How should IMD be used in practice?

Designing and targeting services

Organisations often use IMD to decide where to focus outreach, advice or support. For example, a charity might:

• Identify neighbourhoods in the most deprived deciles as priority areas for new services
• Plan routes for mobile or home based work that pass through more deprived communities
• Check whether existing services are reaching people in the areas facing the greatest challenges

Supporting funding bids and business cases

Many funders ask for evidence that a project will reach people who face disadvantage. IMD can help you:

• Show how many of your target postcodes fall into higher deprivation deciles
• Highlight constituencies or local authorities with a high share of more deprived areas
• Provide context about the wider challenges that beneficiaries face

Clear charts and maps using IMD data can strengthen the case for investment.

Analysing inequalities and outcomes

Researchers and analysts often group people by the deprivation level of their neighbourhood when studying outcomes. This can reveal:

• Differences in health, education or employment between more and less deprived areas
• Patterns in service use or waiting times
• Where interventions are making the biggest difference

These insights can inform policy and help organisations adapt their work over time.

Principles for good use of IMD

Whatever the application, good practice includes:

• Being clear that IMD is an area based and relative measure
• Combining IMD with other data and local insight
• Avoiding overinterpretation of small differences in rank or decile
• Using IMD as part of a wider story rather than as the only piece of evidence

Used in this way, IMD can support fairer, more transparent decisions without being treated as a blunt label.