January 20, 2026

Public Attitudes to Science – new report

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

How well informed do the public report feeling about science? Do they trust scientists to be ethical? And which topics in science are people most divided on?

Journalists came to this briefing to hear the answers to those and many more questions put to 5,281 UK adults aged 16 and over between February and July 2025, in a survey funded by UK Research and Innovation, and conducted by Ipsos and the British Science Association.

Speakers included:

Graham Bukowski, Public Engagement Lead at UK Research & Innovation

Gideon Skinner, Research Director at Ipsos

Jayesh Shah, Research Director at Ipsos

This Briefing was accompanied by an SMC Roundup of comments.