Museum Directors Research 2026: What’s on the museum sector’s mind?
In our 2026 Museum Directors Research, insights from over 300 museum and gallery directors across the UK give a picture of the opportunities and challenges facing the museum sector.
Published every two years, Art Fund’s Museum Directors Research offers a snapshot of the day-to-day realities of running a public museum, gallery, archive or historic house.
It also gives museum leaders the opportunity to share their aspirations, ambitions and concerns with Art Fund, sector colleagues, funders and decision-makers.
The research draws on 329 responses representing museums in all four nations, of all types – including national, local authority, university and independent museums – and all scales, from the volunteer-run to large national organisations.
Download a summary of the key findings here.
What has the research found?
Many museum directors are more optimistic than they’ve been in years, following new investment and surging demand for what museums have to offer. But beneath this cautious optimism is a more complex reality, that the sector is struggling with rising costs, staff shortages, and the pressure of maintaining collections with increasingly stretched resources.
Key takeaways from the research
Income has increased but has not kept pace with rising costs
In the last financial year 45% of museums have driven up earned income, and 41% of museums have seen their funding from public sources increase.
However, funding has not kept pace with increased overheads, particularly wage increases and employer National Insurance contributions.
31% of museums have seen their local authority funding decrease or stop completely, with local authority museums bearing the brunt of local authority cuts.
Partnership working and community engagement are thriving
The number of museums working in partnership to develop exhibitions is thriving, rising to 62% of museums, from 46% in 2022.
Engaging communities with collections has risen in prominence steadily over the past few years and is now a regular activity for the vast majority of collections-holding organisations.
Lack of staff is the number one challenge for the next financial year
The top three challenges for museum directors are lack of staff/capacity, funding shortfalls and building maintenance.
69% of directors say that looking to the new financial year staff capacity will be a key challenge, with long-term declines in the number of staff posts putting immense pressure on the remaining team.
There is a long-term decline in core collections activity. Lack of staffing capacity to carry out cataloguing and digitisation directly impacts decisions about how to use collections, develop them, and where appropriate dispose of them.
Demand is often exceeding capacity
Schools are showing booming demand for museum programmes but are significantly hampered by travel costs.
44% of museums have seen their overall visitor numbers increase in the last year. While there is a continued upward trajectory in the sector, this is at a slower rate than was seen in 2024. A fifth of museums have seen audiences decline and growth in international visitors remains the smallest growth area at just 22%.
Despite increases in visitor numbers, 41% of museums have reduced the number of exhibitions created each year and 36% have reduced opening times as direct consequences of insufficient funding and staffing.
Museums’ role as trusted civic spaces presents a major opportunity
Directors spoke passionately about advocating for the increasingly rare value that museums hold in society as a ‘public good’, describing them as shared civic spaces and places of authenticity, safety and trust.
Directors are keen that Art Fund plays to its unique strengths as an independent organisation to encourage museums to be bold, progressive and innovative.
How we use the research
Conducted every two years, this research is one of the key ways Art Fund listens to the needs of the museum sector. It is always invaluable in helping us to consider where our support can be most effective and shape our programmes in response to what museums tell us they need.
As we develop our next strategic framework, launching in 2027, we look forward to working in partnership with the sector and other funders to ensure that our three central ambitions – to support art, grow audiences and amplify the sector – can be as effective and impactful as possible over the next five years, with a restated commitment to collections and increasing access to museums for everyone at the heart of this strategy.
We are grateful to the museum leaders who gave their time so generously and shared their insights so thoughtfully, to help us produce this research. We are also very grateful to Wafer Hadley for leading the research so expertly.
