Taking Part Survey
Historic England works closely with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Arts Council England and Sport England to produce the Taking Part survey.
The Taking Part survey is a continuous face to face household survey of adults aged 16 and over and children aged 5 to 15 years old in England. It has a central objective to provide a reliable evidence source that can be used to analyse cultural and sporting engagement, providing a clear picture of why people do or do not engage.
The Taking Part Survey measures participation in the historic environment and has been collecting data since 2005/06.
Some of the key findings from the survey include:
- 74% of adults surveyed visited a historic site in 2016/2017.
- 94.2% of adults in England agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "it is important to me that heritage buildings or places are well looked after".
- Visiting heritage sights a few times a year or more is a significant predictor of life satisfaction, happiness and anxiety: people who visited heritage sites reported higher life satisfaction and happiness scores than those who did not, and also reported lower anxiety.
Latest statistical releases
Latest statistical releases for the Taking Part survey can be found on the Taking Part survey statistical releases page.
Online data analysis tools
DCMS have published a suite of tools to allow users to explore the survey data.
For more information and to access the tools, visit the Taking Part Survey: Data Analysis Tools.
Focus on heritage
Each year, DCMS publish a series of 'Taking Part, focus on' reports, presenting findings from the Taking Part survey. The 'Taking Part, focus on' reports look at specific topics in more detail, including heritage:
