2025 was, in my opinion, a great year for change in the world of animal research. We saw a lot of progress and steps in the right direction, and in terms of Replacing Animal Research’s policy work, we had a very busy and fulfilling year. Now that we’re in the first days of 2026, it feels like the perfect opportunity to reflect on 2025’s highlights and think about what’s to come in 2026.

Phase-out plan

The major piece of news from 2025 was the release of the Government’s ‘Replacing Animals in Science’ strategy, something we had been eagerly awaiting since the manifesto commitment to phase out animal testing back in 2024.

The strategy overall represents a solid commitment to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, and the elimination of animals where possible. It contained, amongst many other details:

• Information on cross-governmental work and responsibilities
• Training and guidance on Replacement
• Funding commitments
• Timelines and milestones for the phase-out of specific tests

Prior to the strategy being published, we were also invited to a roundtable meeting in May 2025, with Lord Vallance, Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology, alongside other animal welfare and scientific organisations. This meeting was a fantastic opportunity to input into the strategy and share what we would like to see included.

At the end of 2025, I wrote a deep dive blog into the different aspects of the strategy, which you can read for more details on the plan, including areas of our policy work that have been included, and what we would like to see as next steps.

Policy approach

In September, we published our updated policy approach, reshaped into a guide for policymakers in replacing animals in research. The aim of this is to educate policymakers, raise awareness of the key issues within the use of animals in science, and highlight specific actions that the Government can take to tackle these areas.

The three main areas of policy that this tackles are:

• Strengthening regulations around animal research to better implement replacement
• Increasing transparency around animal use
• Influencing Government to ensure replacement is prioritised within its science strategy

Out and about

We were out and about a lot in 2025, discussing our work and raising awareness with different audiences.

In terms of Government engagement, as well as the phase-out strategy roundtable meeting, we:

• Attended three meetings with the Home Office Animals in Science Regulation Policy Unit, as part of the Animal Protection and Welfare Stakeholder Group. These meetings allow us regular and direct contact to discuss ongoing and upcoming policy matters, and raise key issues and questions we have.
• Took part in a Westminster Showcase event as part of the Alliance for Human Relevant Science. Here we discussed our work with MPs and other policymakers.

Other events we took part in include:

• The 2025 UK Animal Law conference in Birmingham. We gave a talk on the use of genetically altered animals in research, focusing on past, present and future concerns. (I also spoke at the 2024 conference on improving transparency to better replacement under ASPA, where I subsequently published a paper on the topic in 2025.)
• The RSPCA Lay Members forum in December 2025, speaking on the rehoming of laboratory animals, and what this actually means within the law
• Guest lecturing at Hartpury University and the University of Central Lancashire on alternative methods to animals in research and barriers to their uptake.

Providing evidence and expertise

Over the year, we submitted to several Government consultations and calls for evidence on topics around animal use and replacement. These include:

• Two calls for evidence from the Animals in Science Committee on improving leading practice in the 3Rs (with our submission focusing solely on improving Replacement), and improving Non-Technical Summaries and Retrospective Assessments for animal use.
• An ‘Under the Microscope’ enquiry from the Science, Innovation and Technology committee, on topics they should focus on, with our submission highlighting the importance of replacing animals in science and why this should be a core Government focus within their science strategy.
• A submission to the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology, towards its research briefing on ‘Technology alternatives to animals in life sciences research.’

We have also produced briefings for policymakers on several topics, including the Westminster Hall debate on the use of dogs in regulatory testing, and the annual statistics on animal use for 2024, as well as writing many letters to Ministers, MPs and Government departments on topics such as the phase-out strategy.

What’s next?

It may be a new year, but our mission always remains the same – to see a world where no animal suffers for science. As I said at the opening of this blog, 2025 has been a busy, but great, year, and I’m expecting 2026 to be similar!

Now that we have the phase-out strategy, there is a lot of work to ensure that the commitments are stuck to and actioned, particularly those with a 2026 deadline, such as:

• Establishing a preclinical translational model hub
• Aiming to offer 3Rs training to all PhD students and early career scientists using animals and alternative methods
• Full implementation of the Rawle Report recommendations
• Restarting the survey on public attitudes to animal research
• Aiming to apply only validated alternative methods for skin irritation, skin sensitisation, and eye irritation testing to satisfy UK regulatory requirements

There are also many areas we would like to see included as work develops that haven’t yet been included, so we will continue to push these with policymakers and relevant departments.

We already have some great events lined up to continue spreading the word about our work and resources, and we’re always keeping an eye out for other ways to raise awareness of the issue throughout the year, so watch this space!

It’s also important for me to say that this blog only focuses on our policy work, which is just one area of our work. Our work in education and research has been just as jam-packed, and you can read more about what we’ve been doing in these areas in our impact report.

So here’s to what I’m sure will be another great year, and getting another step closer to replacing animals in research!