Department for Culture Media and Sport
free admission
Free entry for everyone to England's national museums is a central part of our cultural policy.
Figures for 2010/11
Since the introduction of universal free access in December 2001, visits to the national museums in England that used to charge for entrance have increased by 151%.
This was the ninth and most successful year of the free admission policy, with 18 million visits to museums that used to charge.
In London, visits to museums that used to charge were up by over 152%, including
- National Maritime Museum up 204%
- the Natural History Museum up 187%
- the V&A up 180%
In the regions, visits to these museums increased by 148%, including
- National Museums Liverpool up 269%
- the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester up 122%
- the Natural History Museum in Tring up 107%
Visits to national museums which have always been free - such as the British Museum, National Gallery and Tate - rose by 22% over the same period.
Visits to former charging museums in 2010/11
| Museum | 2000/01 | 2010/11 | % change since 2000/01 |
| Imperial War Museum (London) | 661,804 | 1,095,442 | 65.52% |
| Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester | 287,814 | 638,347 | 121.79% |
| National Maritime Museum | 799,777 | 2,433,163 | 204.23% |
| National Museums Liverpool | 710,210 | 2,622,228 | 269.22% |
| National Museum of Science and Industry (National Railway Museum) | 485,785 | 630,396 | 29.77% |
| National Museum of Science and Industry (South Kensington) | 1,366,879 | 2,766,994 | 102.43% |
| Natural History Museum (South Kensington) | 1,630,466 | 4,682,783 | 187.21% |
| Natural History Museum (Tring) | 61,272 | 126,864 | 107.05% |
| Royal Armouries | 225,141 | 343,582 | 52.61% |
| Victoria & Albert Museum (South Kensington) | 936,652 | 2,619,505 | 179.67% |
| Total | 7,165,800 | 17,959,304 | 150.63% |
This information is updated annually in May.