On Thursday 12 March 2026 at Central Hall, Westminster, London, the British Science Association hosted an event for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) leaders, policy makers and public engagement professionals to explore the findings of the latest Public Attitudes to Science Survey.

Over the last 25 years, the Public Attitudes to Science Survey (PAS) has provided data on what people think about science, scientists and science policy, and how informed and engaged they feel when it comes to science issues.

Carried out by Ipsos and commissioned by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the 2025 PAS Survey (published on 20 January 2026) was the first survey since 2019, and so the first since the Covid-19 pandemic.

In her introduction to the audience at Central Hall, the British Science Association’s Chief Executive Hannah Russell noted that the event was taking place during British Science Week. She also explained how crucial the PAS Survey and its evidence of public opinion is for the British Science Association in underpinning our work to connect science and society.

Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council at UKRI, emphasised that understanding what the public care about when it comes to science, research and innovation is what gives research funders their ‘licence to operate’ when it comes to investing public money. Through PAS, sector funders can shape their agendas by being better able to ‘plug-in’ to society as a whole, and achieve the greatest impact and benefits.

After Stian’s remarks, Lord Patrick Vallance, Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation delivered his comments via video.

“As we look to the future, understanding how people across the UK view science, and how they feel about the amount of public money that’s invested in science is, in itself, vital,” he said.

While the PAS Survey showed that a high percentage of people feel science and technology has benefitted society, only around 40% feel they have benefitted personally. Lord Vallance added: “Ensuring people understand and feel the benefits of government investment in research and development is a priority.”

  
Gideon Skinner, Senior Director of UK Politics in Public Affairs at Ipsos, presented key findings from the survey results, showing some of the areas of positivity and encouraging improvement, as well as the challenges which should be areas of concentration for the STEM sector.

“There are many sectors out there who would love to have the public image and reputation that science has,” he said, commenting on the generally positive view of scientists and science the survey shows. He also noted the generational improvement in this positivity.

He highlighted that while there was little in the survey that can be considered overwhelmingly negative, there were trends of uncertainty, and of ‘sitting on the fence’, as well as slipping trust in some areas.

One particular area of concern was the finding that among younger people who completed the survey, one in three had been put off science by their experience of it in school. They viewed their experience more negatively than older generations.

Looking at the wider picture, Gideon also explained how other research carried out by Ipsos shows record levels of economic pessimism across the UK, and that this trend will impact public attitudes to science and its funding.

Chaired by Stian Westlake, Gideon was joined for a panel (pictured above) by Professor Chris Johnson, Chief Scientific Adviser, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology; Professor Karen Salt, Professor of Culture, Place and Communities, Manchester Metropolitan University; Fiona Fox, CEO, Science Media Centre; and Dr Ben Bleasdale, Director of Public Opinion, Campaign for Science and Engineering.

In their opening comments, Ben Bleasdale and Chris Johnson both mentioned just how important PAS is for how they think about and carry out their jobs, and how grateful the STEM community should be for getting the public insight that PAS provides. Ben also said how vital it is for showing “warning lights on the dashboard”: early signs of areas for concern or disengagement.

Karen Salt focused on community-led research and the importance of mutually meaningful engagement between researchers and the wider public, and how the PAS can help shape the sector’s offer in this area. She also highlighted that for many questions asked in the PAS survey, the public has moved to the middle. “We don’t really know what this means,” she said: what can be done to address this disengagement, apathy, or uncertainty?

Fiona Fox echoed Gideon’s comments around the overall positive regard in which the public held science. “Scientists have the kind of public trust that politicians would kill for!” she said. She described the survey as “an absolute gift to science communicators” like herself and many others in the room, with this wave’s results indicating that the public “want to hear more from us”.

But she also said that the survey results show that scientists could be doing more, and better, to engage the public with their work: through her work at the Science Media Centre she has seen access to scientists getting worse, and there is real fear among scientists and their organisation’s media officers, about being drawn into toxic debate over contentious issues.

Closing the event, Stemettes CEO, government advisor and former President of the British Science Association Anne-Marie Imafidon said that “there is so much to take to heart about the PAS … more people value science and scientists and are talking about science in their daily lives.”

She highlighted concerns in the finding over how women and young people might be engaging – or disengaging – and asked: “What is an equitable way for us to be engaging and working with the public?” while encouraging the championing of women in STEM, and how it is important to always incorporate creativity, the arts and design, into the sciences.

Thank you to UK Research and Innovation and Ipsos and to all who participated and attended Insights into Action: Findings from Public Attitudes to Science 2025.

To find out more, read our PAS Survey results news story

Visit the Ipsos PAS website for the full survey results and analysis or download the report as a PDF

---

Organisations wishing to discuss their data needs for the Public Attitudes to Science Survey 2027 should contact Graham Bukowski, Public Engagement Lead, Insights Portfolio at UKRI.