Britain’s trust in science has plummeted with a major new survey revealing a 12-percentage-point fall in strong public confidence in just five years.Despite the “follow the science” mantra during the Covid pandemic, those ‘very confident in science” have fallen by 12 percentage points since 2020.Only 51 per cent of Britons now say they trust science “a lot”, compared with 63 per cent in 2020, according to the world’s largest survey of public trust in science, commissioned by medical research charity Wellcome.The research also highlights differences in whom people trust. Six in ten people in the UK say they trust doctors and nurses “a lot”, compared with 34 per cent for scientists and 14 per cent for the Government.The decline raises fresh questions about the lasting impact of the Covid response, when lockdowns, vaccine policies and restrictions on personal freedoms brought scientific advice into the centre of political decision-making.Mark Henderson, from the Wellcome Trust, acknowledged that uncertainty had not always been properly explained during the pandemic.”I do not think uncertainty was always communicated very well during Covid,” he said.But he stressed that the research could not establish whether the pandemic response was responsible for the fall in confidence.The decline raises fresh questions about the lasting impact of the Covid response | PAThe findings appear in a new British data sheet accompanying the Wellcome Global Monitor 2026, drawn from interviews with 1,007 people over 15 across Britain and compared with earlier surveys of 1,000 people in 2018 and 2020.The UK results form part of the world’s largest study of public trust in science, involving 143,620 people across 140 countries.The international report also reveals that the proportion of people expressing at least some trust in science has fallen worldwide, from 80 per cent in 2020 to 72 per cent in 2025.Mr Henderson warned that public confidence was becoming increasingly fragile.”Only 51 per cent have a lot of trust in science today when it was 63 per cent in 2020,” he said.”Although this is not a catastrophic drop, it is showing the fragility and the pressures around trust in science.”He warned that trust was “not going in the right direction”.The findings come amid continuing debate about how Governments handled Covid and whether scientists and politicians were sufficiently open about the limits of their knowledge.Independent research suggests that presenting scientific advice with too much certainty can damage confidence when new evidence emerges.A study published in BMJ Open, involving 328 UK adults, found that people lost more trust in government advice when they were shown confident statements about Covid vaccine effectiveness that were subsequently contradicted.Those who had been warned from the outset that the science was uncertain were less likely to lose confidence when the information changed.The experiment used hypothetical government announcements rather than testing the impact of actual pandemic policies.A separate analysis published in The BMJ in 2024 highlighted how politicians breaking lockdown rules had undermined confidence in Government advice.Independent research suggests that presenting scientific advice with too much certainty can damage confidence when new evidence emerges | PAAnd a survey of 2,025 people in England in November 2020 found that 43 per cent believed uncertainty surrounding coronavirus science had been communicated poorly.However, the Wellcome figures suggest the decline cannot simply be blamed on the Covid response.Strong trust in science actually rose from 53 per cent in 2018 to 63 per cent in 2020, during the pandemic’s early stages, before falling to 51 per cent in 2025.The research also points to wider pressures, including financial hardship, political divisions and growing dissatisfaction with institutions.The British findings reveal a striking gulf between confidence in science and confidence in Government.While 85 per cent of Britons trust science either “a lot” or “some”, just 14 per cent express a lot of trust in the national government.Nearly a third, 31 per cent, say they do not trust the Government at all.By contrast, 60 per cent place a lot of trust in doctors and nurses, suggesting frontline medical professionals retain far greater public confidence than politicians.The survey also found that 52 per cent of Britons want to receive vaccines recommended by doctors or nurses immediately.Another 39 per cent prefer to think about them first, while 10 per cent say they do not get vaccinated at all.The figures do not establish whether these attitudes have changed since Covid.The international research suggests that confidence in science is closely connected to whether people feel society is working for them.Across the countries surveyed, 39 per cent of people living comfortably trusted science “a lot”, compared with just 20 per cent of those struggling financially.The report also found growing doubts about whether scientific advances benefit everyone equally.In 2018, 42 per cent worldwide believed most people in their country benefited from science. By 2025, that had fallen to 37 per cent.Mr Henderson said people’s confidence was linked to their experiences of institutions, including healthcare, and whether scientific progress was making a positive difference to their lives.Separate British research also identified differences in trust between political and social groups, including lower confidence among some Reform supporters and a group described as “Sceptical Scrollers”.Mr Henderson stressed the importance of distinguishing scientific evidence from political decisions.”In creating public policy based on science we need to separate evidence-based judgements and value judgements,” he said.Despite the decline, Mr Henderson rejected the idea that the public should simply accept scientific authority without question.”We don’t want blind trust in science and sometimes mistrust is deserved,” he said.Instead, scientists and policymakers needed to be more open about uncertainty, listen to public concerns and respect people’s freedom to make decisions.