Local profile · Test Valley (district in Hampshire County Council area) · 2022–2026
2.0% of Test Valley’s working-age residents claim work-related benefits, against 4.0% across England
In 2024/25, 13.9% of pupils at schools in Test Valley missed at least one session in ten, 4.2 percentage points below England’s 18.1%. Figures are for Test Valley council area; compare them with the other 12 areas below.
Evidence last reviewed 3 October 2026
The evidence
How many working-age residents claim work-related benefits?
2.0%
England 4.0% (August 2026). Hampshire range 1.8% (Hart) to 4.5% (Portsmouth). 11th highest of 13 Hampshire areas.
Claimant rates across Hampshire over time →Test Valley council area · August 2026
Source: How many working-age residents claim work-related benefits?
Official statistic · ONS Claimant Count via Nomis (NM_162_1, measure 2), Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16–64
How many pupils miss one school session in ten or more?
13.9%
England 18.1% (2024/25). Hampshire range 12.7% (Hart) to 21.5% (Southampton). 12th highest of 13 Hampshire areas.
School attendance in England →Test Valley council area · 2024/25
Source: How many pupils miss one school session in ten or more?
Official statistic · DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England 2024/25, Absence by school location (local authority district basis)
How long can a boy born here expect to live?
82.0 yrs
England 79.5 yrs (2022 to 2024). Hampshire range 78.0 yrs (Southampton) to 83.7 yrs (Hart). 4th highest of 13 Hampshire areas.
How healthy life differs by deprivation in England →Test Valley council area · 2022 to 2024
Source: How long can a boy born here expect to live?
Official statistic · ONS, Life expectancy for local areas of the UK: between 2001 to 2003 and 2022 to 2024, Life expectancy at birth, by sex
How does Test Valley compare?
Test Valley: claimant rate 2.0%, in a Hampshire range of 1.8% (Hart) to 4.5% (Portsmouth)
People claiming Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance who are required to look for work, as a percentage of residents aged 16–64, August 2026. Not the unemployment rate.
August 2026England 4.0%
- Portsmouth4.5%
- Southampton4.2%
- Gosport3.6%
- Havant3.3%
- Rushmoor3.0%
- Basingstoke and Deane2.7%
- Eastleigh2.3%
- New Forest2.3%
- Winchester2.1%
- East Hampshire2.1%
- Fareham2.0%
- Test Valley2.0%
- Hart1.8%
Portsmouth has the highest claimant rate (4.5%) and Hart the lowest (1.8%); 2 of 13 areas are above England’s 4.0%. Test Valley is 2.0%, 2.0 percentage points below England (11th highest of 13). An administrative count, not unemployment: some claimants are in low-paid work and asked to look for more, and many unemployed people claim nothing. Not seasonally adjusted; the latest month is provisional.
Ceremonial Hampshire’s 13 council areas (11 districts, Portsmouth and Southampton) · August 2026 · Official statistic
Sources, definitions and data — Test Valley: claimant rate 2.0%, in a Hampshire range of 1.8% (Hart) to 4.5% (Portsmouth)
- Geography:
- Ceremonial Hampshire’s 13 council areas (11 districts, Portsmouth and Southampton)
- Measure:
- % of residents aged 16–64
- Period:
- August 2026
- Status:
- Official statistic
- Calculation:
- As published by the source.
- Compare with:
- England 4.0%, August 2026
Source: ONS Claimant Count via Nomis (NM_162_1, measure 2), Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16–64. Chart HANTS-02.
View the data as a table
| Area | % of residents aged 16–64 | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | 4.5% | August 2026 |
| Southampton | 4.2% | August 2026 |
| Gosport | 3.6% | August 2026 |
| Havant | 3.3% | August 2026 |
| Rushmoor | 3.0% | August 2026 |
| Basingstoke and Deane | 2.7% | August 2026 |
| Eastleigh | 2.3% | August 2026 |
| New Forest | 2.3% | August 2026 |
| Winchester | 2.1% | August 2026 |
| East Hampshire | 2.1% | August 2026 |
| Fareham | 2.0% | August 2026 |
| Test Valley | 2.0% | August 2026 |
| Hart | 1.8% | August 2026 |
Compare Test Valley with any other area on another measure: compare Hampshire’s 13 areas.
Issues in Test Valley
How many pupils miss one school session in ten or more?In 2024/25, 13.9% of pupils at schools in Test Valley missed at least one session in ten, 4.2 percentage points below England’s 18.1%.What persistent absence measures and what has been tried.Read the chapter → How many pupils miss one school session in ten or more? How long can a boy born here expect to live?Male life expectancy at birth in Test Valley was 82.0 years in 2022–24, 2.5 years more than England’s 79.5.Healthy life expectancy differs by many years between England’s most and least deprived areas.Read the chapter → How long can a boy born here expect to live? What share of 16–64-year-olds are in work?Test Valley: employment rate 76.9% (Apr 2025-Mar 2026).Why employment is high but sickness-related inactivity has grown.Read the chapter → What share of 16–64-year-olds are in work? How much crime is recorded by the police?Police recorded 52.6 crimes per 1,000 residents in Test Valley from September 2025 to August 2026 (police.uk, excluding anti-social behaviour); England’s official rate was 83.4 for the year to March 2026, a different source.How local recorded crime differs from national survey estimates.Read the chapter → How much crime is recorded by the police?
Crime recorded in Test Valley
Police-recorded crime, street-level data from police.uk, September 2025 to August 2026
7,142 crimes were recorded by the police in the Test Valley council area from September 2025 to August 2026: 52.6 per 1,000 residents, the 9th highest of Hampshire’s 13 areas. A further 1,111 anti-social behaviour incidents are counted separately.
Rates are per resident. Places that draw large numbers of shoppers, commuters, students, visitors and night-time crowds — Portsmouth and Southampton city centres above all — record crimes against people who do not live there, so their rates overstate the risk to residents. Recorded crime also reflects how often crimes are reported and how forces record them, not only how much crime happens.
England’s official rate was 83.4 per 1,000 (ONS police recorded crime excluding fraud, year ending March 2026) — a different source and year, so read the gap (−30.8) as approximate.
What kinds of crime are recorded in Test Valley?
Violence and sexual offences make up 46% of recorded crime in Test Valley
Crimes by police.uk category, September 2025 to August 2026. Anti-social behaviour (1,111 incidents) is not a crime and is not included.
- Violence and sexual offences3,286 (46%)
- Public order662 (9%)
- Other theft594 (8%)
- Shoplifting580 (8%)
- Criminal damage and arson576 (8%)
- Burglary429 (6%)
- Vehicle crime366 (5%)
- Drugs247 (3%)
- Other crime184 (3%)
- Possession of weapons98 (1%)
- Robbery59 (under 1%)
- Bicycle theft35 (under 1%)
- Theft from the person26 (under 1%)
Police-recorded crime, street-level data from police.uk, September 2025 to August 2026. Categories are police.uk’s own groupings and are broad: “violence and sexual offences” runs from harassment to serious assault. Recorded crime depends on reporting and recording as well as offending. For the year to March 2026, ONS counted 7,055 crimes in Test Valley (excluding fraud); police.uk shows 7,084 for the same months (+0.4%).
Test Valley council area · September 2025 to August 2026 · Police management information (police.uk); not National Statistics
Sources, definitions and data — Violence and sexual offences make up 46% of recorded crime in Test Valley
- Geography:
- Test Valley council area
- Measure:
- crimes (count) and share of all crimes
- Period:
- September 2025 to August 2026
- Status:
- Police management information (police.uk); not National Statistics
- Calculation:
- police.uk street-level records counted by category and assigned to the council area by map point; anti-social behaviour and British Transport Police records excluded.
- Not included / breaks:
- Fraud (not on police.uk); crimes with no usable location; anti-social behaviour (shown separately).
Source: police.uk open data, street-level crimes (Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary), POST https://data.police.uk/api/crimes-street/all-crime, months 2025-09 to 2026-08, by council-area polygon; retrieved 3 October 2026. Chart HANTS-04.
View the data as a table
| Category | Crimes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 3,286 | 46.0% |
| Public order | 662 | 9.3% |
| Other theft | 594 | 8.3% |
| Shoplifting | 580 | 8.1% |
| Criminal damage and arson | 576 | 8.1% |
| Burglary | 429 | 6.0% |
| Vehicle crime | 366 | 5.1% |
| Drugs | 247 | 3.5% |
| Other crime | 184 | 2.6% |
| Possession of weapons | 98 | 1.4% |
| Robbery | 59 | 0.8% |
| Bicycle theft | 35 | 0.5% |
| Theft from the person | 26 | 0.4% |
| All crimes (excluding anti-social behaviour) | 7,142 | 100% |
| Anti-social behaviour (not a crime) | 1,111 | — |
How does recorded crime in Test Valley move month by month?
595 crimes a month on average in Test Valley; the busiest month was July 2026
Police-recorded crimes per month, excluding anti-social behaviour, September 2025 to August 2026.
The busiest month was July 2026 (724) and the quietest February 2026 (473). Recorded crime usually rises in summer and dips in winter, and one year is too short to call a trend. Police-recorded crime, street-level data from police.uk, September 2025 to August 2026.
Test Valley council area · September 2025 to August 2026 · Police management information (police.uk); not National Statistics
Sources, definitions and data — 595 crimes a month on average in Test Valley; the busiest month was July 2026
- Geography:
- Test Valley council area
- Measure:
- crimes per month
- Period:
- September 2025 to August 2026
- Status:
- Police management information (police.uk); not National Statistics
- Calculation:
- Monthly counts of police.uk street-level crimes assigned to the council area by map point.
- Not included / breaks:
- Fraud; crimes with no usable location; anti-social behaviour (in the table only).
Source: police.uk open data, street-level crimes (Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary), POST https://data.police.uk/api/crimes-street/all-crime, months 2025-09 to 2026-08, by council-area polygon; retrieved 3 October 2026. Chart HANTS-05.
View the data as a table
| Month | Crimes (excluding anti-social behaviour) | Anti-social behaviour incidents |
|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | 589 | 76 |
| October 2025 | 593 | 80 |
| November 2025 | 578 | 72 |
| December 2025 | 563 | 70 |
| January 2026 | 612 | 85 |
| February 2026 | 473 | 74 |
| March 2026 | 634 | 89 |
| April 2026 | 518 | 120 |
| May 2026 | 625 | 124 |
| June 2026 | 643 | 94 |
| July 2026 | 724 | 92 |
| August 2026 | 590 | 135 |
How this compares with the official statistics
For the year to March 2026, ONS counted 7,055 crimes in Test Valley (excluding fraud); police.uk shows 7,084 for the same months (+0.4%). The official series comes from the ONS and is the one used for national figures; police.uk is used here because it gives all 13 areas the same months, with categories and monthly detail. Why the two differ
Current status
- Who runs the council
- Conservative control (record checked 2026-08-01)
- MPs (2024 general election)
- North West Hampshire — Kit Malthouse (Conservative); Romsey and Southampton North — Caroline Nokes (Conservative). Constituency and council boundaries differ.
- Local government reorganisation
- Decision withdrawn; reorganisation under government review (checked 2026-09-23). Test Valley council continues unchanged. What was decided and withdrawn
Party control and representatives across the county: Hampshire political map.
Who can change this?
Raise an issue with the body that holds the power. Responsibilities follow the two-tier split: the 11 districts share Hampshire County Council for schools, social care and public health, while Portsmouth and Southampton run all of these themselves.
| Issue | Local council | County / combined authority | NHS and police | Central government |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Housing supply and affordability | Test Valley council: local plan, planning decisions, homelessness duty, its own council housing where held | Highways, schools and other infrastructure that sites need | — | MHCLG: national planning policy and housing targets; Homes England: affordable-housing funding |
| Work and benefits | Test Valley council: local economic development and employment support | Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority: adult skills (from August 2027) and strategic growth | NHS: health-related support to stay in work | DWP and Jobcentre Plus: Universal Credit and conditionality |
| School attendance | District council: no education role | Hampshire County Council: attendance support under DfE’s statutory guidance | NHS: children’s mental health services | DfE: funding and attendance policy; schools and academy trusts |
| Health and life expectancy | Test Valley council: housing standards, leisure, environmental health | Hampshire County Council: public health duty and grant | NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB: commissioning; GP practices and trusts: care | DHSC: NHS funding and public health grant |
| Crime and safety | Test Valley council: Community Safety Partnership, licensing, CCTV | — | Police and Crime Commissioner: police plan and budget; Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary: operations | Home Office: police funding formula and law |
Connections
- Claimant rates across Hampshire over time
The national jobs story, and the claimant count’s own definition and history. DWP and Jobcentre Plus set and run Universal Credit conditionality; councils and the combined county authority run employment and skills support.
- School attendance in England
What persistent absence measures and what has been tried. Schools and academy trusts; the local authority (Portsmouth, Southampton or Hampshire County Council) under DfE’s statutory attendance guidance; DfE nationally.
- Compare Test Valley with another area
Put any two Hampshire areas side by side on the same measure and period.
- Which bodies cover this area?
ICB, police, education and social-care responsibilities for each of the 13 areas.
All figures for Test Valley
Every comparable measure held for the 13 areas, with its own period and comparator. Survey estimates and measures with mixed periods are not ranked.
| Measure | Test Valley | England / GB | Hampshire range | Period | Status and source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claimant rate | 2.0% | 4.0% (England, August 2026) | 1.8% (Hart) – 4.5% (Portsmouth) | August 2026 | Official statistic · ONS Claimant Count via Nomis (NM_162_1, measure 2) |
| Employment rate | 76.9% | 75.5% (GB, Apr 2025-Mar 2026) | 73.3% (Southampton) – 87.6% (Fareham) | Apr 2025-Mar 2026 | Survey estimate · ONS Annual Population Survey via Nomis |
| Median full-time earnings (residents) | £41,356 | £40,014 (England, 2025) | £36,457 (Portsmouth) – £48,256 (Hart) | 2025 | Official statistic · ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, resident analysis, via Nomis |
| House price to earnings ratio | 8.6× | 7.4× (England, House price: year ending Mar 2026. Earnings: 2025.) | 6.8× (Gosport) – 10.5× (Winchester) | Year ending Mar 2026 house price / 2025 earnings | Site calculation · ONS median house prices for administrative geographies (HPSSA) |
| Median house price | £355,000 | £295,000 (England, Year ending Mar 2026) | £252,000 (Gosport) – £467,500 (Winchester) | Year ending Mar 2026 | Official statistic · ONS median house prices for administrative geographies (HPSSA) |
| Persistent absence | 13.9% | 18.1% (England, 2024/25) | 12.7% (Hart) – 21.5% (Southampton) | 2024/25 | Official statistic · DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England 2024/25 |
| Male life expectancy at birth | 82.0 yrs | 79.5 yrs (England, 2022 to 2024) | 78.0 yrs (Southampton) – 83.7 yrs (Hart) | 2022 to 2024 | Official statistic · ONS, Life expectancy for local areas of the UK: between 2001 to 2003 and 2022 to 2024 |
| Female life expectancy at birth | 84.9 yrs | 83.3 yrs (England, 2022 to 2024) | 82.3 yrs (Gosport) – 86.3 yrs (Winchester) | 2022 to 2024 | Official statistic · ONS, Life expectancy for local areas of the UK: between 2001 to 2003 and 2022 to 2024 |
| Neighbourhoods in England’s most deprived 10% | 0.0% | 10.0% (England, 2025) | 0.0% (Winchester) – 12.0% (Portsmouth) | 2025 | Official statistic · MHCLG, English Indices of Deprivation 2025 |
| Police-recorded crime rate | 52.6 | 83.4 (England, year ending March 2026) | 37.1 (Hart) – 118.8 (Southampton) | September 2025 to August 2026 | Administrative data · police.uk open data, street-level crimes (Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary) |
Sources and methods (12)
- ONS Claimant Count via Nomis (NM_162_1, measure 2), Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16–64 — Claimant rate, every area and England, monthly (stored series).
- ONS Annual Population Survey via Nomis, Employment rate, aged 16–64 — Employment rate, April 2025 to March 2026; Great Britain comparator.
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, resident analysis, via Nomis, Median gross weekly pay, full-time workers, by place of residence — Median full-time resident earnings, 2025.
- ONS median house prices for administrative geographies (HPSSA), Median price paid, all dwellings — Median house prices; with ASHE, the house-price-to-earnings ratio.
- DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England 2024/25, Absence by school location (local authority district basis) — Persistent absence by school location, 2024/25, and England.
- ONS, Life expectancy for local areas of the UK: between 2001 to 2003 and 2022 to 2024, Life expectancy at birth, by sex — Life expectancy at birth by sex, 2022–2024.
- MHCLG, English Indices of Deprivation 2025, Local authority summaries: proportion of LSOAs in the most deprived 10% nationally (released 30 October 2025) — Share of neighbourhoods in England’s most deprived 10%.
- police.uk open data, street-level crimes (Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary), POST https://data.police.uk/api/crimes-street/all-crime, months 2025-09 to 2026-08, by council-area polygon; retrieved 3 October 2026 — Police-recorded crime, street-level data from police.uk, September 2025 to August 2026: every area’s crime totals, categories, monthly counts and anti-social behaviour.
- ONS, Crime in England and Wales: Police force area data tables, year ending march 2026, P1 (force counts), P3 (force rates), C2 (CSP counts), C4 (CSP rates) (released 23 July 2026) — The official check: police recorded crime by force and Community Safety Partnership, year to March 2026 (tables P1, P3, C2, C4), and England’s rate.
- ONS mid-year population estimates, mid-2025, all ages (Nomis dataset NM_31_1) — Resident populations (mid-2025) for crime rates per 1,000.
- NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB: changes from 1 April 2026 — ICB boundary change, 1 April 2026.
- Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority — Combined county authority status and powers.
Method notes
- Each local page’s headline is chosen by a site rule, not written by hand: among measures with a matched England comparator and one period for all 13 areas, the selector scores |distance from the Hampshire median| + 0.5 × |distance from England|, both in cross-area standard deviations, and takes the highest. Survey estimates (employment rate), measures with mixed periods, and crime (its England comparator is a different source) cannot lead. Below a score of 0.75 the page uses a neutral fallback.
- County figures are never invented. Rates are shown as ranges across the 13 areas, with the lowest and highest named, because a pooled employment rate needs each area’s employed and 16–64 population counts and a pooled absence rate needs pupil enrolments — this site holds neither. Population is a genuine sum.
- England comparators: claimant count, absence, life expectancy and deprivation share the local period. So does the house-price-to-earnings ratio. Crime is compared with England’s ONS rate for the year to March 2026, a different source, which is flagged beside the figure. The employment comparator is Great Britain because Nomis publishes no England figure in that series.
- Ranks are given only for administrative measures with one period. Survey estimates show no rank.
- Winchester figures cover Winchester district, not just the city.
- Crime (September 2025 to August 2026): every crime police.uk published for the 13 areas, fetched month by month from the police.uk API for a polygon around each council area, de-duplicated and assigned to the area its anonymised map point falls in (unsimplified ONS boundaries; 17 points on the coast that fell between boundary lines went to the nearest area within 1 km). Anti-social behaviour and British Transport Police records are kept out of crime totals. Rates use ONS mid-2025 resident populations. The method and script are in scripts/police-uk/; a check against the site’s separately built police.uk archive series for Portsmouth and Southampton (assigned by neighbourhood code, not by map point) agrees to within one crime a month.
- Crime is checked against the ONS official figures (police force area and Community Safety Partnership tables, year ending March 2026). Over the same 12 months (April 2025 to March 2026), police.uk shows 135,156 crimes in the 13 areas against 137,696 in the ONS tables (−1.8%). Area by area the two are within 3.4% of each other; police.uk is lower in most areas and slightly higher in a few. For the whole force, including the Isle of Wight, police.uk is 4.1% below ONS, mostly because ONS also counts 3,316 offences it could not place in any area.
- Crime is not used to lead a page: the comparator for England is a different source, and resident-based rates overstate risk where many non-residents visit. Areas are ranked only with that caveat beside the rank.