The Science Museum Group has ended the Science Museum Group Academy’s partnership with BP when its current contract expired, ending a relationship that had lasted for decades. Campaigners welcomed the move after sustained criticism that fossil-fuel sponsorship could influence science education and deter schools from visiting, while the museum said BP funding had supported training and science engagement for educators and young people.

The academy, founded in 2018, provides training and resources for teachers, museum professionals and the STEM sector in the UK and internationally. Sir Ian Blatchford said BP’s contributions had helped train more than 11,000 professionals and reach over one million young people; however, campaigners said the decision was incomplete because the museum still receives funding from Adani Green Energy, linked to the Adani Group.