MA Members Survey shows ongoing pressure on museum sector

Every year, the Museums Association conducts a survey of its individual and institutional members across the UK. Our Members Survey 2025/26 received 705 responses from people working in or with museums, offering a valuable insight into the current state of the sector.

It has been a difficult few years for museums as they have dealt with multiple challenges, including the long-term impact of the Covid pandemic, the cost of living crisis, and continuing reductions in local authority funding.

Our latest survey shows that the financial pressures on museums of all types and sizes have remained high over the past year, with knock-on impacts to public engagement and access, collections care and management, and the wellbeing of the museum workforce.

According to our Members Survey 2025/26:

• 58% of respondents say their museum, or the museum they work with, is planning cuts in services in 2025/26, compared to 61% in 2024/25 and 52% in 2023/24.

However, there were some green shoots in this year’s survey. The proportion of museums reporting impacts on staffing and services was lower than 2024/25 in all areas, suggesting that the peak of the funding crisis may have passed for some organisations.

Of the respondents whose organisations are facing cuts:

• 35% say this will result in a reduction in public programming (compared to 63% the previous year).
• 41% say funding cuts will result in job losses (compared to 55% the previous year).
• 32% say funding cuts will result in a reduction in learning and engagement (compared to 46% the previous year).
• 31% say funding cuts will result in a reduction in collections care (compared to 42% the previous year).
• 28% say funding cuts will result in reduced operational services (compared to 36% the previous year).
• 25% say funding cuts will result in reduced opening hours (compared to 33% the previous year).
• 13% say funding cuts will result in closures (compared to 16% the previous year).

In their comments, our members gave more details of how their institutions are being affected by financial pressures.

These impacts include:

• Recruitment freezes, redundancies and restructures, resulting in:
  – Recruitment difficulties and skills gaps
  – Loss of institutional knowledge and experience
  – Low staff morale and frequent burnout
  – Uncertainty and lack of employment stability
  – Increased pressure on remaining staff
  – Overreliance on volunteers.
• Reduced public access, including cuts to opening hours, seasonal closures, the introduction or increase of admission charges, and the risk of closure.
• Delays or cancellations of planned exhibitions, projects and public engagement activities.
• Reduced resources and capacity to compete for funding streams.
• Increased difficulty with improving representation and inclusion in the workforce.
• Increased difficulty with long-term planning.
• Increased difficulty in running outreach work, with a knock-on impact on socially engaged practice such as working with under-served communities.
• Increased difficulty in meeting best practice standards around curation and collections care.
• Concern that income generation has taken priority over collections care and curatorial decision-making.

Comments from MA members

“Funding seems to go to museums in larger towns that already get a lot of funding. I think they seem like a safer bet for funders but it becomes a vicious circle.​”

“Civic museums have been given an impossible task – service their communities with no budgets, and fill the gap with commercial activity. We are all chasing an ever-reducing pot of money.”

“The policy of not replacing posts when people leave, in order to save money, means some posts, especially those collections-related, being empty for months, if not years. This puts a huge burden on existing staff simply to absorb the extra work.”

“I see a lot of personal stress and trauma from the culture that develops because of the cuts in funding and jobs, and also people having to take temporary project roles with little job security.”

“Everybody seems to be stretched – surely this cost cutting can’t continue.”

“Funding cuts and reduction in grant-funded roles significantly jeopardise the level of disabled inclusion in the sector.”

The MA will use this data to advocate for the value of museums across all four UK nations.

This past year there have been welcome announcements of new funding to build capacity and resilience in museums from governments in England, Scotland and Wales.

We are now calling for increased and sustained public investment in the sector, and for everyone to have the right to engage with, and participate in, a good quality museum service near to their homes and communities.

• Read our Museum Manifesto

Sharon Heal, the director of the Museums Association, says: “Reading some of the survey comments is heart-breaking when you see the impact of the cuts and the funding squeeze on institutions and individuals.

“We know from the survey that museums continue to deliver transformative experiences with their communities and are making a positive impact on health and wellbeing, and learning and engagement. But constantly shaving budgets and cutting teams year on year is taking its toll on what museums can offer and how much staff can do.

“As I travel around the UK meeting dedicated museum workers who are working hand in hand with their communities, I am amazed by their creativity, enthusiasm and fortitude.

“The new funding from governments in England, Scotland and Wales is much welcome and needs to be expanded and embedded in budgets over the coming years. And sustained, strategic long-term public investment is needed to ensure we can retain talent, deliver for and with our communities, and look after and share our collections.”