Plans are under technique to revisit some of the debated religion surveys in recent times, as YouGov prepares to repeat its research into church attendance later this yr following growing scrutiny of claims a few “quiet revival” in Britain.
The original findings were published in April 2025 in a report by Bible Society titled ‘The Quiet Revival’. Drawing on two YouGov surveys, the report indicated that the proportion of adults in England and Wales who each discover as Christian and attend church a minimum of once a month had risen from 8% in 2018 to 12% in 2024.
Among 18–24-year-olds, the figure reportedly increased from 4% to 16%, with greater than a fifth of young men in that age bracket said to be attending monthly – a very sharp rise. Women of the identical age group were also reported to have increased attendance, from 4% to 12%.
The research further suggested that around a 3rd of 18 to 24-year-old non-churchgoers would consider going if invited by a friend, and 1 / 4 would really like to know more in regards to the Bible – the best level of curiosity recorded amongst any age group.
At the time, report co-author, Bible Society’s Dr Rhiannon McAleer, described the findings as “striking”, saying they reversed the idea that the Church in England and Wales was in terminal decline.
The claims generated widespread media attention and enthusiasm amongst church leaders, and the report was even cited in Parliament by MP Danny Kruger as evidence that Christianity was removed from declining.
However, the findings have since been challenged by leading sociologists and polling experts, who argue that they conflict with longer-term data.
Emeritus professor of social science at University College London David Voas has been a outstanding critic.
He argued that if such growth were real, it could amount to “literally tens of millions of latest churchgoers” who would have needed to be “very quiet indeed, to not say invisible, to have escaped our notice”, the BBC reports.
Writing individually in The Telegraph, he stated that “the statistical evidence is evident: churchgoing is happening, not up”.
Critics point specifically to the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey conducted by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), which uses random probability sampling and is widely considered a gold-standard study.
The most up-to-date BSA data show that the proportion of adults identifying as Christian and attending church at the least monthly fell from 12% in 2018 to 9% in 2024.
Among young adults, monthly attendance stays around 6–7% and below pre-pandemic levels.
Professor Sir John Curtice, senior research fellow at NatCen, has expressed caution about drawing daring conclusions from two isolated survey points.
He told the BBC that his organisation’s “successive readings” showing consistent trends yr after yr give him greater confidence within the BSA findings and said that, had he been presented with the YouGov data alone, he would have asked: “Are you sure? Because if it doesn’t appear like a duck, it might not be a duck.”
The debate has also attracted international attention.
The Pew Research Center recently published an evaluation questioning whether headlines a few British Christian revival are underpinned by the strongest obtainable data.
Pew argued that many revival claims depend on “opt-in” online surveys, which it said can produce different results from large, randomly sampled household studies.
It pointed to the proven fact that figures drawn from the UK Labour Force Survey show that Christian identification amongst adults has continued to fall overall, from 54% in 2018 to 44% in summer 2025, while lower than 28% of 18 to 34 yr olds now discover as Christian, down from 37% in 2018, in line with Pew’s evaluation.
Pew concluded that claims of a broad-based revival amongst young adults should not supported by essentially the most robust data currently available.
Dr Conrad Hackett, Pew’s senior demographer, in comments to the BBC, warned that repeated assertions of revival risk creating “a really misleading narrative”, particularly when similar surveys internationally cite each other as evidence.
Humanists UK has gone so far as to says that ‘The Quiet Revival’ report ought to be retracted.
Bible Society, nonetheless, has stood firmly by its findings.
A spokesman recently said that the report “is predicated on a high-quality YouGov survey which uses a tried and trusted methodology”.
“YouGov is meticulous in controlling for bias in responses. There’s no such thing as an ideal survey, but there’s no reason to think that ‘opt-in’ surveys are inherently unreliable,” he added.
Addressing concerns about bogus or AI-generated responses to the BBC, Dr Rhiannon McAleer said the team had fastidiously examined the roughly 100-question survey and located responses consistent and credible.
YouGov has also defended its research, telling the BBC that it maintains its own panel and uses identity checks, device fingerprinting, geolocation tools and reward oversight to forestall fraudulent participation.
Supporters of the revival narrative have pointed to wider indicators of spiritual interest, including industry data showing Bible sales rose sharply in 2025, with SPCK Group reporting record figures.
Publishing director at SPCK, Lauren Windle, has suggested the surge reflects growing engagement amongst younger readers.
“Maybe the generation that has every thing wants more – more real, more truthful, more consistent, more outward facing, more generous and more peaceful. More God-like,” she said.
Church leaders reminiscent of Alpha founder Nicky Gumbel have also spoken of unusually full services, while Rachel Jordan-Wolf of Hope Together has described increased spiritual curiosity amongst young adults.
Bible Society further claimed that Pew’s own global research found levels of religiosity comparable to, or marginally greater than, YouGov’s figures.
With YouGov set to repeat the study later this yr, Christians and researchers alike might be watching closely to see whether the so-called “quiet revival” is real.
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