Attendance and engagement at UK sporting, cultural and heritage sites
- Funding
- £1,100,000 – £1,320,000
- Deadline
- 1 December 2026
- Location
- UK-wide
- Applications
- Deadline: 1 December 2026
Overview
This grant funds research into new, data-intensive ways of measuring how many people attend, and take part in, events and places with no ticket or entry point. Think of festivals, public screenings, rural heritage sites and mass participation sports events. The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is running it with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Your project must build on a recent DCMS pilot. It should cover a wider range of events, locations and activities, capture how people take part as well as how many turn up, and test whether more advanced machine learning improves accuracy. You must deliver a working tool that is deployed in at least one DCMS sector and can be run without significant specialist support. You should work with sector partners from the start.
The full economic cost of your project can be up to £1.32 million, and the funders will pay 80% of that cost. The stated award range is £1,100,000 to £1,320,000, and the total fund is £1,320,000. Projects can run for up to 34 months. They must start on 1 May 2027 and finish by 31 March 2030.
The opportunity opened on 22 September 2026 and closes on 1 December 2026 at 4:00pm UK time. You cannot apply after that.
One practical point: DCMS will be closely involved. Expect monthly online check-ins and quarterly advisory group meetings. The main emphasis must be practical findings and tools for DCMS and sector stakeholders, not mainly academic outputs.
Official source: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/attendance-and-engagement-at-uk-sporting-cultural-and-heritage-sites/. Last checked by GrantMatch on 16 October 2026.
Requirements to check
Who can apply:
Key requirements:
- AHRC and DCMS fund 80% of the full economic cost, which can be up to £1.32 million
- Projects last up to 34 months, must start on 1 May 2027 and finish by 31 March 2030
- You must deliver a working tool deployed in at least one DCMS sector
- Monthly online check-ins with DCMS and quarterly advisory group meetings are part of the project
- No international co-leads, no PhD studentships and no uninvited resubmissions
- Applications go through the UKRI Funding Service, not Je-S
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for AHRC funding. Only the lead research organisation can submit the application. The project lead and any co-leads must be employed and supported by an eligible organisation for at least the length of the UKRI support. You do not need a PhD or an academic post. Practitioners and evaluation experts are welcome. UK business or third sector researchers can join as co-leads or project partners. International co-leads are not eligible. Government departments and arm's length bodies cannot apply. Your team needs dedicated administrative resource recruited for this project.
This summary may not include every exclusion. Check the full eligibility rules, including who and what the funder will not support.
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Start freeWho is this for?
UK research organisations with teams from mixed disciplines, including data science and cultural, heritage or sport studies, who want to build practical tools for measuring engagement at unticketed events and sites.
Regions
No published award history for Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Some funders do not publish their grants data.
Full details from Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Apply for funding to research the development of novel data-intensive approaches for capturing engagement data from unticketed cultural, heritage, and sporting events, activities and locations, demonstrated through a deployable tool in at least one DCMS sector.You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for AHRC funding.
How to apply
Apply through the UKRI Funding Service. You cannot use the Je-S system. The project lead selects 'Start application', confirms they are the lead, then signs in or creates an account. Answer the questions online. Send the finished application to your research office, which will check it and submit it to UKRI. Make sure your organisation is registered first.
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Create free accountLast updated: 9 November 2026