Frequently asked questions

The government has announced that Greater Manchester will be subject to Tier 3 restrictions when the national lockdown ends on 2 December, meaning the museum will remain temporarily closed.

The current tiers are due to be reviewed by 16 December. Please keep checking our website for information about reopening dates.

We look forward to welcoming you back soon.

We will contact all visitors who have booked tickets during the extended closure period to offer them the chance to move their booking for when the museum reopens. 

Where visitors have bought lunches as part of their booking and do not wish to re-book for a later date, we will offer a refund or the option to donate the cost of their purchase to support the museum.

We are currently open 10.00–17.00, Wednesday – Sunday.  

These reduced opening hours will enable us to carry out enhanced cleaning regimes. They also give us the time to regularly review our offer and safety measures, ensuring you get the best experience when you visit us.

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

The four galleries in our New Warehouse will reopen along with some of our outdoor space, meaning there will be plenty to see, do and enjoy. Visitors can explore Revolution Manchester and the Textiles Gallery on Level 0 and enjoy Experiment, our interactive gallery on Level 1.   

Our Air and Space Hall will also reopen. 

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

We will continue to 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. There will be additional measures 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. 

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. 

Please make sure you only book tickets for people from your household or support bubble, following the local restrictions that the government has in place for Greater Manchester.

Tickets are available to book online now.

If you are unable to book online, please call us on 0800 047 8124. Please note, you will only be able to book up to two weeks in advance.

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.

In the interest of sustainability, we would ask you not to print your ticket. Instead, we recommend bringing it with you on a mobile device. However, printed tickets will be accepted.

If you do print your tickets, please make sure you download all images to ensure that the barcodes are printed along with your ticket information. These barcodes will need to be scanned on arrival.

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 call centre. 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.

You are all welcome to visit the museum, but will have to do so without socialising with anyone outside of your household or bubble.

You can rearrange your visit by calling 0800 047 8124. 

If you have already booked tickets but are not able to visit as planned, please get in touch so we cancel or rearrange your visit. This will also enable us to make your original tickets available for other visitors. Call 0800 047 8124 or email info@sciencemuseumgroup.ac.uk.

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 there will be clear markers on the pavement to show you where to queue.  

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 a pre-visit email with full information.

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. 

Yes, we have measures in place to ensure everyone can maintain social distancing. 

This includes asking you to book free, timed tickets in advance to allow us to manage the volume of visitors, and using e-scanners and contactless payments when inside the museum. 

We will also be asking visitors to use easy-to-follow, one-way routes that will be clearly marked.

Screens have been 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 and high touch areas.  

We have implemented enhanced cleaning regimes throughout the museum in line with government guidance.

Yes, visitors to our museums will be required to wear face coverings, in line with Government guidance, for your safety and the safety of other visitors and staff.

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 all visitors are welcome to remove their face coverings and to enjoy their meal or drink.

We will be following the latest government guidance on this and ask you to do the same.  

Please note that when you make a booking we will retain your name and telephone number or email address for as long as necessary for the purposes of NHS Test and Trace.  You can find out more in our privacy policy.

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.

We will be focusing on bringing the galleries in the New Warehouse (the main museum building with its entrance on Lower Byrom Street) back to life, as well as our Air and Space Hall.  

We also intend for our shop and café to reopen during the museum's open hours, and our bistro area to be used as an indoor picnic space. We will be keeping a close eye on government guidance when restrictions are lifted to determine exactly which services we can reintroduce. 

Our museum is also currently undergoing a multi-million-pound regeneration, meaning that some areas are under construction or renovation. This work was paused briefly during lockdown but has now restarted. Once complete, it will see a number of improvements made to our buildings and galleries, as well as the introduction of a brand new exhibition space. However, it does mean that the Power Hall is temporarily closed for improvement. 

All galleries inside the New Warehouse will be open. This includes: 

• Revolution Manchester  
• Textiles Gallery 
• Experiment 
• The Air and Space Hall will also reopen, and a new trail is available to help you explore museum's outdoor upper yard. 

 We are keeping interactives open where possible. However, exhibits deemed to be high risk (for example, those that involving close contact with the face) will be temporarily closed. For those interactive exhibits that remain open, we will introduce an increased cleaning regime and additional control measures 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. 

Hand sanitiser stations will be located at key points in or around all galleries and exhibitions that contain interactive experiences e.g. entrances, exits and high-touch areas.

Unfortunately, we cannot host any live performances until further notice, in line with government guidance. 

However, our expert Explainers will be on the museum floor to give you insights into the collection and the chance to explore some additional science.

We are currently reviewing the schools offer given the government guidance. We will update this as soon as possible. 

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

To receive updates when bookings re-open, as well as news and free teaching resources, Sign up to our Learning Newsletter.

We intend to reopen our café to serve hot and cold drinks, snacks, sandwiches and cakes. We will be keeping a close eye on government guidance when restrictions are lifted to determine exactly how we can reintroduce these services.

The Bistro is not currently serving food, but the space is 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.

We intend to reopen our shop when the museum reopens. In the meantime, our online shop will continue to operate as normal, offering a wide range of Christmas gifts including toys, games, science kits and books from across the Science Museum Group's five museums.

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 will be open, and we have introduced new hygiene measures and enhanced cleaning regimes in these areas.  

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

Unfortunately no cloakroom or locker facilities will be available when the museum first re-opens due to the facility being located in a historic part of the building where social distancing cannot be maintained. We will continue to review this. 

Our exhibition programme will see some changes as a result of the pandemic and museum closure. 

We will give further updates about this shortly. To be the first to receive news and details about events and exhibitions at the museum, sign up to the Science and Industry Museum mailing list.

Yes. Manchester Science Festival is now planned to take place from Friday 12 – Sunday 21 February 2021. See below for more information.

Yes. Information about revised dates will be available soon.

Yes. We will be sharing further information about a new date for the Use Hearing Protection exhibition soon. In the meantime, anyone who has already booked tickets can request a refund if required by calling 0800 047 8124 (line open 9.00–17.00 daily) or emailing info@sciencemuseumgroup.ac.uk.

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 0800 047 8124 (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 0800 047 8124.