Is The National Art Pass Worth It?

The National Art Pass allows visitors to “See More. For Less” with entry to over 240 museums and galleries as well as 50% off entry to major exhibitions included. The National Art Pass is priced at only £70 for the entire year as well as a discounted rate of £30 for those who are under 30. Passes are also available depending on whether you’d like a lifetime membership or a double lifetime membership but the price ranges into the thousands. Additionally, there’s an extra discount for those wishing to pay by Direct Debit as 25% of the original price will be taken off - leaving The National Art Pass at only £52.50 for an Individual Membership for a year. It gets even better with an Annual National Art Pass for people under 30, who choose to pay by direct debit, as it will come to the grand total of £33.75. 

Not only does The National Art Pass allow visitors either free or discounted entry into museums and galleries but has additional benefits such as a guidebook to using your pass at over 700 venues. Benefits also include a subscription to Art Fund’s magazine which is said to have “insightful and exclusive features” which provides readers with interesting content and comments regarding art, artists, galleries as well as highlighting what The National Art Pass can offer readers of that month - any special exhibitions currently being held mostly. Another benefit would be the stream of emails that highlights any special offers as well as news regarding art across the UK. 

To see whether The National Art Pass is worth it, I’m going to list every free entry venue as well as those that offer 50% off with the pass in London as different parts of the UK. All prices are correct as of February 2020. 

Free Entry Venues
Apsley House - (Standard entry price £9)
The Brunel Museum - (Standard entry price £6)
Carlyle's House - (Standard entry price £7)
Chiswick House & Gardens - (Standard entry price £8)
The Courtauld Gallery - (Standard entry price £0)
Charles Dickens Museum - (Standard entry price £10)
Dulwich Picture Gallery - (Standard entry price £7)
Eltham Palace and Gardens - (Standard entry price £14) 
The Fan Museum - (Standard entry price £4)
2 Willow Road - (Standard entry price £7)
Ham House and Garden - (Standard entry price £11)
Handel & Hendrix in London -(Standard entry price £10)
Horniman Museum and Gardens - (Standard entry price £0)
Household Cavalry Museum - (Standard entry price £8)
Jewish Museum London - (Standard entry price £9)
Keats House - (Standard entry price £7)
Kensington Palace - (Standard entry price £16)
Leighton House Museum - (Standard entry price £12)
Marble Hill House - (Standard entry price £7)
Osterley Park & House - (Standard entry price £11)
Ranger's House - The Wernher Collection - (Standard entry price £8)
The Foundling Museum - (Standard entry price £12)
Cartoon Museum - (Standard entry price £7)
Red House Bexleyheath - (Standard entry price £7)
Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) - (Standard entry price £1)
Heath Robinson Museum - (Standard entry price £6)

Altogether, there are 27 museums and galleries in London that offer free entry to those who hold The National Art Pass - even though there are two museums and galleries that are completely free to the general public - which then makes it 25. Altogether, if a pass holder visited every single free venue throughout the year, it would cost them £204. However, with the price of some venues as little as £1 or £4 it really does depend on what venues the person chooses to go to. For example, if they want to visit venues that cost £10 and above, it would be a no-brainer to get The National Art Pass as they could easily get their money back in less than 7 visits. 

50% off Exhibitions
British Library 
British Museum
Design Museum
Dulwich Picture Gallery
Imperial War Museum
Museum of London
National Gallery
National Maritime Museum
National Portrait Gallery
Natural History Museum
Science Museum
Tate Britain
Tate Modern
Victoria & Albert (V&A)
Whitechapel Gallery

Even though most of these museums are free, some exhibitions throughout the year are not currently free. For example, The British Library holds three exhibitions a year which require an entrance fee - for which those holding The National Art Pass they would be able to get a discounted price. For the price of The National Art Pass, it seems more worth would be gone into just visiting the museum and galleries themselves rather than paying for The National Art Pass to get 50% off of certain exhibitions that you may or may not be interested in.

Overall, The National Art Pass can be an opportunity for hundreds in savings if you plan to visit these museums and galleries as well as if you’re interested in the extra benefits such as a subscription to Art Quarterly and an email subscription. However, the downfall of this pass if the 50% off exhibitions as it still means that visitors would have to pay extra on top of the price they have paid for the pass. It would be worth doing your research into what exhibitions are currently being displayed as well as to how long they will be on display for. In most cases exhibitions can run as long as 6-7 months, allowing visitors to visit them in their own time rather than being rushed. For £33.75, which allows an annual pass for those under 30, the savings could be as much as £170 with just the free entry to venues regardless of whether or not they take advantage of the 50% off exhibitions.  

More Information Regarding The National Art Pass Can Be Found By Clicking ​Here.