Cambridge’s museums are not simply visitor attractions. Across the city, collections are actively used for school teaching, public engagement and informal learning, making museums part of the local education infrastructure.
The University of Cambridge Museums network currently offers school sessions and resources across subjects ranging from archaeology and zoology to art, geology and the history of science. Some sessions are tied directly to Key Stages, while others are designed for broader exploration and practical learning.
Objects can make abstract subjects tangible
A museum visit changes the scale of learning. A child studying volcanoes can work with geological material at the Sedgwick Museum; pupils learning about the ancient world can use objects and casts in archaeology collections; science history can be explored through instruments at the Whipple Museum.
This matters because museums allow learners to encounter evidence rather than only descriptions of evidence. Objects can prompt questions about how knowledge is produced, how collections were assembled and how interpretations change over time.
Cambridge museums support schools in different ways
The current programme includes taught sessions, self-led visits, downloadable resources and virtual activities. The Museum of Zoology offers curriculum-linked school visits and learning material, while the Fitzwilliam Museum runs sessions for pupils from Key Stage 1 through to Key Stage 5. The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Museum of Classical Archaeology also provide age-specific educational resources.
The University museums additionally work with partner schools on work experience and offer internships for A-Level leavers. That places museum learning on a continuum from primary education through to early career exploration.
Public education goes beyond school groups
Museum education in Cambridge also reaches families, home educators, young adults and general visitors. In 2026, for example, the University of Cambridge Museums continued programmes such as SOURCE for young people studying art and design, alongside seasonal events and workshops across the museum network.
The strongest museum-learning model is therefore not one in which a curator simply explains an object. It is one in which collections create opportunities to question, compare, handle, interpret and discuss.
For Cambridge, that educational role is especially important because so many major collections sit within or alongside the university. Their public value depends not only on preservation but on how effectively they are opened up to schools and communities beyond the academy.