Selection

Only about five per cent of the records created by government departments are selected for permanent preservation in The National Archives. The principles under which public records are selected are defined in the Acquisition and Disposition strategy, published in March 2007.

We have also published a raft of detailed Operational selection policies on specific topics.

Other public records are held by other archive services throughout the UK, under the terms of the Acquisition and Disposition strategy

For further details about The National Archives' Disposition strategy see Disposition