The Festival of Social Science is a fantastic opportunity for children and grown-ups alike to get hands on with fun and engaging activities, peek into the world of research and learn something new about our world.

It celebrates the creative, engaging, and impactful work that social science researchers do to help us understand and influence the world around us, and this year we are excited to be returning with a packed programme of activities. Keep checking this page for updates.

Supported by the University of Oxford's ESRC Impact Acceleration Account.

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The ESRC Festival of Social Science is an annual, UK-wide, free celebration of the social sciences. The festival consists of a series of events run each autumn, delivered by ESRC's 'festival partners', higher education institutions spread across the UK. Events range from exhibitions, lectures and panel debates through to performances, guided walks and workshops.

The festival is an opportunity for anyone to explore topics relating to social science, from health and wellbeing to crime, equality, education and identity, through events run by researchers from UK universities.

The 2025 festival is taking place from 18 October 2025 to 8 November 2025 with hundreds of events delivered by 41 partner institutions across the UK. The 2025 festival theme is our working lives, with a number of events exploring this area as well as many others covering a wide range of social science topics.

There's no cost to attend, and most events are open to everyone, though some are aimed at specific groups.