Assessing the Impact of Science Centres in England
This is a report from Frontier Economics on the Impact of Science Centres in England. This report was commissioned following Government's acceptance of a recommendation from the 2007 IUSS Select Committee into the funding of science and discovery centres.
BIS accepts the recommendations made by Frontier, which are based on research that compares the work of science centres with a range of other organisations that support science and society objectives, including STEMNET, the British Science Association and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
The recommendations involve seeking to collect better quality data about the impact of existing spending on science and society programmes, and encourage science centres to collect similar information about their impact. The study also concludes that there is insufficient evidence to explain in a robust and quantified way the impact of science centre activities on the uptake by young people of science at school, and increases in public engagement in science.
In light of this and of the current economic situation, with its consequent pressures on public expenditure, the Government cannot justify the establishment of a new national funding stream in relation to science centres. These will continue to be financed by a broad range of sources of funding, both private and public.
