Museum Development England have revealed the results of the Annual Museums Survey (AMS), 2025. The survey engages non-National Accredited museums to provide a comprehensive report on the state of play for museums in England.
The findings highlight a positive outlook for many museums who are reporting an uplift on project funding that is driving new programming, increased visits and employment.
Six-year trends reveal that museums have regained pre pandemic visitor levels. Certain museums are performing better than others, with 29% seeing a significant increase in on-site visitors over the last year, whilst 24% have seen a significant decrease. This can be attributed to new and engaging programmes, events as well as open days and similar promotions. Additionally, working with other organisations and engaging community has also contributed to the increase in visits.
This positive outlook is also attributed to a growth in volunteer recruitment. Whilst the median number of volunteers is slightly higher than it was in 2019/20, the hours they contribute to their museums remains stubbornly lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Both staff headcount and the number of staff in full time employment are slightly higher than their pre-pandemic levels. However, this may not be a sign of a healthy long-term trend, as some museums reported that short term funding is having a positive but temporary effect on capacity.
65% of museums are reporting increased expenditure, continuing the pressures of the cost-of-living crisis over the last three years. Finance and workforce capacity challenges remain at the forefront of museums minds, with museums required to do more with less, leaning on short term project funding, all creating a complex, pressurised operating environment.
New analysis for 2025 provides deeper insights on how Independent and University museums consider themselves to be reliant on Local Authorities addressing a broad range of factors, from buildings to collections and funding. Collectively 42% of non-National museums are either Local Authority, or reliant on Local Authorities. The reliance on Local Authority increases for micro museums for whom Town and Parish Councils play a key role.
Victoria Harding, Programme Manager at Museum Development South West (MDSW), said,
““There is much to celebrate in AMS 2025. The museum workforce has shown tenacity and creativity, testing new approaches and developing clear strategies to rebuild visitor and volunteer levels with measurable success. The uptake in project funding is strong: 62% of museums report increased or sustained project investment, enabling recruitment of new capacity, increased or new programming all contributing to increased visitors.
This progress is welcome but can only go so far. Short-term project funding, while valuable, does not resolve the sector’s structural funding shortfall and cannot reverse the steady erosion of core budgets driven by inflation and other systemic pressures. However, it provides insight into the value of investing in the sector, showing how targeted funding is used to maximise outcomes, drive growth, and deliver positive community outcomes.””
692 museums participated in this year’s survey, an increase on last year’s number of contributors. On Wednesday 5 November, MDSW will be releasing AMS reports revealing data specific to each of the five Arts Council England Areas, with an accompanying benchmarking tool across key operational metrics by visitor size and governance type.
Developed and operated by MDSW and PS Research, in collaboration with Museum Development England and funded by Arts Council England, the AMS has been operating across England for nine years. A report archive along with additional AMS resource can be found on their website: Annual Museum Survey - Museum Development South West
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