You can find the fees and financial support information for Conference 2026 on this page.
Fees
In Birmingham – full conference
In Birmingham – single day
Digital access – streamed sessions across full conference
*This rate is available to individuals who work with eligible small institutional members (I1 and I2), federations, specialist or Friends groups
When booking please make sure you are logged in with the email associated with your membership, or that you have your organisation selected on your profile, otherwise the wrong fee may be calculated.
Please also ensure you select the correct event package depending on whether you are attending online only (Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 November); the full event in person (Monday 2 to Wednesday 4 November); on Tuesday 3 November only in person; or on Wednesday 4 November only in person. Single days are not available for online only bookings.
Multiple in-person booking discounts
Institutional members who book in-person full conference (or single day equivalent) tickets for 10 or more members of staff will receive a 20% discount. If booking over 15 full conference places, the discount is 30%. Please email events@museumsassociation.org for more information.
All-staff online attendance bookings
Our institutional and commercial members can book all-staff online only access to Conference 2026 for £680.
What’s included?
Our programme of sessions runs for two days over 3 and 4 November, plus on 2 November all in-person delegates are invited to take part in a programme of free tours around Birmingham and the surrounding area. There will also be three social events taking place over conference on the evenings of 2, 3 and 4 November.
If you are attending in person, the price includes attending all sessions and social events on the day(s) selected, plus the day of museum tours. It also includes morning and afternoon tea and coffees and a vegetarian/vegan lunch on 3 and 4 November.
For delegates attending online, you will be able to engage with livestreamed sessions over the two days, meet and interact with colleagues on our conference platform, and pose questions to our speakers. Please note that not all sessions will be livestreamed, with some available for in-person delegates only.
If you miss anything, all delegates will be able to view all the livestreamed sessions online for free after the event.
Apply for a free place through the Members Support Fund
The Members Support Fund (MSF) helps individual members of the Museums Association to access our annual conference through a number of free places and wrap-around financial support for travel and accommodation.
There are two ways you can apply:
Inclusive Places
The MSF provides 26 free in-person and online places for individual MA members who face barriers due to ethnicity, disability, socio-economic background, and gender identity or sexual orientation (LGBTQ).
Successful applicants can also claim up to £250 to support their travel and/or accommodation. Applicants can make as many claims as needed (up to the £250 limit) before or after conference takes place. You just need to fill in an expense claims form and send us receipts as proof of payment.
Professional development support
The MSF provides free in-person and online places to any individual MA members – you don’t have to participate in one of our core professional development programmes (the AMA or the FMA) to apply. Please note this support will only fund your conference place and there is no wrap-around funding available.
You can only apply to one of the above strands of funding.
The deadline to apply for an Inclusive Place or professional development support to attend Conference 2026 in person in Birmingham is 1200 on 21 August 2026. The deadline to apply for an online place is 1200 on 21 October 2026.
We will let all applicants know if they have been successful as soon after the deadline as possible.
Please email events@museumsassociation.org if you have any questions or require the below form in a different format for access reasons.
Other grants and financial support
We know that attending conferences can be costly and some of our attendees may be looking for other sources of financial support to help fund their conference experience this year.
If you know of any funding sources we’ve not included, please email francesca@museumsassociation.org with details so we can feature them on this page.
Across the UK
Art Fund – Jonathan Ruffer curatorial grants support UK curators, museum professionals and researchers to undertake travel and other activities that will extend and develop their curatorial expertise, collections-based knowledge and art historical interests. This includes travel and accommodation for conferences. Small grants (under £2,000) are offered on a rolling basis.
Scotland
Museums Galleries Scotland – The MGS small grants fund allows accredited Scottish museums to apply for up to £15,000 towards support for a range of activities, including preparation and scoping work to plan and inform future strategic development.
Wales
Arts Council of Wales – Wales’ arts council has a range of funding opportunities available for both individuals and organisations across the arts, heritage and museums.
England: Midlands
Museum Development Midlands – Workforce Development Grants support museum organisations and practitioners to undertake individual or group development opportunities and upskill in their role. £150 to £750 is available for individuals and £300 to £2,000 is available for organisations.
England: North
Museum Development North – Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Bursaries are available to support the museum sector to retain and train its workforce. Grants of up to £500 are available for individual activity, while museums, museum networks and partnerships can apply for up to £2,000 for activity benefitting more than one participant.
England: South East
Museum Development South East – The Skills Builder funding scheme offers grants between £100 and £2,000 to help anyone working in museums to develop their professional skills and build confidence to better support their museum’s resilience. Participants can be paid staff, trainees, interns, volunteers or trustees.
England: South West
Museum Development South West – Capacity Builder grants will help develop professional skills and build confidence amongst those working in museums. Grants can be used to help individuals, teams or groups of museums (collaborations) engage with training and other continuing professional development (CPD) activities. Individuals can apply for up to £500, teams from the same museum can apply for up to £1,000, and collaborations between museums can apply for up to £1,500.