Government participation survey reveals low awareness of major UK events

May 2022

Government participation survey reveals low awareness of major UK events: A survey of adults over the age 16 in England has found that generally, the awareness of upcoming major events in the UK is low, with the exception of Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, of which 61% respondents said they are aware of. 

The Participation Survey October to December 2021 was commissioned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and published in April 2022.It polled 13,536 people online (83%) while 2,691 (17%) completed a paper version of the questionnaire.

It revealed that three in five people (61%) had heard of Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, with more than half of these (54%) saying they intended to watch the coverage on TV or listen via the radio. Almost a third (32%) said they were planning to attend a local event, while 19% said they would follow the event on social media. However, almost one in five (19%) said they were not interested in participating in the event at all. 

Older respondents were more likely to be aware of Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, with those ages 75 and over the most aware demographic, and those aged 16–24 years the least aware. 

Respondents were also asked about their knowledge of other major events in the UK, which revealed the majority were not as well informed. 

When asked if they had heard about UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, just 4% of respondents said that they had heard about the planned event which is described as 'a UK wide groundbreaking celebration of creativity taking place in 2022'. Of those who had heard about the event, 32% said they planned to follow TV or radio coverage, while 31% said they would like to attend a local event. A quarter of respondents (25%) said they were not interested in attending. 

The research also asked respondents if they had heard about the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this year (2022) with almost two in five (39%) saying they were aware of the event. Of these, 56% said they would be following the coverage on TV or radio, with 18% revealing they will be 'attending a national event'. Slightly fewer (17%) said that they will follow the Games on social media. A quarter (24%) said they are not interested in following the event at all. 

When asked about Coventry City of Culture, just a fifth of respondents had heard of this event, which runs from May 2021 to May 2022, with 50% saying they were not interested in participating.