Universal Credit Definitions
Assessment Period - A period of one month at the end of which a claimant's Universal Credit entitlement for that month is calculated.
CIS - The Customer Information System contains a record for all individuals who have registered and been issued with a National Insurance number.
Count Date - On the second Thursday of each month, counts and other data are taken for each variable from the relevant data source.
Earnings Taper - The earnings taper is the amount by which the Universal Credit award is reduced for every £1 of earned income.
Metadata - Data or a dataset that provides information on and describes other data, essentially data about data.
Standard Allowance - Universal Credit claims are made up of a basic 'Standard Allowance' and any extra amounts that apply to the household.
Taper Rate - Once a claimant earns above their work allowance, Universal Credit payment are reduced at a steady rate. As at March 2021, for example, if the taper rate is 63% (as at March 2021), for every £1 earned above the working allowance, the Universal Credit payment amount is reduced by 63p.
Universal Credit Full Service (UCFS) - Universal Credit Full Service is the main data source for the administration of Universal Credit claims. It is used as the base data source for Universal Credit official statistics to determine who is on Universal Credit, and the details of the various elements of Universal Credit.