Participation Survey
This page introduces the Participation Survey and links to all relevant documents.
Applies to England
The Participation Survey
The Participation survey is a continuous push to web survey of adults aged 16 and over in England. There are paper surveys available for those not digitally engaged. Verian is carrying out the survey on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Fieldwork started in October 2021 and will be a main evidence source for DCMS and its sectors by providing statistically representative national estimates of adult engagement with the DCMS sectors. The survey’s main objectives are to:
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Provide a central, reliable evidence source that can be used to analyse cultural, digital, and sporting engagement, providing a clear picture of why people do or do not engage.
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Provide data at a county level to meet user needs, including providing evidence enabling us to monitor the accessibility of our sectors.
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Underpin further research on driving engagement and the value and benefits of engagement.
Update to the Participation Survey
In February 2023, there was a Machinery of Government change and responsibility for digital policy now sits within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. This has not affected the content of the Participation Survey for 2023/24 and 2024/25, however these digital sector questions have now been removed from the 2025/26 Participation Survey.
As a result of a partnership between Arts Council England (ACE) and DCMS, in 2023/24, we boosted the Participation Survey to be able to produce meaningful estimates at the Local Authority (LA) level. The questionnaire for 2023/24 was developed collaboratively to adapt to the needs and interests of both DCMS and ACE. In 2024/25, the survey is not boosted and therefore estimates will be available at the international territorial levels 2 (ITL 2: groups of counties and districts in metropolitan areas). Looking ahead to 2026/27, our aim is for a LA boost to happen every three years, as outlined in the below table, and will absorb ACE’s planned ‘cultural and creative lives’ survey, providing better value for money and providing users with a more detailed evidence base.
DCMS ran and responded to a public consultation about DCMS’ social surveys in 2024. We invited views from all interested stakeholders in their current use of the Participation Survey and Community Life Survey and priorities for future, ensuring that meeting user needs and achieving value for money remains at the forefront of any survey design.
Following the consultation we have issued an invite to tender for a combined DCMS survey to commence in October 2025. We are intending to run a joint survey in practice, while keeping the content for each of the Participation Survey and Community Life Survey broadly separate. All respondents will be asked a series of questions relating to demographics, before being routed to answer questions on either the Participation Survey or the Community Life Survey. We expect data for the Participation Survey will be available at ITL2 (county) level. We expect data for the Community Life Survey will be available at local authority level, in partnership with MHCLG. We expect data from these surveys to be published at the same time. We are intending to collect Participation Survey data for April to September 2025 separately, to enable the time series to be continued without a break.
The contract is currently out for tender and we will provide further updates once a contract has been awarded.
| Survey year | Approximate sample size | Lowest geographical breakdown |
|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 33,000 | ITL 2 |
| 2022/23 | 33,000 | ITL 2 |
| 2023/24 | 175,000 | Local authority |
| 2024/25 | 33,000 | ITL 2 |
| 2025/26 | 33,000 | ITL 2 |
| 2026/27 | 175,000 | Local authority |
The questionnaire for 2023/24 has been developed collaboratively to adapt to the needs and interests of both DCMS and ACE.
What the survey covers
The Participation Survey collects data on adult engagement in:
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The cultural sectors: arts, libraries, heritage, museums & galleries, and tourism
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Major events: cultural and sporting events
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Live Sport and gambling
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The digital sectors: internet use, 5G, digital or online skills training.
It includes information on frequency of participation, reasons for participating, barriers to participation and attitudes to the sectors. The survey also gathers information on demographics (for example, age and education), and related areas including wellbeing, loneliness, and use of digital technology.
What we publish
Survey data will be available in three forms:
- Quarterly releases will give a high level summary of the key measures
- Annual releases will give a more detailed summary of the data.
- Annual datasets will be archived on the UK Data Archive.
Statistical releases
Statistical releases for the Participation Survey can be found here.
Statistical releases are Official Statistics publications. Dates of upcoming releases are published in the DCMS Official Statistics Release Calendar
Ad hoc statistical releases
The ad hoc statistical releases for the Participation Survey can be found here.
Methodology
The methodology for this series of statistics can be found here.
Questionnaires
The questionnaires for the Participation Survey can be found here.
Record-level data
Record-level Participation Survey datasets will be accessible via the UK Data Service, University of Essex. Please note that these datasets will only be available for not-for-profit educational and research purposes only.
Information for survey participants
Participants in the survey are randomly selected from addresses from the Post Office’s list of addresses in England. This ensures results reflect the experiences and views of the whole population. You can find more information for survey participants on the Participation Survey: survey participants page.
Feedback
We are always interested in hearing your views on the Participation survey. The latest publication releases include data to a higher level of granularity, which should aid those looking to conduct more in-depth analysis. Please contact us with any suggestions or feedback by email at participationsurvey@dcms.gov.uk
Updates to this page
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Information added about changes in questions, the combined social survey and minor clarifications of the survey areas of focus.
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DCMS is considering the current evidence needs of the department and our stakeholders, ensuring meeting user needs and achieving value for money is at the forefront of any survey design. Therefore we invite views from interested stakeholders about their current use of the Participation Survey and Community Life Survey and priorities for future design. A link to the consultation has been added to this page.
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Updated with information about changes coming in the 2023/24 survey year.
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Added new link to the ad hoc statistical releases page.
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Edited feedback paragraph to reflect latest publication
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First published.