Analysis Function Annual Report: April 2024 to March 2025

Website analytics in this report focus on active users as opposed to total users, which was the metric given in previous editions of our annual report. This is because Google Analytics 4 (GA4) focuses on active users, while the previous version, Universal Analytics (UA), focused on total users.

An active user is any user who has an ‘engaged session‘. An ‘engaged session’ is one that lasts longer than 10 seconds, or has at least 2 pageviews or screenviews.

Google Analytics stopped processing new data for UA on July 1, 2023. Data and reports from UA were still available until July 1, 2024, but are no longer available.

In support of these strategic objectives, the Analysis Function Central Team promote a range of guidance and support, ensuring people across government have the tools they need to undertake effective analysis. This is achieved by running regular interactive sessions, seminars, and sharing best practice on the Analysis Function (AF) website.

Major activities that have taken place across the 2024 to 2025 financial year include:

• Gptables has been updated and deployed – Gptables is a Python package that produces accessible Excel (.xlsx) spreadsheets from analysts’ existing data frames, reducing manual work, and ensuring outputs comply with AF guidance
• updates to the Duck Book were made throughout October and November 2024 – this provides guidance on quality assurance of code for analysis and research
• cross government Rapid Analytical Pipelines (RAP) champions network planned to increase engagement and host more RAP events – this included hosting the AF RAP Champion Network hybrid event in May 2024

The following guidance has also been successfully published on the Analysis Function website throughout 2024 and 2025:

• An Introductory Guide to Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA)
• Government Statistical Service (GSS) Harmonisation Team workplan 2024
• Gender identity data harmonisation guidance
• Inclusivity and accessibility in survey development

We have continued to promote the updated Analysis Function Standard through various engagement activities including bespoke briefing sessions and presentations for departments. This has helped to promote awareness of the AF Standard across government, and we are now updating the Standard to include feedback from other functions.

We supported 18 government departments and 14 Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) through the AF Standard Self-Assessment. This is a large increase on the number of ALBs who completed the exercise in the previous year, following increased support to these organisations.

We also facilitated an update to the Analytical Quality Assurance (AQuA) Book. This update has ensured the AQuA Book remains fit for purpose and is easier for non-specialists to understand and apply.

Analysis in Government Month

The fourth Analysis in Government Month (AiG Month) took place in May 2024, with the theme of ‘innovation’. The learning event provided an opportunity to demonstrate how important it is for government analysts to understand different types of innovation and learn how to keep up to date in such a fast-moving area.

During the whole learning event, we hosted 35 live sessions whilst also supporting analysts across government to host additional events as part of our new Community Programme. 8,260 tickets were ‘sold’, and we increased our Eventbrite followership by 25%. 91% of participants said that they found sessions interesting and engaging.

All analysis professions contributed to events, plus colleagues from other professions including the Operational Delivery Profession (ODP) and Policy Profession. More than 26 departments and teams were involved, including a greater representation from academia.

Analysis in Government Awards

Our Analysis in Government (AiG) awards are designed to recognise and celebrate the inspirational people and outstanding teams producing analysis across government.

The fifth AiG Awards took place during the winter of 2024 and into early 2025, receiving a record-breaking 134 nominations from 30 departments and 13 professions across government. All seven of the analysis professions were represented in the nominations.

In March 2025 we hosted a hybrid celebration event with all winning teams, which included:

• Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl)
• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
• HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
• Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)
• Office for National Statistics (ONS)
• Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted)

The event was an opportunity to showcase all winning projects with colleagues and to receive direct commendations from the Head of the Analysis Function and our senior sponsor.

This Celebration Event was also used to announce the winner of the People’s Choice Award. The winner was chosen from the winners and runners up by the entire AF membership based on which nomination made them “most proud to be a government analyst”.

Other engagement activities

Beyond these core events, we have engaged colleagues working in analysis across government by using a variety of communication channels, and keeping the analysis community informed of continuous improvement opportunities and support. This includes our:

• monthly AF newsletter – our readership continues to grow and now has a distribution list of over 3,700 analysts with just over 600 people subscribed to our new LinkedIn version
• social media channels

Our LinkedIn presence especially has grown. Followers have increased by 64% and our posts have consistently reached double the monthly engagement aim. We now have 1,300 followers on LinkedIn and over 2,300 followers on X.

The Analysis Function website remains an important source of information for our diverse analytical community. Google Analytics recorded 92,914 active users in the 2024 to 2025 financial year. This was an increase of 90% compared to the 48,848 active users recorded in the 2022 to 2023 financial year. Page views have increased by more than 20% from 272,755 in the 2022 to 2023 financial year to 335,352 in the 2024 to 2025 financial year. 

Our tools and products support our community of over 17,000 analysts working across government.

In December 2024, we upgraded to the latest version of the Online Skills Tool, offering analysts an enhanced user experience and additional features. From April 2024 to March 2025, 844 new users were provided access to the tool. 176 analysts completed a self-assessment of their skills and received tailored learning recommendations. We also engaged with professions and departments to ensure their role profiles and learning offers were up to date and to increase promotion of the tool.

We have undertaken maintenance and updates to elements of the technical learning curriculum, which provides analysts with technical learning from a range of providers and sources.

In terms of talent management, we managed a light touch AF Senior Civil Service 2 Talent Moderation process over the summer, providing an opportunity to feed in a functional view to all departmental talent ratings.​

An updated Snapshot Workforce Data Product was published in May 2025. The product provides a central source of evidence about the population of the Analysis Function, including the locations and roles of analysts across government and diversity characteristics across the Analysis Function.

In partnership with Analysis Function colleagues in the Diversity and Inclusion working group, we offered another series of the Mutual Mentoring programme. This concluded in November 2024 with 50 participants from Higher Executive Officer (HEO) grade to SCS1. Training and support were provided to participants to manage their mentoring relationships.

The AF Resourcing Hub, which provides a central repository of analytical resourcing best practice, has had 241 active users in the 2024 to 2025 financial year. The active viewer figures for other specific areas during the 2024 to 2025 financial year are as follows:

• Career Framework (1,720 active users)
• Role profiles and career pathways (1,074 active users)
• Technical Learning Curriculum (796 active users)
• Learning Pathways (776 active users)
• Resourcing Hub (241 active users)

Building on the success of previous years, we have continued to build a strong and inclusive functional culture. We have contributed significantly to this strategic objective by working with Chief Analysts through our board of Departmental Directors of Analysis (DDANs) and departmental AF Champions. Through effective coordination enabled by DDAN meetings, monthly emails and AF briefings, we have been able to provide insightful responses to big policy questions such as those surrounding the effects of the general election. The AFCT has provided regular reporting and updates about our work to DDANs, the Analysis Function Board, and People Board throughout the year.

In early 2024 we started work to produce A strategy for analysis in government (2025 to 2028), which was published in summer 2025. The revised strategy was scoped through a structured and inclusive process designed to ensure alignment with organisational priorities and stakeholder needs.

The project began with an initial discovery phase, which involved mapping existing capabilities and identifying future requirements across government departments. This was followed by a series of workshops and targeted consultations with major stakeholders, including analysts, senior leaders, and partner functions. Feedback gathered during these sessions informed the vision, objectives, and delivery roadmap, ensuring that the strategy reflects both operational realities and long-term ambitions. By embedding stakeholder engagement at every stage, the project established a shared sense of ownership and commitment to building analytical capability for the future.

A strategy for analysis in government (2025 to 2028) is now published, and a newly designed Strategy Hub on our website provides all the information for Analysis Function members needed to engage with the strategy. This includes bespoke resources for all analysts and senior analysts.