Ofcom Find 6 Percent of All UK Adults Still Do Not Have Home Internet Access

The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today published their annual Media Use and Attitudes 2026 report, which among other things found that the proportion of UK adults without home internet access remains unchanged at 6%. Some 83% of that group are aged 65+ (66% for those aged 75+).

The full report looks at everything from our interactions and attitudes toward the internet, AI, social media, smartphone use and more – across different groups (age, gender etc.). Interestingly most adults without home internet access report that they are “not interested or feel no need” to be online (68% – but this is down from 81% last year), while others cite perceived complexity (38%) or cost (25%) as reasons for not having internet access at home.

However, a substantial proportion of adults without home internet access still rely on others to complete online tasks on their behalf. Some 42% say they have asked someone else to do something for them online, most commonly to shop online (56%) or to access online health services (37%). When asked about future behaviour, the majority (82%) say that nothing would prompt them to go online. However, 45% of this group have sought help from someone else for an online task in the past year, pointing to a gap between their stated preferences and the practical need to engage with digital services.

On the above point it’s worth remembering that digital skills can change with age, as well as disability (the two are often associated). For example, you might be digitally skilled today, but this can go in reverse when you develop a disability (loss of sight, strokes etc.), which makes life a lot more difficult.

The study separately found that 20% of online adults rely solely on a Smartphone (mobile broadband) for access and most online adults (89%) say they feel confident as an internet user. Confidence is strong for tasks such as recognising scam messages (82%) and identifying online advertising (81%), but fewer adults feel confident judging whether online information is true or false (72%), and this has decreased slightly since last year.

But confidence overall doesn’t tell the whole story. Just over half of adults (53%) feel very confident at an overall level, but far fewer feel very confident in specific skills: 30% for recognising advertising, 29% for spotting scams, and only 21% for judging whether information is true or false.

Social media use also remains widespread, with 89% of internet users harnessing at least one social media platform, rising to 97% of users aged 16-34 and over two-thirds (68%) of those aged 75+. What people use social media for continues to vary, although messaging and calling remain the most common activities, used by 76% of social media users and consistent across age groups. The government may want to consider this when attempting to ban under 16s from social media, as it carries a lot of other common services.

The full report goes into a lot of other areas too, and we’ve pasted a quick summary of those below.

Key Findings – Media Use and Attitudes 2026

More adults are using AI compared to last year, yet scepticism persists Just over half of adults (54%) say they use AI tools compared to three in ten (31%) last year. Three-quarters of online adults (75%) read AI-generated search summaries at least sometimes. However, attitudes towards AI-generated news are cautious: 57% of adults aware of AI say they would trust it less than a human-written story. Confidence in spotting AI-generated content is mixed, with 44% feeling confident and 31% unsure/ neutral. Qualitative findings show early signs of some adults interacting with AI as if it were a person, or using it for reassurance.

Trust in online information is mixed

Most adults (85%) say they use ‘mainstream’ media for news but trust varies. Around one in five (19%) always trust it, while a similar proportion (21%) always question its accuracy. Experiences on social media further illustrate an environment of uncertainty about what to trust – 56% of social media users say they have seen false or misleading news in the past year. Among social media users who consider the accuracy of news, the most common approaches include comparing the information with other sources (43%) and checking the original source (42%). Many also turn to social cues: four in ten (41%) look at the comments section for indications of credibility, suggesting that other users’ reactions can play a meaningful role in shaping trust.

Understanding and managing personal data varies widely

Most online adults (89%) know that companies collect their data and 31% can identify from a list all the main ways in which this happens. Awareness that online content is tailored has declined to 76% (from 85% last year). Views on use of personal data are divided, with 34% comfortable with companies using their information to tailor the content they are shown and 37% uncomfortable. Most online adults (86%) report using at least one of the security measures we asked about. These gaps matter: weaker data practices – such as password re-use or relying on autofill – are linked to people experiencing higher rates of hacking and financial loss as our later analysis shows. Although many take steps to protect themselves, inconsistent behaviours leave some adults more exposed.

Adults’ confidence in assessing online information does not always match their ability

Overall confidence online is high (89%), but confidence in specific skills – spotting scams (82%), recognising advertising (81%), judging accuracy online (72%) – is lower. Performance in scenario tests is mixed. Just over half of search engine users (52%) identified sponsored results correctly. Most online adults (82%) responded safely to a scam email (with indications that this has decreased, down from 88% in 2022), and 74% of social media users identified a fake social media profile. However, gaps persist: 37% felt confident recognising advertising but answered incorrectly, 14% felt confident spotting scams but did not take a safe action, and 17% felt confident about judging the accuracy of online information but misidentified the fake profile as genuine. This highlights that confidence does not always align with ability.

Younger and older adults show different strengths in evaluating online content

Younger adults (16-24) perform comparatively well at identifying fake social media profiles (88% were able to from a test we set) but, although they had high levels of confidence in their ability, performed less well than older users in identifying advertising in search results. Most adults aged 25-44 are highly active online, yet this age group were the most likely to misjudge the fake social media profile as genuine (16%). Older adults showed strengths in identifying advertising, with those aged 55-74 most accurate at identifying paid-for search results (59%). Adults aged 75+ were most likely to use low-interaction but safe responses to scam emails, and show higher uncertainty in judging fake profiles. Across tasks, breadth of online use and task-specific confidence were stronger predictors of performance than age alone.

Adults are becoming less active on social media and exploring fewer new websites

Posting and commenting on social media has declined from 61% to 49% this year. Exploration of new websites has also fallen, with only 14% using ‘lots’ of new sites (down from 24%) and 40% using none. Younger adults continue to drive video use and creation – 82% of 16-24s watch videos on social media and 42% of 25-34s post them. Platform use remains strongly age-skewed. Snapchat is used by 78% of 16-24s compared to 3% of 75+, and TikTok by 83% versus 7%. WhatsApp is widely used across all ages, and Facebook remains most popular among the oldest group (81% of online 75+).

Feelings about being online are less positive

The proportion of adults who feel the benefits of being online outweigh the risks has fallen to 59% (from 72% last year). Only 36% of social media users say that these platforms are good for their mental health, down from 42%. Concerns about online behaviour are common: 43% of social media users say people are ‘often’ or ‘always’ unkind online, and 27% frequently see viewpoints they disagree with. Screen-time concerns are widespread, with 67% saying they sometimes spend too long on screens and 40% saying this happens most days. Despite this, many adults report benefits: 71% say that being online has broadened their understanding of the world, and 62% say it has helped them learn a new skill. Views on freedom of expression and the environmental impact of being online are divided.

Digital exclusion arises from a lack of access, skills, confidence and circumstances

Six per cent of all adults do not have internet access at home. This offline group is disproportionately older: 17% are aged 65-74 and 66% are aged 75+. Most (81%) live in C2DE households. However, being online does not necessarily mean full digital participation. One in five (20%) online adults rely solely on a smartphone for access. Others face barriers linked to skills and confidence. Narrow internet users make up 21% of users and are more likely to be older, female, in C2DE households, and have lower levels of digital confidence.