed to make the data professions more supportive, future-ready and better recognised, both for our members and for the wider community. 

Our Statistics Under Pressure initiative, for example, explores the realities faced by statisticians working under intense scrutiny and time constraints. The latest case study looking into the Infected Blood scandal joined those published earlier in the year on the Covid-19 pandemic, the Salisbury poisonings and responses to bovine TB. The project’s findings are already helping policymakers understand how to better support their data professionals, ensuring healthier, more sustainable working environments. 

“We realised early on that there was appetite for support with balancing competing factors to help data inform decision-making at pace (as no data is ever perfect!). Interviewing statisticians to draft up the case studies was fascinating - it was a real privilege to hear first-hand from the range of eminent statisticians who did world-leading fast-paced work under immense pressure. It was also interesting to pull out principles to support statisticians making trade-offs as well as policy recommendations. We hope these will be helpful tools, to work towards an environment where data can best inform decision-making.”  

 
-  Deniz Gursul, RSS Policy and Campaigns Manager 

Our Future Leaders programme has also gone from strength to strength, offering resources, mentorship, and opportunities tailored to promising early-career professionals from diverse backgrounds. And a project we embarked on with the Government Statistical Service, The Future Statistician, is asking important questions surrounding just what the data professions will look like in ten years’ time and how we can best prepare. 

“The biggest benefit for me was the opportunity to share and hear career stories of people like me and importantly their views on leadership. I have had a rethink of what leadership is and means and the different areas I could be a leader. I really enjoyed interviewing someone already in a leadership position and hearing their career journey and suggestions about how to get in to leadership or not." 

 
- Member participating in Future Leaders  

Meanwhile, our accreditation pathway for Data Science Professionals now includes 67 accredited members. This pathway provides formal recognition of expertise, helping professionals stand out in a competitive field and giving employers confidence in the quality and integrity of their data teams. 

These programmes reflect the shared commitment of the RSS and our members to building a supportive profession that looks to the future, recognises skill, and empowers leadership. 

 

Advocating for Statistics Where It Matters Most 

Our members have been a strong voice for the role of statistics in critical areas of public life: 

• Education: We’ve championed the inclusion of statistical literacy in curricula, ensuring the next generation understands data and its power, with this year’s William Guy Lecturers, for example, inspiring school children about statistics in AI. 

• Artificial Intelligence: As AI reshapes industries, we’ve advocated for statistical thinking to be central in its development and governance. Our AI Task Force has had a productive first year, responding to the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan and emphasising the role the RSS can play in collaborating with regulators to develop AI standards.  

• Legal Systems: We’re working to improve statistical literacy among legal professionals and promote best practices to prosecutors, aiming to make sure that statistics is properly used and understood by police, lawyers and in the court room.

 

 “An area we really want to focus on in the coming year is engaging AI practitioners. We really want to sell the benefits of the RSS to these practitioners and get them involved in helping develop standards of practice through the Alliance of Data Science Professionals and the AI Task Force comms sub-group.”  

  -Donna Philips, Chair of the RSS AI Task Force 

 

A Community in Action 

Across our 43 sections and local groups, members have organised and attended 69 events this year alone. Many of these events had over 100 attendees. These gatherings, whether online or in person, are where our community comes together to share ideas and create impact in research, industry and government. 

Our training programme has also seen remarkable uptake, with X members participating in courses designed to sharpen skills and expand horizons. For Members’ Week, we’ve increased our training discounts to make these opportunities even more accessible. 

So far, this year’s most well-attended section event has been ‘Data Visualisation in Healthcare Research,’ organised by the Medical Section with a whopping 256 attendees. 

 

Publications that Connect and Inspire 

RSS members enjoy free access to our suite of publications, which continue to push boundaries and foster global dialogue. The recent Africa Issue of Significance is a standout example—a masterclass in cross-continental collaboration that highlights the richness and diversity of statistical work across Africa. 

We’re also proud to introduce the Data Science and AI Journal, now accepting papers and preparing its inaugural issue. This new publication will serve as a vital source-of-truth housing the body of work generated during this historic moment, as the field undergoes rapid development.  

Meanwhile, our Real World Data Science platform offers a space for timely responses that meet the pace and complexity of today’s data-driven world, grounded in expertise and reviewed by a distinguished editorial board. Recent articles include a real-time investigation of Agentic AI systems and an exploration of the data revolution taking place in veterinary medicine.   

Do come along to our event Inside RSS Publications to find out more about how to get involved.  

Building a Legacy for the Future 

This year, we launched our Legacies Programme, inviting members to consider leaving a gift in their will to support the RSS’s mission for generations to come. These contributions will help sustain our advocacy, education and community-building efforts long into the future. 

“By leaving a gift to the RSS in your Will, you can empower the next generation of statisticians to carry forward our mission. Your legacy gift can open doors for talented young people, break down barriers to entry, and ensure that statisticians at every stage of their career have access to the training, mentoring, and support they need to thrive.” 

  - RSS past President Denise Lievesley 

 

Thank You Members! 

From all of us at the RSS, thank you to every member who has contributed, participated and championed the power of statistics in the past year through your RSS membership. Your energy and expertise continue to drive progress toward a world where data-based decision making is at the centre of public life.