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In 2025, nearly all young people (96%) had engaged with culture, arts and heritage at least once within the previous year, the same figure as 2022.
90% of young people had engaged with the arts; 69% had participated in an arts activity and 82% had attended at least one arts event.
Over half (56%) of young people had visited a museum or science centre within the previous year,
Over half (54%) of young people had used the public library service in the previous year, whilst 45% had visited a public library in the previous year.
Just under two-thirds (64%) of young people had visited a historic building, garden, monument or city/town with historic character.
30% of young people had some knowledge of Irish, whilst 10% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots and 15% of young people knew how to communicate in sign language.

Introduction

The Department for Communities (DfC) is the lead department for culture, arts and heritage.

This report presents the findings from the 2025 Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey (YPBAS) in relation to engagement with culture, arts, heritage and languages in Northern Ireland which are used to inform the development, monitoring and evaluation of policy. The YPBAS is a school-based survey carried out among 11-16 year olds and covers a wide range of topics relevant to the lives of young people today.

More information relating to YPBAS, methodology, definitions and the interpretation of the figures can be found in the Technical notes and Definitions sections. Data tables accompanying this publication and the questions that were asked in YPBAS 2025 are available on the DfC website.

Lead statistician: Clair Stewart

Culture, arts and heritage

In 2025, nearly all young people (96%) had engaged with culture, arts and heritage at least once within the previous year, the same figure as 2022. The proportion of young people engaging in culture and the arts was similar compared to 2022 (95% and 94%, respectively).

Girls were more likely to have engaged with culture, arts and heritage within the previous year than boys (98% compared with 93%). Considering school year group, pupils in Year 8 (98%) were more likely to have engaged with culture, arts and heritage in the previous year than those in Years 10, 11 and 12 (all 95%).

Young people from the Protestant community (94%) were less likely to have engaged with culture, arts and heritage within the previous year than those from the Catholic community (96%) or those of other or no religion (97%).

Similar proportions of young people with and without a disability (both 96%) had engaged with culture, arts and heritage within the previous year.

Young people entitled to free school meals (91%) were less likely to have engaged with culture, arts and heritage within the previous year compared with those not entitled to free school meals (97%).

Arts

Nine in ten young people (90%) had engaged with the arts within the previous year (i.e. either participated in arts activities or attended arts events), a similar figure to 2022 (91%).

Just under seven in ten young people (69%) had participated in an arts activity at least once within the previous year, whilst just over four in five young people (82%) had attended at least one arts event within the previous year, similar figures to 2022 (71% and 83%, respectively).

Girls were more likely to have engaged with the arts (96%), participated in the arts (82%) or have attended an arts event (89%) compared to boys (84% engaged, 55% participated and 76% attended).

When looking at year group, Year 8 pupils (94%) were more likely than pupils in the other year groups to have engaged with the arts in the previous 12 months. The proportion of young people who had participated in the arts generally decreased as year group increased, from 80% in Year 8 to 61% in Year 12. When looking at attendance at arts events, Year 8 pupils were more likely to attend than pupils in Year 9 (86% compared with 79%), however there were no significant differences between other year groups.

Similar proportions of young people from the Catholic community, Protestant community and those of other or no religion had engaged with the arts or had attended an arts event. However, young people from the Protestant community (64%) were less likely than those from both the Catholic community (70%) and those from other or no religious background (72%) to have participated in the arts in the previous 12 months.

Young people with a disability (74%) were more likely to have participated in the arts than those without a disability (67%) within the previous 12 months. Similar proportions of young people with a disability had engaged in the arts (92%) or had attended an arts event (81%) than those without a disability (89% and 82%).

Young people who were entitled to free school meals were less likely to have engaged with the arts (81%), participated in the arts (59%) or have attended an arts event (70%) than those not entitled to free school meals (92% engaged, 71% participated and 85% attended).

Types of arts activities

The most popular arts activities among young people in the previous year were ‘painting, drawing, sculpture or printmaking’ (35%), ‘played a musical instrument for your own pleasure’ (30%), and ‘danced’ (22%), ‘sang or played a musical instrument to an audience, including rehearsal for a performance’ (21%) or ‘any sort of crafts such as textiles, wood, pottery or jewellery making’ (18%).

Types of arts events

The most popular arts events attended by young people in the last year were ‘film at a cinema’ (69%), ‘pantomime or musical’ (29%), a ‘museum’ (24%) or a ‘play or drama at a theatre or other venue’ (19%).

Benefits to engaging in the arts

The most frequently cited benefits of having engaged in the arts were ‘I had fun’ (65%), ‘it had a positive impact on my well-being’ (32%), ‘it improved my knowledge’ (27%), ‘it allowed me to spend time with my family or friends’ (26%) and ‘I learned new skills/developed existing skills’ (23%).

Enjoyment of the arts

Young people were asked how much they enjoyed the last art event they attended. Over half of young people (55%) had enjoyed the event a lot, whilst almost two-fifths (39%) had enjoyed it a little and just over one in twenty (6%) said they did not enjoy the arts event at all.

When asked if they would attend a similar arts event again, over four-fifths (84%) of young people said that they would.

Encourage attendance to the arts

The most frequently cited factors that would encourage young people to attend an arts event were ‘someone to go with’ (30%), ‘lower costs’ (27%), ‘venues closer to where I live’ (23%), ‘more relevant content’ (19%) and ‘more opportunities to see well-known artists’ (18%).

Arts tuition

Young people who had participated in an arts activity were asked how often, if at all, they have received tuition from an instructor (other than their teacher during normal lessons) to help improve their performance in any art activity.

Over half (54%) of young people had received arts tuition from an instructor in the last 12 months with over a quarter (28%) having tuition at least once a week. Around one in ten (12%) had received arts tuition once or twice in the last year, while smaller proportions received tuition at least once a month (8%) or once every 2-3 months (5%).

Museums and science centres

Over half (56%) of young people had visited a museum or science centre within the previous year, an increase on the 2022 figure of 53%.

National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI) has four museums across Northern Ireland, the Ulster Museum, the Ulster Folk Museum, the Ulster Transport Museum and the Ulster American Folk Park. Just under two-fifths (38%) of young people had visited a NMNI museum within the previous year, similar to the 2022 figure of 40%.

Girls were more likely to have visited a museum or science centre (58%) or have visited a NMNI museum (40%) compared to boys (54% and 36%) in the previous year.

The proportion of young people who visited a museum or science centre generally decreased as year group increased, with 73% of Year 8 pupils having visited compared to 43% of Year 12 pupils. Pupils in Year 8 (48%) were more likely to have visited a NMNI museum compared to all other year groups, whilst Year 9 pupils (40%) were more likely to have visited a NMNI museum compared to those in Year 12 (32%).

Young people from the Catholic community were less likely to visit a museum or science centre (52%) or a national museum (33%) than those from the Protestant community (58% and 40%) or those of other or no religion (65% and 49%). Young people from the Protestant community were less likely to have visited than those of other or no religious background.

Similar proportions of young people with a disability (61%) and those without a disability (56%) had visited a museum or science centre in the previous year. However, young people with a disability (44%) were more likely to have visited a national museum than those without a disability (38%).

Young people who were entitled to free school meals were less likely to have visited a museum or science centre (48%) or a national museum (32%) than those not entitled to free school meals (58% and 40%, respectively).

Museums and science centres visited

The most popular museums or science centres visited by young people were the Ulster Museum (28%), W5 (26%), the Ulster Folk Museum (11%) and Armagh Planetarium (11%).

Who you visited a museum or science centre with

Four-fifths (80%) of young people said that they had visited a museum or science centre with family or friends, while 37% had gone on a school trip and 8% had been with a club or group (e.g. youth club, scouts) in the previous year.

Benefits experienced from visiting a museum or science centre

The most frequently cited benefits of having visited a museum or science centre were ‘I had fun’ (66%), ‘improved my knowledge’ (66%), ‘learn new skills/developed existing skills’ (25%), ‘helped me with studies for school’ (18%) and ‘enabled me to communicate with family or friends’ (17%).

Factors that would encourage visits to a museum or science centre

The most frequently cited factors that would encourage young people to visit a museum or science centre were ‘an exhibition I am particularly interested in’ (40%), ‘if I had more time’ (30%), ‘more activities, especially for people my age’ (29%), ‘if museums were closer to where they live’ (28%) and ‘if I had someone to go with’ (28%).

Libraries

Young people were asked if they had used a public library (i.e visited a branch or mobile library) or used the public library service (i.e.branch libraries, mobile libraries, an event run by Libraries NI online or in a venue other than a library, used the Libraries NI website or downloaded free eBooks/eMagazines/eNewspapers/eAudiobooks using their library membership) in the previous year.

In 2025, over half (54%) of young people had used the public library service in the previous year, an increase on the 2022 figure (43%). Whilst, under half (45%) of young people had visited a public library in the previous year.

Note: A question on the use of a public library (visit a public library) in the previous 12 months was only included in the survey in 2025.

Girls were more likely to have used the public library service (62%) or have visited a public library (52%) compared to boys (47% and 38%, respectively).

The proportion of pupils who had used the public library service in the previous 12 months generally decreased as year group increased, from 74% in Year 8 to 41% in Year 12. Pupils in Years 8, 9 and 10 were more likely than pupils in older year groups to have used the public library service. The proportions were similar across Years 11 and 12 (40% and 41%, respectively). The same trend was observed when looking at pupils who had visited a public library in the previous year.

Young people from the Protestant community were less likely to have used the public library service (45%) or have visited a public library (34%) than those from the Catholic community (57% and 48%) or those from other or no religion (61% and 53%). Young people from the Catholic community were less likely to have visited a library compared to those from other or no religion.

Similar proportions of young people with and without a disability used the public library service (57% and 54%) or had visited a public library (46% and 45%) in the previous 12 months.

Young people who were entitled to free school meals were less likely to have used the public library service (46%) or have visited a public library (39%) than those not entitled (56% and 46%, respectively).

Frequency of use of the public library service

Around one in seven (15%) young people used the public library service at least monthly, whilst two-fifths (40%) used the service less frequently but at least once a year.

Reasons for using the public library service

The most frequently cited reasons for using the public library service were ‘to borrow’ (61%), ‘to study for exams’ (31%), ‘to do homework’ (31%), ‘as a space to meet friends’ (13%) and ‘to use the library computers’ (11%).

Reasons for not visiting a public library

The most frequently cited reasons for not visiting a public library were ‘borrowing books and other resources does not interest me’ (47%), ‘I do not need to use the facilities and equipment’ (43%) and ‘programmed activities and events do not interest me’ (12%).

Benefits of using the public library service

The most frequently cited benefits of having used the public library service were ‘helped me to read more’ (46%), ‘given me a space to study’ (30%), ‘helped me to relax’ (29%) and ‘given me a place to do my homework’ (22%).

Reading for pleasure

Just under three-tenths (29%) of young people had read for pleasure in the previous year. Girls were more likely than boys to have read for pleasure (39% and 18%, respectively). Over a third of pupils in Year 8 (36%) said they had read for pleasure, a higher proportion in comparison to Year 9 (25%), Year 10 (28%) and Year 11 (25%). Pupils in Year 12 (31%) were more likely to have read for pleasure than those in Years 9 and 11 (both 25%).

Young people from other or no religious background (35%) were more likely to have read for pleasure than those from the Catholic community (29%) or those from the Protestant community (25%). Whilst those from the Catholic community were more likely to have done so compared to those from the Protestant community.

Young people with a disability (34%) were more likely to have read for pleasure than those without a disability (28%), whilst those entitled to free school meals were less likely to have done so (18%) than those not entitled (31%).

Enjoyment of last visit to a public library

Just under a quarter (24%) of young people who had used the public library service had enjoyed their last visit a lot, with over three-fifths (64%) enjoying it a little. Just over one-tenth (12%) said they did not enjoy their last visit.

Library Satisfaction

Just over two-fifths (43%) of young people were satisfied with the public library provision in Northern Ireland, whilst a tenth (10%) said they were dissatisfied. In comparison, over three-fifths (64%) of those who used the public library service said they were satisfied with public library provision whilst 6% were dissatisfied.

Heritage

In 2025, just under two-thirds of young people (64%) had visited a historic building, garden, monument or city/town with historic character over the 12 months prior to the 2025 survey, a decrease on the 2022 figure of 70%.

Similar proportions of girls and boys had visited a historic place in the last year (66% and 63%, respectively). Visiting a historic place was similar across school year groups, with over three-fifths of each year group having visited in the previous 12 months.

Young people from other or no religious background (71%) were more likely than those from both the Catholic community (62%) or the Protestant community (63%) to have visited a historic place.

Similar proportions of young people with and without a disability had visited a historic place in the previous year (both 64%). Young people who are entitled to free school meals were less likely to have visited a historic place than those who are not entitled (50% and 67%, respectively).

Historic places visited

Over a third of young people had visited a historic building, garden or landscape open to the public (36%), a historical monument or site of archaeological interest (37%) or a city or town with historic character (36%).

Benefits of visiting a historic place

The most frequently cited benefits of having visited a historic place were ‘I had fun’ (61%), ‘improved my knowledge’ (61%), ‘enabled me to communicate with family / friends’ (18%), ‘learned new skills/developed existing skills’ (17%) and ‘helped me with studies for school’ (15%).

Irish language

In 2025, three in ten (30%) young people had some knowledge of Irish (i.e. can understand, speak, read or write Irish or any combination of these skills), a decrease on the proportion in 2022 (33%).

Girls were more likely than boys to have had some knowledge of Irish (36% and 25%, respectively). When looking at school year group, Year 8 pupils (40%) were more likely than pupils in the other year groups to have had knowledge of Irish, whilst pupils in Year 12 (20%) were less likely compared to other year groups.

Young people from the Catholic community (51%) were more likely to have had some knowledge of Irish compared to those from the Protestant community (8%) or those of other or no religion (11%).

There was no difference in some knowledge of Irish among young people when considering disability or free school meals entitlement.

Ability to read, write, speak and understand Irish

A fifth (20%) of young people stated they were able to speak Irish and around one in six had the ability to ‘understand Irish’ (16%), ‘read Irish’ (17%) or ‘write Irish’ (15%).

Ability to communicate using Irish

Of those young people who had some knowledge of Irish, just over two-fifths (42%) were able to say single words or simple phrases. Around a fifth were able to say simple sentences (23%) or carry on a complicated conversation (20%), whilst 15% stated they could carry on an everyday conversation.

How often Irish is spoken

Of those young people who had some knowledge of Irish, just over a third (34%) spoke it weekly, almost a quarter spoke it daily (24%), just over a quarter spoke it less often (27%) and 15% said they never spoke it.

Interested in learning the Irish language

Young people were asked if they would be interested in learning the Irish language in a range of settings. The most popular settings where they would be interested in learning Irish included school (37%), from friends and family (16%), in their own time with online courses or podcast (12%) and a language class in an English-speaking school (10%). Just under half (49%) of young people stated that they did not want to learn Irish.

Ulster-Scots language

In 2025, a tenth (10%) of young people had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots (i.e. can understand, speak, read or write Ulster-Scots or any combination of these skills), the same as the proportion in 2022.

Boys were more likely to have had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots compared to girls (12% and 9%, respectively). When looking at school year group, pupils in Year 8 (14%) were more likely than pupils in older year groups to have had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots.

Young people from the Protestant community (16%) were more likely to have had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots in comparison to those from the Catholic community or those of other or no religion (both 8%).

There was no difference in some knowledge of Ulster-Scots among young people when considering disability or free school meals entitlement.

Ability to read, write, speak and understand Ulster-Scots

Around one in fifteen (7%) young people said they were able to understand Ulster-Scots, whilst lower proportions had the ability to ‘speak Ulster-Scots’ (3%), ‘read Ulster-Scots’ (3%) or ‘write Ulster-Scots’ (2%).

Ability to communicate using Ulster-Scots

Of those young people who had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots, almost half (49%) were able to say single words or simple phrases. Just over a tenth (12%) were able to say simple sentences and around a fifth were able to carry on an everyday conversation (19%) or carry on a complicated conversation (20%).

How often Ulster-Scots is spoken

Of those young people who had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots, around one in five (21%) spoke it daily, 14% spoke it weekly, around three in ten (29%) spoke it less often and over a third (36%) said they never spoke it.

Interested in learning the Ulster-Scots language

Young people were asked if they would be interested in learning the Ulster-Scots language in a range of settings. The most popular settings where they would be interested in learning Ulster-Scots included school (16%), from friends and family (7%), in their own time with online courses or podcast (5%) and a language class in an English-speaking school (4%). However, three-quarters (75%) of young people stated that they did not want to learn Ulster-Scots.

Sign language

In 2025, around one in seven (15%) young people said they knew how to communicate in sign language, an increase on the 2022 figure (10%).

Girls were more likely to know how to communicate in sign language compared to boys (20% and 10%, respectively). When looking at school year group, pupils in Year 8 (24%) were more likely than pupils in the other year groups to know how to communicate in sign language.

Similar proportions of young people from the Protestant community and the Catholic community knew how to communicate in sign language (16% and 13%, respectively).

Young people with a disability (22%) were more likely to know how to communicate in sign language than those without a disability (14%), whilst there was no difference in knowledge among young people when considering free school meals entitlement (both 15%).

Ability to communicate using sign language

When describing their current ability to communicate using sign language, almost four-fifths (78%) of young people were able to say single words or simple phrases. A tenth (10%) were able to say simple sentences, whilst smaller proportions could carry on an everyday conversation (5%) or carry on a complicated conversation (6%).

Interested in learning sign language

When asked if they would be interested in learning sign language in school, just over half (52%) of young people said that they would be interested.

Experience of culture, arts and heritage by young people in Northern Ireland