Alistair Hardaker | Image: Natural History Museum © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London
The government has confirmed the UK’s 15 national museums will remain free to all and that admission charges for international visitors will not be introduced.
The government has confirmed that it will keep the UK’s 15 national museums free to enter, and that admission charges for international visitors will not be introduced.
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy made the announcement at an event with Art Fund and the Cultural Policy Unit at Tate Liverpool yesterday.
Free entry to the 15 national museums was introduced in late 2001 and has been in place since. A ‘tourist tax’ and entry fees had both been considered in the last year, in response to funding shortfalls.
At the London Assembly’s Economy, Culture and Skills Committee, representatives from the V&A, IWM, and Art Fund were among those point to both logistical challenges and threats to access should charges come into force.
Among responses was the V&A’s director Tristram Hunt, who said the V&A was sceptical of charging international visitors.
Self-generated income across the 15 national museums was £563m in 2024/25, according to the National Audit Office. Overseas visits to the museums totalled 19.4m in 2024/25.
At the event Nandy said “[museums] must be free, forever, for everyone to access.”
“I’m delighted that we’re continuing that transformative policy pioneered by the last Labour government, opening up access to our excellent museums for generations.”
Jenny Waldman, director of Art Fund, said keeping free entry for all will “ensure nobody is put off at the door”.
“Twenty five years of free entry has seen huge benefits in increased visitors, tourism and economic impact – we congratulate the government for committing to maintaining it.”
The 15 national museums are the British Museum, the Horniman, Imperial War Museums, the Museum of the Home, the National Gallery, National Museums Liverpool, the National Portrait Gallery, the Natural History Museum, the Royal Armouries, Royal Museums Greenwich, the Science Museum Group, Sir John Soane’s Museum, Tate, the V&A and the Wallace Collection.
