Accessing UKMOD

UKMOD has two interfaces:

UKMOD Explore, a web app. UKMOD Explore allows the creation of reform scenarios by modifying – through an intuitive web-based interface – key parameters of the tax-benefit system. UKMOD Explore then produces a fiscal overview and detailed distributional tables, allowing to compare the reform with a baseline consisting in the actual legislation for the selected year. UKMOD Explore requires no proof of access to the underlying data and is just a click away.
The desktop version of UKMOD, which allows users to modify any parameter of the tax-benefit model, change the structure of existing policies and create entirely new policies.

The latter requires access to three separate components: the software (EUROMOD); the model (coded policy rules); and the input data (baseline microdata, optional):

The software, comprising UK-specific templates for the Statistics Presenter (delivered together with the model).
The model comes with demo data, allowing users to familiarise with it without the need to gain access to the input data.
Two different sets of input data are available:

FRS-based (2003-2022), building on the public license version of the Family Resources Survey, with an option to use Household Below Average Income (HBAI) variables and weights. This is the standard source for inequality and poverty analysis in the UK. New input datasets are released every year, as soon as a new wave of FRS data becomes available. A version of the data is also available for selected years with consumption information imputed from the Living Costs and Food (LCF) Survey. The information is used by the model to compute incidence of indirect taxes.
UKHLS-based (2010-2019), building on the special license version of the UK Household Longitudinal Study (aka Understanding Society). Individuals in different waves of the input data can be linked thanks to longitudinally consistent IDs, hence allowing for longitudinal analysis.
This longitudinal dataset is not currently maintained, meaning that no new releases of the data are planned.

Results using the FRS-based version of the input data are obviously different from those obtained with the UKHLS-based version. A comparison of the two input datasets is available here. Both sets of input data can be linked back to the original data sources (FRS and UKHLS respectively), permitting analysis on a wider set of variables.

We advise to always run your analysis using the most recent version of the software and the model. If you want to get notified about new releases, sign up for our mailing list at the bottom of this page.

The three steps of obtaining the software, the model and the data are described in details below.

Step 1: Download the open-source EUROMOD software engine.

The EUROMOD software includes the user interface, its underlying calculator and some plugins. The EUROMOD software is used for UKMOD, the EU models, and other country models. EUROMOD runs only on Windows systems. The source code is distributed as open source under the EUPL-1.2 License and available from the EUROMOD GitHub repository. The installer is distributed under an End-user licence agreement.

The latest version of the EUROMOD software can be downloaded from the EUROMOD website of the Joint Research Center of the European Commission (Software section).

Disclaimer: The Centre for Microsimulation and Policy Analysis (CeMPA), as part of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), accepts no liability for any loss or damage including, without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage arising out of or in connection with the use of the EUROMOD software.

To install, run the EUROMOD installer file, and accept all default settings. (Uncheck the box to launch EUROMOD at the end of the installer.)

Step 2: Download the most recent release of the open-source UKMOD model, and complete the user forum registration form to access the user forum and FAQs.

Download UKMOD B2025.07 (10 September 2025)

(For earlier releases of UKMOD, see the Archive section at the bottom of the page.)

Note: the model is also available for download from the UKMOD GitHub page.

UKMOD is an add-on to EUROMOD, delivered as a set of zip folders. They can be extracted anywhere on your computer, and multiple copies can co-exist. Each copy of the UKMOD files configures a separate project. It is advisable to create a new project for each new UKMOD application. To navigate between different projects:

Open EUROMOD
Set the EUROMOD “Project Folder” to the desired project folder.

The ‘EUROMOD installation and configuration manual’ contained in the ‘Documentation’ folder describes the setup process in detail.

The EUROMOD software engine comes with pre-packaged templates for the Statistics Presenter, included those specific for the UK. However, the UKMOD team sometimes updates the UKMOD statistics in between different releases of the software. The latest available UKMOD templates for the Statistics Presenter are incIuded in the model release, and can be found in the ‘Statistics Presenter’ folder, together with instructions on how to install them.

The model comes with demo data, and allows creation of an arbitrary number of bespoke individual profiles through the Hypothetical Household Tool (HHoT).

Step 3 (optional): Gain access to the UKMOD input data
i) FRS/LCF-based input data: Complete the input data request form. You will need to provide evidence that you have permission to access the underlying data on which the input data are based. This is done on the UK Data Service (UKDS) website. For convenience, we describe here how to obtain and prove access to FRS/LCF data.

RESPONSE TIME: We aim at addressing all data requests within one week of receiving them. Occasionally, our response time might be slower (generally below two weeks) due to shortage of personnel and leave periods.
August 2025: This is one of those periods when our response time might be slower than normal. Please bear with us, we thank you for your patience.

ii) UKHLS-based input data: This data can be directly accessed from UKDS.

Once you have obtained the UKMOD input micro-data, simply extract them to UKMOD\Input\
(The “input” directory is supplied in the installer zip folder).

Note: the data comes with detailed documentation, including metadata and information on how each variable was derived from the official publicly available datasets. The scripts used to prepare the input data area also available for download from the UKMOD GitHub page.

Terms and Conditions

UKMOD is a free resource, released under a CC BY-NC-ND license. This allows users to copy and redistribute the model in any medium or format. However, some restrictions apply. Accordingly, by downloading and using UKMOD you accept the following Terms and Conditions:

Attribution. You must give appropriate credit for UKMOD, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. In particular, you commit to acknowledge use of UKMOD in all the resulting publications and other outputs (such as conference presentations), giving the version number used, and quoting the UKMOD reference paper. You also commit to refer to CeMPA as the developers of UKMOD. The recommended wording of the acknowledgement is:

The results presented here are based on UKMOD version Xx.xx+. UKMOD is maintained, developed and managed by the Centre for Microsimulation and Policy Analysis (CeMPA) at the University of Essex. The process of extending and updating UKMOD was financially supported by the Nuffield Foundation (2018-2021) and the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust (2023-2024). The results and their interpretation are the author’s(’) sole responsibility.

Non commercial use. You may not use UKMOD for commercial purposes. This means that you cannot re-package UKMOD in software that is sold. However, you can sell analyses made with UKMOD, provided proper attribution is given as per above.

No derivatives. If you remix, transform, or build upon UKMOD, you may not distribute the modified material.

Moreover, if you are using restricted input micro data, you are constrained by the conditions set by the data provider.

Data access: You commit to inform yourself of, and abide by, the conditions of access of all the input microdata.

Data acknowledgement: You commit to acknowledge use of the data in any resulting publication, following the requirements set up by the data provider.

Finally, we ask you to let us know about your use of UKMOD:

Information feedback: You commit to inform us about your use of UKMOD and keep us informed about all publications making use of results from UKMOD, by sending the information to iser-ukmod@essex.ac.uk.

We recommend that you consult the supporting documentation and take one of our online or in-person training courses before using UKMOD.

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Accessing UKMOD

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