Official Statistics

Community and Engagement Survey 2025/26 - Women's Rugby World Cup 2025: report

Updated 14 August 2026

Applies to England

This report summarises the key findings for the ‘Women’s Rugby World Cup 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 respondents about their awareness of the ‘Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025’ major event and intentions to participate in related activities. 

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

44% of people aged 16+ in England were aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, a 7 percentage point increase from 2024/25 (37%).

By ITL2 area, there was a 29 percentage point difference in the proportion of people who were aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, from 61% in Devon to 32% in Outer London - West and North West. 

Of those people aware of this event, 14% of people participated in the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 major event.

1.2 Timeseries 

As shown in Figure 1, the overall awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 rose 7 percentage points, from 37% in 2024/25 to 44% in 2025/26.

Figure 1: Awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, England: 2024/25 to 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

1.3 Forms of participation

As shown in Figure 2, 14% of people had participated in the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 major event. Of these people, the most popular ways of participating were following coverage on TV or radio (includes watching the event or news about the event) (90%) and following on social media (31%).

Figure 2: Forms of participating in the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2. Demographics: Who was aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

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 (50%), 60 to 64 (52%), 65 to 69 (55%), 70 to 74 (58%), 75 to 79 (61%) and 80 to 84 (54%) were more likely to be aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 compared with the average for people in England (44%). 

As shown in Figure 3, people aged 16 to 19 (34%), 20 to 24 (37%), 25 to 29 (39%), 30 to 34 (41%), 35 to 39 (39%), 40 to 44 (38%) and 45 to 49 (39%) were less likely to be aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 compared with the average for people in England (44%).

Figure 3: Awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, by age, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.2 Disability status

As shown in Figure 4, there were no significant differences observed between the proportion of disabled people (47%) and non-disabled people (45%) who were aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

Figure 4: Awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, by disability status, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.3 Sex^{[footnote 3]}

As shown in Figure 5, females (46%) were more likely to be aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 than males (43%).

Figure 5: Awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, by sex, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.4 Gender identity^{[footnote 4]}

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 (45%) and people whose gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth (42%) who were aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. 

Figure 6: Awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, by gender identity, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.5 Sexual orientation^{[footnote 5]}

As shown in Figure 7, heterosexual or straight people (45%) and bisexual people (51%) were more likely to be aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 than people from the “Other sexual orientation” classification (32%). 

Figure 7: Awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, 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 (44%), Christian people (47%) and people who reported having no religion (47%) were more likely to be aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. Muslim people (17%), Hindu people (23%) and Sikh people (26%) were less likely to be aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 compared with the average for people in England (44%). 

Figure 8: Awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, 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 6]} (50%) ethnic group were more likely to be aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 compared with the average for people in England (44%). People from the Arab (12%), Bangladeshi (17%), Pakistani (18%), Any other Asian background (21%), Indian (24%), Chinese (25%), Any other White background (27%), Black African (29%) and Any other ethnic group (29%) ethnic groups were less likely to be aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 compared with the average for people in England (44%).

Figure 9: Awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, by ethnicity, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.8 Socio-economic classification^{[footnote 7]}

As shown in Figure 10, people from the higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations classification (51%) and people from the intermediate occupations classification (48%) were more likely to be aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. This was followed by people from the routine and manual occupations classification (42%). People from the never worked and long-term unemployed classification (32%) were less likely to be aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. 

Figure 10: Awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, by socio-economic classification, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.9 Index of multiple deprivation^{[footnote 8]}

As shown in Figure 11, people from the most deprived areas (1st decile, 31%) were less likely to be aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 compared to people from the least deprived areas (10th decile, 53%).

Figure 11: Awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, by Index of Multiple Deprivation, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

3. Awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup by ITL1 and ITL2 area

3.1 Regional differences^{[footnote 9]}

As shown in Figure 12, compared with the average for people in England (44%), people living in the East Midlands ITL1 area (47%), South East ITL1 area (49%), and South West ITL1 area (57%) were more likely to be aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

People living in the London ITL1 area (36%), North West ITL1 area (40%) and West Midlands ITL1 area (41%) were less likely to be aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, compared with the average for people in England (44%). 

3.2 ITL2 area differences

By ITL2 area, there was a 29 percentage point difference in the proportion of people who were aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, from 61% in Devon to 32% in Outer London - West and North West. 

The proportion of people who were aware of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 was in line with the England average in 18 (50%) ITL2 areas, higher than the England average in 10 (28%) ITL2 areas, and lower than the England average in 8 (22%) ITL2 areas.

Figure 12: Awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 by ITL1 and ITL2 area, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

1. The major event 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 - 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. 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. ↩

4. 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.  ↩

5. 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. ↩

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

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

8. 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. ↩

9. The question on awareness of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 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. ↩