We were commissioned by the four UK arts councils and the British Film Institute to test the feasibility of establishing a UK wide arts access card.

The scheme will allow every disabled person in the UK to register with their access need. The Access Card (free to all disabled people) will then mean they can book tickets to an event at all UK arts centres and theatres and each individual box office system will recognise them and their specific access needs.

The project involved consulting disabled people throughout the UK and working with commercial and publicly funded theatres and arts centres to devise the scheme.

In July 2021 the UK Governement’s overall Disability Strategy (page 80) finally greenlighted this project saying, “We will widen participation in arts and culture. Disability is one of the main barriers people give for not attending art and cultural events.There is wide support among disabled people for a national arts access scheme. Arts Councils across the UK are working together with the British Film Institute to launch a free, UK wide arts access card by March 2022. This access card will be usable across all arts and cultural venues, for seamless, barrier-free booking that is responsive to individual circumstances and needs.“

The new Arts Access Card Scheme is now due to be piloted in 2024, with the development being led by Arts Council of England (see the project website link below for updates – unfortunately the original feasibility study is still commercially confidential so we can’t share it).

The scheme will build on a existing ‘companion free ticket scheme’ called Hynt – already running in Wales.