UK poll on death literacy for King’s College London

Focaldata ran a poll on behalf of the Impact Centre for Palliative and End-of-Life Care at King’s College London to learn more about public understanding of death, dying and bereavement (referred to as death literacy) across the UK. We surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,106 adults in the UK between 21 March and 24 March 2025. The data was weighted by age, gender, region, education (2-levels), ethnicity and 2024 General Election vote.

We found that only 40% of the public know what documents are needed when planning for death, and another 40% do not know how to access palliative care in their area. Almost two thirds (62%) of people have not yet made a will, with a quarter of those aged 65+ reporting that they did not have a will.

Almost half (47%) of adults are worried that their loved ones will have a painful death, and 44% are worried about the quality of palliative and end-of-life care in the UK. However, for those who had previously cared for someone at the end of their life, 69% were satisfied with the care that the person received. This suggests that there is a gap in awareness, which should be enhanced to equip the public with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions for themselves and others they may need to care for in the future.