Record 3.8 million visitors in 2025
Visits up 7% from 2024, outperforming the national trend
Oxford University’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums experienced a significant increase in visitors in 2025, according to figures released today by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA).
Together, Oxford University’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums (GLAM) welcomed 3,816,898 people in 2025 compared to 3,559,109 in 2024. This is the highest number of visitors on record and represents a 7% increase year-on-year, outperforming ALVA’s UK-wide average figure of 2%. This is the third year in a row GLAM has bucked the national trend.
Six years on from the pandemic, GLAM also exceeded its 2019 visitor figure of 3,501,286. In 2025 GLAM visitors were up an impressive 9% from 2019 while the sector overall saw a 7% decline from 2019.
GLAM is made up of four museums – the Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology, History of Science Museum, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and Pitt Rivers Museum – as well as the Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum, and the Bodleian Libraries.
Tour groups gather in the Bodleian Old Library quadrangle
Out of 400 organisations which submitted data, four GLAM venues were among ALVA’s top 100 most visited attractions in 2024.
The Ashmolean Museum secured its highest ever ranking at number 31 and is now the most popular visitor attraction in Oxfordshire. The Bodleian Libraries and Oxford University Museum of Natural History placed 37th and 40th respectively, both equalling their highest ranking. The Pitt Rivers Museum was 85th following two years of exceptional visitor growth. Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum ranked at number 188, and the History of Science Museum at 205.
Highlights include:
- The Ashmolean’s visitors increased by 14% in 2025 to 1,072,267 – its highest figure since 2010 and the first time the Museum has achieved one million visitors since reopening in 2009.
- The Bodleian Libraries were enjoyed by 929,403 visitors in 2025.
- The History of Science Museum saw a 9% boost in visitors through their doors in 2025, totalling 195,002 – a remarkable 31% increase on their pre-pandemic 2019 figure.
- The Museum of Natural History greeted 877,437 visitors last year, over 50,000 (+5%) more visitors than in 2024 and its highest figure ever.
- Oxford Botanic Garden & Harcourt Arboretum welcomed 222,837 – another strong, post-pandemic performance.
- Pitt Rivers Museum again broke through the half million mark first achieved in 2024 by recording 519, 952, a 2% rise on last year and its highest visitor count ever.
Clockwise from left: visitors enjoy the Oxford Botanic Garden, Pitt Rivers Museum and Museum of Natural History
In 2025 visitors to Oxford University’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums enjoyed:
- The Ashmolean Museum’s hugely popular exhibition, This Is What You Get: Stanley Donwood/Thom Yorke/Radiohead, as well as the museum’s newly redesigned Rome Galleries and more family-friendly holiday activities and weekend Festivals.
- Treasured, and John le Carré: Tradecraft exhibitions at the Bodleian, plus a range of guided tours of their world-famous Libraries.
- An exhibition Now You See Me: Hidden Figures in Early Photography and a lively programme of events, talks, trails and relaxed openings at the History of Science Museum.
- Ma uka to Ma kai celebrating Hawaiian culture at the Pitt Rivers Museum, alongside object-handling sessions, craft activities and tailored tours embracing all ages and audiences.
- The Breaking Ground exhibition at the Museum of Natural History, as well as the new Life, as we know it redisplays across the ground floor and a series of associated public engagement programming, from Science Saturdays to performance art productions.
- An eclectic, seasonal line-up of events, lectures and workshops at the Oxford Botanic Garden with ever-popular Spring and Autumn Fairs at Harcourt Arboretum.
Richard Ovenden OBE, Head of Oxford’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums, says:
'This latest increase in ALVA visitor figures not only reflects the popularity of the University’s unique venues and the rich treasures contained in them but also demonstrates how our GLAM teams truly understand how to attract, include, engage and interact with our visitors, whether from our local communities or across the globe.
With an exciting programme of exhibitions, displays and events scheduled for this year, we look forward to welcoming even more visitors to our Gardens, Libraries and Museums and continue to enjoy sharing the stories behind our collections with them.'
