Wellcome survey finds fewer Britons strongly trust science than in 2020

Right · 1The Wellcome Global Monitor 2026, a survey commissioned by the medical research charity Wellcome, found that 51% of Britons say they trust science "a lot", down from 63% in 2020. 1 Right · 1The UK data come from interviews with 1,007 people aged over 15 and are compared with surveys of about 1,000 people in 2018 and 2020. Strong trust in Britain rose from 53% in 2018 to 63% in 2020 before falling to 51% in 2025. 1 Right · 2The UK results are part of a global study of 143,620 people in 140 countries, produced by Wellcome with Gallup and Ipsos. Worldwide, the share expressing at least some trust in science fell from 80% in 2020 to 72% in 2025; it had been 77% in 2018. 1 2

Right · 1In Britain, 85% trust science "a lot" or "some". Six in ten say they trust doctors and nurses "a lot", against 34% for scientists and 14% for the national government, and 31% say they do not trust the government at all. 1 Right · 1Globally, strong trust in scientists rose to 43% during the pandemic from 34% in 2018, then fell to 32% in 2025, still ahead of trust in governments and journalists, according to Bloomberg's report. 2 Right · 2Wellcome officials said the survey does not establish a cause. Mark Henderson of Wellcome said the research could not show whether the pandemic response was responsible, though he said uncertainty "was not always communicated very well" during Covid. Wellcome chief executive John-Arne Røttingen said the politicisation of science during the pandemic probably contributed. 1 2

Right · 2The survey links trust to economic circumstances. Worldwide, 39% of people living comfortably trust science a lot, against 20% of those struggling financially. Strong trust among those struggling fell 16 percentage points from 2020 to 2025, against 10 points among those living comfortably. 2 1 Right · 2Bloomberg adds that trust was lower in more unequal countries and where people had less confidence in institutions or saw more corruption, and was higher (43%) among people confident in their country's hospitals and clinics. The share worldwide who believe most people in their country benefit from science fell from 42% in 2018 to 37% in 2025. 2 1 Right · 2On vaccines, 52% of Britons say they want a vaccine recommended by a doctor or nurse immediately, 39% prefer to think first and 10% do not get vaccinated. Globally the figures are 34%, 48% and 15%. Wellcome cautioned that other factors also shape vaccine decisions. 1 2

Right · 2Henderson called the British fall "not a catastrophic drop" but a sign of fragility, and said "we don't want blind trust in science and sometimes mistrust is deserved". Røttingen said the decline should be kept in perspective, since about seven in ten people globally still trust science, but said he was worried about rising measles cases in the US and Europe. 1 2 Right · 2GB News set the British result against debate over how governments handled Covid, citing a BMJ Open study of 328 UK adults in which people lost more trust in government advice when confident statements about vaccine effectiveness were later contradicted; that experiment used hypothetical announcements. Bloomberg stressed public-health consequences, citing almost 3,900 US measles cases this year, the worst outbreak in three decades. 1 2