Taking part in the arts, culture and heritage
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- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity (taking part in the arts) section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity (visiting museums and galleries) section
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity (using a library) section
- 6. Navigate to By ethnicity (visiting a heritage site) section
- 7. Navigate toData sources section
- 8. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- in the year ending March 2020, 76.3% of people aged 16 and over had taken part in the arts (such as going to an exhibition or performing in a play) at least once in the past year
- 51.2% of people had visited a museum or gallery, 31.4% had used a library, and 72.7% had visited a heritage site at least once in the past year
- people in the mixed ethnic group (81.3%) were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to have taken part in the arts in the past year, followed by white people (78.3%) – black people were the least likely (60.9%)
- 52.5% of white people had visited a museum or gallery, compared with 27.7% of black people and 45.7% of Asian people
- Asian people (41.6%) were more likely to have used a library than white people (30.0%)
- white people (75.3%) were more likely to have visited a heritage site than black people (41.1%) and Asian people (59.5%)
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures the percentage of people aged 16 and over who had taken part in the arts in the year before being surveyed. This includes:
- taking part in an activity like performing in a concert or play
- taking part in art, photography or filmmaking as an artistic activity
- attending an arts event like an exhibition, live performance or play
The data also shows the percentage of people who had:
- visited a museum or gallery
- used a library
- visited a heritage site – these include cities or towns with historic character, historic parks, gardens or landscapes, monuments such as castles, forts or ruins, and sites of archaeological interest
The data covers people living in private households in England.
Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place.
Not included in the data
The data does not include:
- people who live in institutional settings such as hospitals or prisons
- people who live in temporary housing such as hostels or bed and breakfasts
- homeless people
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for the following 5 aggregated ethnic groups:
- Asian
- black
- mixed
- white
- other
This means estimates are shown for these groups as a whole. This is because the number of people surveyed was too small to make any reliable conclusions about any of the 19 ethnic groups used in the 2021 Census.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document (PDF) (PDF opens in a new window or tab) for the data on this page.
The figures on this page are based on survey data. Find out more about:
- interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed
- how weighting is used to make survey data more representative of the whole group being studied
In the data file
See Download the data for confidence intervals for each ethnic group. Find out more about how confidence intervals are used to determine how reliable estimates are.
3. By ethnicity (taking part in the arts)
| Ethnicity | % | Number of respondents |
|---|---|---|
| All | 76.3 | 7,502 |
| Asian | 62.9 | 453 |
| Black | 60.9 | 225 |
| Mixed | 81.3 | 105 |
| White | 78.3 | 6,619 |
| Other | 61.0 | 60 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (taking part in the arts)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (taking part in the arts)’ (CSV)
4. By ethnicity (visiting museums and galleries)
| Ethnicity | % | Number of respondents |
|---|---|---|
| All | 51.2 | 7,502 |
| Asian | 45.7 | 453 |
| Black | 27.7 | 225 |
| Mixed | 63.0 | 105 |
| White | 52.5 | 6,619 |
| Other | 42.3 | 46 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (visiting museums and galleries)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (visiting museums and galleries)’ (CSV)
5. By ethnicity (using a library)
| Ethnicity | % | Number of respondents |
|---|---|---|
| All | 31.4 | 7,502 |
| Asian | 41.6 | 453 |
| Black | 38.0 | 225 |
| Mixed | 35.3 | 105 |
| White | 30.0 | 6,619 |
| Other | 38.3 | 46 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (using a library)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (using a library)’ (CSV)
6. By ethnicity (visiting a heritage site)
| Ethnicity | % | Number of respondents |
|---|---|---|
| All | 72.7 | 7,502 |
| Asian | 59.5 | 453 |
| Black | 41.1 | 225 |
| Mixed | 72.3 | 105 |
| White | 75.3 | 6,619 |
| Other | 68.6 | 60 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (visiting a heritage site)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (visiting a heritage site)’ (CSV)
7. Data sources
Source
Taking Part 2019/20 statistical release
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Taking Part Survey measures people's involvement in cultural activities in England. The data is widely used by policy officials, practitioners, academics and charities.
8. Download the data
This file contains: Measure, Time, Ethnicity, Geography, Value (%), Lower bound, Upper bound, Number of respondents
This file contains: Measure, Time, Ethnicity, Geography, Value (%), Lower bound, Upper bound, Number of respondents
This file contains: Measure, Time, Ethnicity, Geography, Value (%), Lower bound, Upper bound, Number of respondents
This file contains: Measure, Time, Ethnicity, Geography, Value (%), Lower bound, Upper bound, Number of respondents