How is UK Biobank data structured on UKB-RAP?

UK Biobank data are organised into two main formats on the UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform (UKB-RAP): tabular data and bulk data.

Tabular data

Tabular data are stored in a Spark SQL database and retain the same structure as data previously released in baskets.

Each participant has one row, with data organised into field-instance-array columns.

Bulk data

Bulk data, such as imaging files, are stored in a folder structure on UKB-RAP.

Find out more

• Explore how UK Biobank data are structured on UKB-RAP for more detailed technical guidance.
• Explore our GitHub notebooks for practical examples of querying and extracting tabular and bulk data using Spark SQL and other tools.