News – Participation audit

The first results from a new ongoing survey of participation in cultural activity have revealed that two-thirds of people attended at least one type of arts event in the previous year, not including cinema attendance, and nearly half attended a museum or gallery at least once over the same period. The Taking Part survey was commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport last July, and involves annual interviews with a sample of nearly 30,000 members of the public. Results for the first three months of the survey, based on responses by 5,135 people, show that participation in arts activity is higher than participation in sport or gambling.
The survey, which further categorised respondents by age, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status, also found that respondents aged over 65 had significantly lower rates of attendance than those aged under 45, while adults living in rural areas had significantly higher rates of attendance than those living in urban areas. Those on lower incomes, disabled people, and black and minority ethnic respondents were much less likely to have attended arts events than others, and women were much more likely to participate in arts activity than men. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said, The Government wants to see more people from priority groups getting something out of cultural and sporting activities. For my Department it is a top priority. We want to widen the range of participants enjoying our sectors opportunities rather than having the same people participating in cultural and sporting activities time and time again& Todays figures will, in time, provide the evidence-based rock on which we can build future policy.