England's national museums to stay free for everyone

England's national museums will stay free for every visitor, with no charge to see the main collections.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy confirmed the decision on 28 September 2026, as reported by The Art Newspaper.

Nandy leads the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the UK government department that oversees arts, sport and museums. She spoke at Tate Liverpool in Liverpool at an event hosted by Art Fund, the UK charity that raises money for museums, and the Cultural Policy Unit, a research group. She said national museums "must be free, forever, for everyone to access."

The promise covers everyone. People living in the UK and tourists visiting from abroad will continue to enter without paying for general admission. That ends months of speculation that overseas visitors could be asked to pay, including at the British Museum in London.

Free entry has a long history. Universal free access to the UK's 15 national museums, entry to permanent collections, the works a museum owns and displays long-term, took effect on 1 December 2001. Since then, visitors have been able to walk into those main displays without a ticket. The 28 September confirmation applies to national museums in England.

Talk of a change had built up. In March 2026 ministers were considering fees for international tourists to visit permanent collections as part of efforts to improve arts funding, according to The Guardian. In July 2024 Mark Jones, then interim director of the British Museum, had proposed a £20 charge for overseas visitors.

Museum directors spoke in favour of staying free. Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum, both supported continuation. Earlier in September 2026 the government gave regional mayors in England the power to introduce an Overnight Visitor Levy, a nightly charge on paid accommodation often described as a "tourist tax".

What makes this stand out is the wording. The promise was not free entry for residents only, or free entry for now. It was free, forever, for everyone.

For visitors, this means the rule is simple. Walk up. Walk in. The main collections remain open to all.