Frequently asked questions

The Science and Industry Museum is open. Book your free tickets now to explore our incredible galleries and special exhibitions.

During term time the museum is open from 10.00–17.00, Wednesday – Sunday. 

During school holidays the museum is open from 10.00–17.00, Monday – Sunday. Our holiday opening times are scheduled around Manchester’s school holiday dates, unless otherwise advertised. Check our What's on page for more information about holiday activities. 

The museum is home to ideas that change the world, and we will continue to inspire you with examples of world-leading science and innovation from the past 250 years.   

The three permanent galleries in our New Warehouse are open, along with some of our outdoor space in the Upper Yard, meaning there is plenty to see and do. Visitors can explore Revolution Manchester and the Textiles Gallery on Level 0 and enjoy Experiment, our interactive gallery on Level 1.    

There are also two special exhibitions to enjoy. Top Secret: From ciphers to cyber security is on in our new Special Exhibitions Gallery on the lower ground floor of the New Warehouse until 31 August 2021. Use Hearing Protection: The early years of Factory Records is in our Level 1 exhibition space until 3 January 2022.  

We advise you allow at least 90 minutes for your visit. 

We ask visitors to observe social distancing, wear face coverings, pre-book tickets to allow us to manage numbers and follow one-way routes around the museum. Additional measures are also in place to ensure safety, including hand sanitiser stations throughout the museum and enhanced cleaning regimes.    

Full details of what to expect will be sent to you as part of your pre-visit email, and we will update our website regularly. 

We are very keen to get your feedback following your visit. If you have any suggestions about how we could improve your experience, please let us know by emailing info@sciencemuseumgroup.ac.uk. 

We continue to follow all government guidance for the Greater Manchester area. Please see our safety measures for further information.

Yes. We have introduced a system of free ticketing to help us manage the volume of visitors and ensure social distancing. You will be able to select a date and time to visit.  

You will also need to book tickets for the Top Secret and Use Hearing Protection exhibitions if you would like to explore them during your visit.  

Tickets for Top Secret are free and tickets for Use Hearing Protection cost £8 for adults and £6 for concessions. Children aged 12 and under go free.

Tickets are available to book online now. 

If you are unable to book online, please call us on 033 0058 0058. Please note, you will only be able to book a few weeks in advance of your visit.  

We are limiting the number of tickets available to book so that we can manage the number of visitors to the museum, maintain social distancing and ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all visitors.  

Sign up to our newsletter to find out when more tickets are released. 

You will receive your ticket by email. You will need to bring this with you, either on a mobile device or a print-out, as it will have a bar code that needs to be scanned on arrival.

You can also access your tickets by logging in to your Science and Industry Museum account.

You will receive your tickets by email, which you will need to bring with you, either on a mobile device or as a print-out. As part of our commitment to sustainability we ask that you avoid printing tickets where possible.  

The tickets will have a barcode that will be scanned by a contactless scanner on arrival at the museum.   

If you are unable to find the email, you can log into your account on a mobile device and access your tickets from there.  

To maintain social distancing, we ask that you avoid passing anything to our staff by only using the contactless scanners provided to self-scan tickets. 

We cannot guarantee that tickets will be available on the day.  

If you do come to the museum without a ticket, we will still ask that you book, either using your smartphone or by calling the Contact Centre on 033 0058 0058. Depending on the number of visitors already in the museum, it may be that you can book a ticket for the current time, or you may need to wait until the next available time slot.

We will do our best to accommodate you. However, if you miss your time slot and the museum reaches capacity, you may be asked to wait or to book again for an alternative date and time. 

This is for the safety of visitors and colleagues, so we can maintain social distancing inside the museum.

Yes. You need to book free general admission tickets to the museum as well as a separate ticket for our exhibitions.

You can submit a return request for any free tickets you have booked up until 08.30 on the day of your visit. Just log into your account to make the request. You are welcome to book new tickets for another day online. 

If you have paid for tickets for Use Hearing Protection and would like to move your paid tickets to a different day, please call our Contact Centre on 033 0058 0058. If you would be happy to donate the value of your tickets to the museum, please email our Contact Centre at info@sciencemuseumgroup.ac.uk with your name and order number. 

Please note that donations, including those made as part of your booking, are non-refundable. Your support large or small will make a huge difference—thank you.

We recommend that you set aside an hour and half for your visit (90 minutes), but of course you are welcome to stay longer.

Signs outside the museum will tell you what to expect and members of staff will be on hand if you have any questions. 

Please ensure you have your ticket with you, preferably on your smart device, as you will be asked to scan this on entry.  

You will also receive an email with more information the day before your visit.

The Science and Industry Museum is conveniently located in the heart of the city. You can visit on foot, by bike, use nearby city-centre car parking, or by tram, train and bus.  

We recommend you visit the Transport For Greater Manchester website to plan your journey and get up-to-date government guidance on travelling by public transport. 

There are a range of measures still in place to ensure visitors have a safe and enjoyable visit.  

• Visitors need to book free, timed admission tickets in advance to help us manage the number of people in the museum at one time.  
• We are also limiting the number of people entering galleries to see our special exhibitions. Please pre-book tickets for Top Secret: From ciphers to cyber security and Use Hearing Protection: The early years of Factory Records before your visit. 
• Tickets will be scanned by contactless e-scanners, and we ask that you make contactless payments where possible.  
• Please help us to keep everyone safe by wearing a face covering when indoors at the museum, unless you are exempt. Our staff also wear face coverings.  
• Signage is in place throughout the museum to help guide you through our one-way routes and encourage social distancing.   
• Screens are installed at the main reception points, ticket desks and information points.  
• Hand sanitiser stations are located throughout the museum, including at key points such as entrances, exits, interactive experiences, picnic areas and high touch areas. 
• Enhanced cleaning regimes are in place throughout the museum.   
• We have also taken all reasonable steps to provide adequate ventilation in enclosed spaces, in line with government guidance. 

Please ensure you follow government guidelines to keep yourself, your group and others safe. Before your visit you’ll receive an email with helpful information about how to have a safe and enjoyable day out at the museum.

Please help us to keep everyone safe by wearing a face covering when indoors at the museum, unless you are exempt. In asking visitors to wear a face covering, in line with government guidance, we are seeking to ensure everyone can enjoy their visit to the museum safely.  

We will continue to review our approach in line with government guidance and feedback from our visitors. 

I have a specific exemption from wearing a mask. Will I be welcome at your museum?

We welcome everyone and recognise there are circumstances where, for health, age or accessibility reasons, some visitors will not be able to wear face masks or coverings. 

We hope that fellow visitors will be respectful and if you feel anybody's conduct towards you is inappropriate, we would urge you to speak to a member of staff who will assist you immediately. 

The government lists specific 'legitimate reasons' why people do not need to wear a face covering, including: 

• Children under the age of 11
• Not being able to put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability
• If putting on, wearing or removing a face covering will cause you severe distress
• If you are travelling with or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading to communicate

Is it fine to remove my face covering in your café?

You are asked to wear face masks or coverings until you have sat down with your food or drink. Once at a table, please feel free to remove your face coverings to enjoy your refreshments.

Please follow the latest government guidance on Test and Trace.

Yes, face coverings will be available to buy when you arrive at the museum and on sale in the museum shop.

By booking your free ticket to the museum, you are already taking part in the NHS Test and Trace service. If you'd also like to use the NHS COVID-19 app to scan in when you arrive, you'll find the QR code on display near the museum entrance.

In line with government guidance and to support the NHS Test and Trace, please book a ticket to enter the museum. We will retain the ticket booker’s contact details, in line with GDPR. You can read our Privacy Policy here.

The galleries and spaces in our Grade II listed New Warehouse (the main museum building with its entrance on Lower Byrom Street) are all open.   

This means that our shop and café is open during the museum's open hours, and our bistro area is available as an indoor picnic space.   

A long-term, multi-million-pound restoration programme is also underway at the Science and Industry Museum to carry out crucial restoration work and reveal new spaces and perspectives for all visitors to enjoy, play and learn in.  This means that there is a lot of scaffolding and there are areas that are closed, but there’s still much to enjoy on your visit. Find out more about the developments here.

All galleries inside the New Warehouse are open. This includes: 

• Revolution Manchester  
• Textiles Gallery 
• Experiment 
• Special Exhibitions Gallery

We are keeping interactives open where possible. However, exhibits deemed to be high risk (for example, those that involve close contact with the face) will remain closed.  

We have introduced increased cleaning regimes and additional control measures, including extra hand santiser stations and cleaning wipes around all our interactives to ensure the safety of visitors and colleagues. We will be reviewing our gallery content and experiences regularly to identify where any changes need to be made.

We are now running Science Stops with our expert Explainers throughout the museum, instead of live Science Showdowns.  

You can also enjoy short demonstrations of the historic working machinery in our Textiles Gallery. These demonstrations do not always happen regularly, so please ask a member of staff if they are taking place when you arrive on the day of your visit.  

More information on school visits can be found on our Learning page.  

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer general (non-educational) group bookings at the moment. This will be reviewed according to government guidance, and we will share more information as soon as possible.

Our café is open, serving serve hot and cold drinks, snacks, sandwiches and cakes.

The bistro is not serving food, although hot drinks and snacks may be available to buy here during the school holidays. The space will be open as an indoor picnic area that visitors are welcome to use.

You are welcome to bring your own food. Picnic areas will be clearly signposted.

Our shop is open, selling a range of toys, games, books, science kits and more.  

Our online shop is also open. Not all items sold in the online shop are available to purchase on site at the museum.  

Every purchase you make supports the museum and our vital work. 

We would be grateful if you could use contactless payments where possible to limit the need to pass anything to our colleagues. However, we will accept cash.

Toilets and baby-changing facilities are open, and we have introduced new hygiene measures and enhanced cleaning regimes in these areas.  

To help you keep to social distancing, we are operating alternate sinks and alternate urinals only. Disposable paper towels are offered in place of hand dryers, with the exception on single-occupancy toilets, where hand dryers are still available.

Yes, lockers are available on Level -1 of the New Warehouse. There is a charge of £1 for small lockers or £2 for large lockers, so please try to bring change with you if you are intending to use then during your visit.

Yes, anyone who wishes to attend must book a free ticket as the link to the event will be sent via email.

Unlike booking tickets to the museum, you only need to book one ticket per device for our virtual events. If your household would like to watch on more than one device, please book more than one ticket using different email addresses and accounts.

Questions can be submitted as you book your ticket for an event. A selection of audience questions will then be posed to the speakers.

If you can no longer attend a virtual event, please speak to our Contact Centre team who'll be able to return your tickets and give your place to someone else. Unfortunately we aren't able to refund donations.

If an event is cancelled, rescheduled or postponed for any reason, we will notify you by email as soon as possible.

If an event is rescheduled or postponed, your booking will be automatically updated in your account. You can log in to your account to view your online event bookings at any time.

If an event is rescheduled and you can no longer attend, please call us on 033 0058 0058 (line open 09.00–17.00 daily) and our team will be able to return your tickets and give your place to someone else. 

Unfortunately we are not able to refund donations.

If you have booked a free ticket, you will be emailed on the day of the event with the link to the virtual event, which will be hosted on our online booking system. You will need to log in to your account to watch the event, so make sure you keep your log in details safe. If you have questions, please speak to our Contact Centre team on 033 0058 0058.