A new geographic hierarchy designed to improve the reporting of small area statistics in England and Wales. The layers of SOA are:
Lower layer | Minimum population 1 000; mean 1 500. Built from groups of OAs (typically 4 to 6) and constrained by the boundaries of the Standard Table (ST) wards used for 2001 Census outputs. |
Middle layer | Minimum population 5 000; mean 7 200. Built from groups of lower layer SOAs and constrained by the 2003 local authority boundaries used for 2001 Census outputs. |
Upper layer | To be determined; minimum size c.25 000. |
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/sape/soa-mid-year-pop-est-engl-wales-exp/mid-2011--census-based-/index.html Names and codes for Super Output Area geography.
http://www.nisra.gov.uk/geography/SOA.htm Set of slightly revised Super Output Areas (SOAs) on NISRA Geography website.