A “pretest” in preparation for the 2015 Census is set to begin today and will run until October 8.

And in a first for the Department of Statistics, 1,000 households have been chosen to take the pretest online, which will run until June 27.

A spokesman for the Department said the online pretest came as a result of “overwhelming feedback” during the 2010 Census that residents be given an electronic option for the next Census.

The chosen residents were informed by post and registration for the e-Census closed on May 16.

While a national census has historically been held every ten years, the Statistics Act 2002 stated that a census of the Island’s population must be taken every five years as of 2010.