Official Statistics

Community and Engagement Survey 2025/26 - Bradford City of Culture 2025: report

Updated 14 August 2026

Applies to England

This report summarises the key findings for the ‘Bradford City of Culture 2025’ major event in the Community and Engagement Survey (CES) for 2025/26.^{[footnote 1]} Reports for other sections within the CES are available on the annual web page. 

The CES asked about the respondents’ awareness of Bradford City of Culture 2025.

The CES is representative of people aged 16 and over in England. For simplicity, we will sometimes refer just to “people” in our reporting.

For information on how to use and interpret these statistics see the note available on the supplementary documents page.^{[footnote 2]}

1. Key findings

1.1 Headline

24% of people aged 16+ and over in England were aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025, a 7 percentage point increase from 2024/25, (17%).

By ITL2 area, there was a 49 percentage point difference in the proportion of people who were aware of Bradford City of Culture events, from 63% in West Yorkshire to 14% in Outer London - East and North East. If the West Yorkshire ITL2 area is excluded, this narrows to a 39 percentage point difference, ranging from 53% in North Yorkshire to 14% in Outer London - East and North East.

Of those aware of the event, 7% of people participated in the Bradford City of Culture 2025.

1.2 Timeseries

As shown in Figure 1, the overall awareness of the Bradford City of Culture 2025 increased by 7 percentage points, from 17% in 2024/25 to 24% in 2025/26.

Figure 1: Awareness of Bradford City of Culture: England: 2024/25 to 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)^{[footnote 3]}

1.3 Forms of participation

As shown in Figure 2, of the respondents that reported they had participated in the Bradford City of Culture 2025, the most popular method was following coverage on the TV or radio (including watching the event or news about the event) (59%). This was followed by attending a local event (35%) and following on social media (24%).

Figure 2: Participated in Bradford City of Culture events, England: 2023/24 to 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

 

2. Demographics: Who was aware of Bradford City of Culture

Demographic questions in the survey are voluntary and self-reported by the respondent.

2.1 Age

As shown in Figure 3, people aged 55 to 59 (30%), 60 to 64 (35%), 65 to 69 (40%), 70 to 74 (46%), 75 to 79 (45%), 80 to 84 (41%) and 85 or over (35%) were more likely to be aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025 compared with the average for people in England (24%). People aged 16 to 19 (6%), 20 to 24 (10%), 25 to 29 (13%), 30 to 34 (13%), 35 to 39 (15%) and 40 to 44 (17%) were less likely to be aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025 compared with the average for people in England (24%). 

Figure 3: Awareness of Bradford City of Culture, by age, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.2 Disability status

As shown in Figure 4, disabled people (26%) were more likely to be aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025 than non-disabled people (24%). 

Figure 4: Awareness of Bradford City of Culture, by disability status, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.3 Sex^{[footnote 4]}

As shown in Figure 5, there were no significant differences observed between the proportion of males (25%) and females (24%) who were aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025. 

Figure 5: Awareness of Bradford City of Culture, by sex, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.4 Gender identity^{[footnote 5]}

As shown in Figure 6, there were no significant differences observed between the proportion of people whose gender identity was the same as their sex registered at birth (24%) and people whose gender identity was different to their sex registered at birth (17%) who were aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025.

Figure 6: Awareness of Bradford City of Culture, by gender identity, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.5 Sexual orientation^{[footnote 6]}

As shown in Figure 7, heterosexual or straight people (25%) and gay or lesbian people (28%) were more likely to be aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025 than bisexual people (17%) and people from the “Other sexual orientation” classification (17%). 

Figure 7: Awareness of Bradford City of Culture, by sexual orientation, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.6 Religion

As shown in Figure 8, compared with the average for people in England (24%), Christian people (28%) were more likely to be aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025. Hindu people (10%), Sikh people (11%) and Muslim people (14%) were less likely to be aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025 compared with the average for people in England (24%). 

Figure 8: Awareness of Bradford City of Culture, by religion, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.7 Ethnicity

As shown in Figure 9, people from the White British^{[footnote 7]} (28%) ethnic group were more likely to be aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025 compared with the average for people in England (24%). People from the Bangladeshi (7%), Arab (7%), Any other Asian background (7%), White and Black African (10%), White and Black Caribbean (10%), Chinese (11%), Indian (11%), Any other Mixed or multiple ethnic background (11%), Any other ethnic group (12%), Any other White background (13%), Black African (13%), White and Asian (15%) and Black Caribbean (15%) ethnic groups were less likely to be aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025 compared with the average for people in England (24%). 

Figure 9: Awareness of Bradford City of Culture, by ethnicity, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.8 Socio-economic classification^{[footnote 8]}

As shown in Figure 10, people from the intermediate occupations classification (27%) and the higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations classification (30%) were more likely to be aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025 compared to people from the never worked and long-term unemployed classification (17%) and the routine and manual occupations classification (20%).

Figure 10: Awareness of Bradford City of Culture, by socio-economic classification, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.9 Index of multiple deprivation^{[footnote 9]}

As shown in Figure 11, people from the most deprived areas (1st and 2nd deciles, 18%) were less likely to be aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025 compared to people from the least deprived areas (10th decile, 32%). 

Figure 11: Awareness of Bradford City of Culture, by Index of Multiple Deprivation, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

3. Awareness of Bradford City of Culture by ITL1 and ITL2 area

3.1 Regional differences^{[footnote 10]}

As shown in Figure 12, compared with the average for people in England (24%), people living in Yorkshire and the Humber ITL1 area (53%) were more likely to be aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025. People living in London (16%), East of England (18%), South West (21%), West Midlands (21%) and South East (21%) ITL1 regions were less likely to be aware of Bradford City of Culture 2025. 

3.2 ITL2 area differences

By ITL2 area, there was a 49 percentage point difference in the proportion of people who were aware of Bradford City of Culture events, from 63% in West Yorkshire to 14% in Outer London - East and North East.  

If the West Yorkshire ITL2 area is excluded^{[footnote 11]}, this narrows to a 39 percentage point difference, ranging from 53% in North Yorkshire to 14% in Outer London - East and North East.

The proportion of people who were aware of Bradford City of Culture event was in line with the England average in 19 (53%) ITL2 areas, higher than the England average in 6 (17%) ITL2 areas, and lower than the England average in 11 (31%) ITL2 areas.

Figure 12: Awareness of Bradford City of Culture by ITL1 and ITL2 area: England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

1. The major events engagement estimates are based on data collection from April 2025 to March 2026 through the Participation Survey (April to September 2025) and the Community and Engagement Survey (October 2025 to March 2026). ↩

2. The majority of estimates in this report are rounded to the nearest whole number. As data are rounded, some changes may appear bigger or smaller than they are. The unrounded numbers are available in the corresponding data tables. ↩

3. There was a change from the Participation Survey to the Community and Engagement Survey between 2024/25 and 2025/26. ↩

4. This data is based on the respondent’s sex. The Community and Engagement Survey respondents were asked the question “What is your sex?”. The response options were ‘Male’, ‘Female’ and ‘Prefer not to Say’. This closely follows the ONS Census 2021 question for sex, where the target concept was certificated sex meaning a person’s sex at birth or as modified by a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), but has been slightly amended to include a ‘Prefer not to Say’ option as we do for all demographic questions in the Community and Engagement Survey.  ↩

5. This data is based on the respondent’s gender identity. The Community and Engagement Survey respondents were asked the question ‘Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?. The response options were ‘Yes’, ‘No, type in gender identity’ or ‘Prefer not to say’. This closely follows the ONS Census 2021 question for England and Wales, but has been slightly amended to include a ‘Prefer not to Say’ option as we do for all demographic questions in the Community and Engagement Survey. It should be noted that in the Census 2021 data for England and Wales, patterns were identified that suggest that some respondents may not have interpreted the question as intended, notably those with lower levels of English language proficiency. Analysis of Scotland’s Census 2022, where the gender identity question was different, has added weight to this observation. More information can be found in the ONS sexual orientation and gender identity quality information report and the additional guidance and quality information for users of gender identity estimates from Census 2021 in England and Wales. Similar respondent error may have occurred during the data collection for these statistics so comparisons between subnational and other smaller group breakdowns should be considered with caution.  ↩

6. Sexual orientation is an umbrella term covering sexual identity, attraction, and behaviour. For an individual respondent, these may not be the same. For example, someone in an opposite-sex relationship may also experience same-sex attraction, and vice versa. This means the statistics should be interpreted purely as showing how people responded to the question, rather than being about whom they are attracted to or their actual relationships. ↩

7. The White British ethnic group includes people from an English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British ethnic group. ↩

8. This is a form of socio-economic classification based on the employment status and occupation of the respondent. ↩

9. The Index of Multiple Deprivation is a geographical measure which classifies the relative deprivation of an area. It combines seven indices to produce one overall measure for the area (rather than the individual). It takes into account income, employment, education, skills and training, health and disability, crime, barriers to housing and services, and living environment. For this commentary, the most and least deprived deciles have been compared. There may be some other significant differences between deciles in between which have not been commented on here. The analysis of the Index of Multiple Deprivation was conducted using the 2025 Index of Multiple Deprivation. ↩

10. The question on awareness of Bradford City of Culture 2025 was not asked to all respondents. This means that data are not available at LA level. Data are however available by ITL2 area level (summary commentary provided in this report) and by combined authority level in the corresponding data tables ↩

11. We have noted these where removing one single ITL2 area makes a substantial difference to the reported range. ↩