A new data release by government provides estimates from England on engagement in the digital, culture, media, and live sport sectors reported during the period of May 2023 to March 2024 (2023/24), with top reasons ‘To spend time with family/friends’ (57%) and ‘… interest in the heritage site’ (52%).
GOV.UK writes:
The Participation Survey is a nationally representative annual survey of adults (16+) in England that aims to track the latest trends in engagement in DCMS, Arts Councils England (ACE), and digital sectors. The format of the survey is push-to-web, with a paper version for those who are not able or wish not to complete this online. This report presents the headline estimates during May 2023 to March 2024, and demographic breakdowns of adults who have engaged in the specific sectors covered in the survey. Further estimates can be found in the accompanying data tables. Differences between groups are only reported on in this publication where they are statistically significant, that is, where we can be more confident that the differences seen in our sampled respondents reflect the population[footnote 3]. Estimates for the final quarter of 2023/24 (January to March 2024) have also been published in a separate set of data tables, alongside the first three quarters of the survey year.
It should be noted that most questions in the survey ask about engagement with cultural and digital activities in the last 12 months (such that it covered the period May 2022 to March 2024). Comparisons of this year’s 2023/24 results are made against the previous year 2022/23 (covering the period of April 2022 to March 2023). In 2023/24, DCMS partnered with ACE to boost the Participation Survey to be able to produce meaningful estimates at Local Authority level. This has enabled us to have the most granular data we have ever had. It also means there are some new questions and changes to existing questions, response options and definitions in the 2023/24 survey.
The survey covers the following areas
- Arts
- Libraries
- Heritage
- Museums and Cultural Property
- Live Sports & Gambling
- Domestic Tourism
- Coronation of His Majesty The King
- Coventry City of Culture 2021
- City of Culture Bradford 2025
- UEFA Women’s EURO 2022
- Rugby League World Cup 2022
- Use of the internet and ownership of smart devices
- 5G (Fifth generation)
- Digital or Online skills training
- Security online
- Methods of identification
- Use of data
Section 4 addresses the subject of heritage.
Physical engagement with the heritage sector is defined as visiting one of a variety of places with celebrated histories, such as those connected with industrial history, or ancient monuments, or archaeological sites. Digital engagement with the heritage sector includes taking a virtual tour of any of those physical locations listed in Figure 4.3, plus viewing documents from an archive in England online, or researching local history online. The full list of qualifying heritage activities we asked about are in Annex 3 and shown in Figures 4.4 and 4.6.
Headline findings: During May 2023 to March 2024 (2023/24):
- 69% of adults reported having engaged with the heritage sector in the last 12 months, no change from 2022/23 (69%).
- 66% of adults had visited a heritage site physically in the previous 12 months to being surveyed, a 1 percentage point decrease from 2022/23 (67%). The corresponding figure for digital engagement was 25%, a 7 percentage point increase from 2022/23 (18%)
- Of those who engaged with the heritage sector, the most frequent level was three to four times a year (around 38% for physical and 36% digital).
- The most popular heritage activities were visiting:
Parks or garden with historic or artistic features (40%)
A city or town with celebrated historic nature (37%)
A historic landscape or habitat (37%)
- The top cited reason for engaging with the heritage sector physically was ‘To spend time with family or friends’ (57%), followed by ‘General interest in the heritage site’ (52%). Furthermore, 33% of adults reported that they engaged with heritage sites because ‘It was in the area’.
- The digital heritage activity that most adults engaged with was something not in the list given (75%). From the list given, ‘Researched your local history online’ was the most popular (14%).
- Respondents were asked how they usually paid for digital heritage content. Of those who did engage digitally with heritage, the most common response was ‘Access content using a log-in belonging to someone NOT in my household’ (69%), followed by ‘Access free content’ (15%)
- Age: There was a lot of variation in how people of different ages physically or digitally engaged with the heritage sector. For example, 65 to 74 year old adults (74%) physically engaged with the heritage sector more than all other age groups presented here (45–70%). Adults aged 85 or above were less engaged physically (45%) or digitally (15%) with the heritage sector compared to all other age groups presented here.
- Disability Status: Non-disabled adults (70%) were more likely to physically engage with the heritage sector than disabled adults (60%). For digital engagement with the heritage sector, there were no differences observed between adults of different disability status.
