From new openings to once-in-a-lifetime exhibitions, 2026 promises exceptional opportunities for educational museum visits. We highlight six attractions schools should have on their radar this year.
1. Shoemakers Museum, Somerset
Now open at Clarks Village, this new museum offers a hands-on experience for schools celebrating 200 years of shoemaking, style and social change. Immersive galleries, recreated shopfronts and interactive exhibits bring the Clarks story to life at the museum while a surprising fossil collection discovered in Street adds a prehistoric twist. Suitable for KS1–KS4 with cross-curricular links to history, science, English, maths, design & technology, business and geology, the museum offers group workshops, teacher resources and coach access.
2. London Museum
Part of the new London Museum is due to open towards the end of 2026 with permanent galleries opening in the formerly derelict Victorian-era General Market building in Smithfield. A unique feature of the museum will be a window allowing visitors to watch trains pass what was once a huge goods depot for the Great Northern Railway while passengers will be able to peer in. The second half of the site - in the adjacent 1960s Poultry Market building – is set to open later, housing temporary exhibition spaces, learning centre and a collections store.
3. Science and Industry Museum, Manchester
There are exciting new options for school groups at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester which has recently reopened its Power Hall attraction after it was closed for six years. Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery takes visitors on a journey of innovation as they experience the sights, smells and sounds of the ideas and industry that started in Manchester and shaped the world.
Curriculum links include science, forces, materials, engineering, history and the Industrial Revolution and schools can opt for the Ingenious Engineers activity which involves problem-solving, close observation and experimenting. It is also opening the Horrible Science: Cosmic Chaos exhibition in February (which will head to the Science Museum, London, in March 2027) which is described as a ‘thrilling exhibition that will invite visitors to explore our wondrous Solar System.
4. V&A East Museum
The V&A East Museum is due to open at East Bank on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in April. It follows the opening of the V&A East Storehouse which opened in May 2025. Both are said to have been created in partnership with young people and inspired by east London’s creative heritage. Schools can now book visits and workshops at V&A East Storehouse which houses more than 250,000 objects, 350,000 books and 1,000 archives.
5. British Museum, London
It is expected that schools will be able to book a visit to see the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum in the autumn, the first time it has ever been on display in the UK since it was made almost 1,000 years ago. The Bayeux Museum, where the tapestry has been displayed since 1983, will close for a two-year renovation from 1st September 2025. The tapestry will return to France the following year in time for the Bayeux Museum’s reopening.
6. Horniman Museum and Gardens, London
The Horniman Museum and Gardens is opening a nature learning area in 2026 as part of its 125th anniversary year. Kusuma Nature Play is set to be an engaging space encouraging learning and wellbeing through nature and play.
The Horniman’s Nature Trail will offer step-free access, ensuring more school groups have the opportunity to explore the 700m long trail home to a wide variety of plants, birds, insects and other animals.
An augmented reality trail will be launched across the gardens, featuring a cast of animated animals for visitors to meet, with challenges and mini games to play along the way. Elsewhere, the Gardens Nursery will will feature new glasshouses, a public boardwalk route, and workshop space offering chance to learn about sustainable gardening.
