< Back to Excellence Awards
In this section

The Campion Award for Excellence in Official Statistics


About the award
Government statisticians hold the key to information that enables us to make informed choices: from assessing the real-time impact of the government response to Covid-19, to businesses deciding where to open their next branch or parents deciding which school they’d like their children to attend.

The past few years have been particularly challenging, both for “business as usual” and for the new statistics urgently needed to monitor the pandemic.

This award, given in partnership with the UK Statistics Authority, rewards good practice in UK official statistics - focusing on meeting the needs of the wider user community. Civil Service World is the media partner for the award.

Read about the 2023 winners  

About Harry Campion
The late Sir Harry Campion was the first director of the Central Statistical Office, the forerunner of the Office for National Statistics, from 1941 until he retired in 1967. He was also the inaugural director of the United Nations Statistical Office. Campion was the Royal Statistical Society’s President from 1957 to 1959 and kindly left the Society a generous legacy to support future statisticians.

Criteria
Nominations for the award need to demonstrate how they meet one or more of the following main criteria:

  • Excellent demonstration of gathering information to meet the needs of a range of users, and using this information to develop quality statistics and gain extra insight
  • Excellent or innovative communication of statistics and analysis in ways that are clear, helpful, inclusive and accessible to users
  • Innovative use of statistics and analysis in support of public policy
  • Development of new data sources to meet user needs
Credit will also be given for:
 
  • Statistical development that is particularly innovative  
  • Citations from users showing how the output has helped to make a decision, inform a debate or bust a myth
  • Value for money or efficiency savings  
  • Going beyond normal expectations or outstanding individual effort  
  • Meeting urgent or severe timing constraints  
  • Overcoming obstacles such as political sensitivity, or barriers to collaboration
The 2024 awards will open for entries in the new year.