South West Annual Museum Survey 2023 

The Annual Museum Survey provides insights into the sector’s health as well as the challenges and opportunities it is facing. By benchmarking data generated every year, it has been possible to spotlight past and current trends such as the impact of the pandemic on volunteering and finances. This year, we tell a story of the (post-) pandemic legacy as well as of increasing pressures on the sector due to the cost-of-living and energy crisis. 

Each year we launch a survey in the South West, asking museums within the Accreditation scheme to provide core data on:

  • Workforce
  • Finance 
  • Audiences
  • Insights related to governance type and visitor size of museum

This data helps to prove the social and economic value of museums across the South West, both locally and regionally. It also helps museums to benchmark their work.

By encouraging museums and heritage organisations to adopt a simple and uniform way of reporting their headline operational data, we have collated a dataset that will enable museums to compare and benchmark themselves anonymously and confidentially to others in the museum sector.

This survey allow us to understand the impact the museum and heritage sector in the South West and to advocate to funding bodies and government to sustain investment in the sector.

Let us know how you use AMS 2023 data to benchmark and advocate for your museum, or, if you want support to use AMS data, contact us at [email protected]. 

Having trouble viewing the interactive report? Contact us at [email protected] to access the report in an alternative format.

For national results, please read the Annual Museum Survey 2022 national report.