Field Studies Council
Keswick Cumbria CA12 4SG
Residential Trip Residentials North West
Blencathra has a spectacular and inspiring location in the heart of the Lake District. It is easy to reach from the M6.
Our late availability offer is available for our full range of courses for visits with an arrival date during the next three months, for customers visiting one of our listed centres*
If you are interested in booking at the discounted rate, please fill in the form on the web site, stating any dates you are able to consider. Or get in touch with our team for an no-obligation quote and to check which centres currently have space.
Standard 2026 price examples:
Book a Primary 2-night stay for just £174 per student per student (normally £231 per pupil).
Book a GCSE 2-night stay for just £193 per student (normally £257 per student).
Book an A Level 2-night stay for just £201 per student per student (normally £268 per student).
Please get in touch for current pricing
valid until: January 2028
We are currently offering 15% off for new residential customers. Enter the code NEW15 on any of our enquiry forms across the website to take up our special offer, or contact our team for a no-obligation quote.
Standard 2026 price examples:
Book a Primary 2-night stay for just £174 per student per student (normally £231 per pupil).
Book a GCSE 2-night stay for just £193 per student (normally £257 per student).
Book an A Level 2-night stay for just £201 per student per student (normally £268 per student).
Please get in touch for current pricing
valid until: January 2027
The Field Studies Council helps pupils turn curiosity into meaningful scientific questions through hands-on outdoor learning. Our activities encourage learners to ask “why?”, “how?” and “what if?” while investigating real habitats, species and environmental processes. From measuring biodiversity to exploring climate change, we support teachers to build enquiry skills, critical thinking and a lifelong curiosity about the natural world.
Risk Assessments
Inspection Visits
Free Places for Teachers
Bursaries or Funded Places Available
Resource Packs
LOtC Quality Badge
AALA Licence
Institute of Outdoor Learning
Duke of Edinburgh Award
Blencathra can offer a range of biology courses from KS2 to curriculum-based A level trips. KS2 pupils can look at a range of habitats, learning about microhabitats and how they provide the basic needs for living things. Pupils can learn to identify the different structures of plants and name a variety of common animals. There will be mini beast hunt so pupils can observe them in their microhabitats.
We offer a range of sessions and courses covering human geography through fieldwork. Most sessions have short classroom sessions before and after.
Human Geography can be covered through fieldwork in a range of sessions and courses. Depending on the level and course you follow, this may include;
- Discovering the impact of people on the habitat using a range of fieldwork techniques
- Economic Growth and functions
- Regeneration and Placemaking
- Investigate the impact of counter-urbanisation in two contrasting settlements
- A qualitative and a quantitative fieldwork method
- develop an understanding of questions that can be investigated through fieldwork
- data presentation and analysis
Teaching is delivered by fully trained and experienced tutors.
Geography courses cover KS2 to A level groups. KS2 pupils can use maps, stories and games to explore the woods. Discover the plants and animals that live here and design and build dens.
Our geography fieldwork trips and courses are carefully designed to cover all essential content from the curriculum. We ensure the maximum time outdoors possible, allowing students to take advantage of all benefits resulting from outdoor learning.
The geography fieldwork courses are tailored to curriculum requirements for GCSE, A Level, National, Higher, IB and lower secondary specifications and packed with relevant fieldwork content.
A selection of our popular residential visits to give an idea of what we can offer include:
Rivers - constantly changing, water levels rise and fall after rain and with the seasons. Erosion, transportation and deposition can all alter the characteristics of the channel and the regime of the river
Regeneration - a complex process aiming to turn areas into sustainable, desirable and effective spaces for us to use and enjoy.
Investigations - at a local scale to consider place meaning and representation changing economic function and socio-demographic characteristics of places.
But we can also create a trip that is totally bespoke to your needs.
Teaching is delivered by fully trained and experienced tutors, to create and deliver geography experiences to suit your requirements. Most sessions have short classroom sessions before and after.
Environmental geography can be covered through fieldwork in a range of sessions and courses. For KS4 and A level students all courses are linked to the exam board requirements for each subject and the course can be tailored to your specific needs.
Students can cover a range of environmental geography topics looking at different plants and animals.
Dependant on the course you choose, students could have the opportunity to;
- take first hand measurements, make observations of distinctive river land forms found at the fieldwork sites along the river.
- make a comparison of two different areas used to observe the contrasting abundance of plants associated with varying management regimes.
- Investigate how human activity affects biodiversity, local flows, cycles and processes.
Delivered by expert, passionate tutors at the forefront of fieldwork tuition with a wide range of contrasting locations available.
We offer a range of sessions and courses covering field studies. For KS4 and A level students we link all of our courses to the exam board requirements for each subject and can tailor the course to your specific needs.
Field studies can be covered through fieldwork in a range of sessions and courses.
This can include:
- Sampling Statistics
- Fieldwork Methodology
- Investigation Introduction
- Coastal Environments
- Ecosystems
- Mapping
- River Studies
- Habitats etc
For KS4 and A level students all of our courses are linked to the exam board requirements for each subject and can be tailored to meet your specific needs.
KS2 groups will immerse themselves in the impressive rocky outcrops and cliff habitats to become rock detectives, uncovering the secret stories and origins of creatures, rocks, fossils and minerals. This hands-on adventure clambering session, will provide inspiration for scientific questions such as: Why does this live here? Why are the textures different?
Secondary level geology groups can study the geology of the surrounding area contributing to their need to think geologically!
Students will look at a variety of plants and common animals using age appropriate classification keys to identify living things we find in our woodland and in our pond habitats.
Discover what animals and plants can be found in the local area. Pupils have the opportunity to identify a range of plants and invertebrates and investigate how they interact with each other.
Understand that plants play an important role in the survival of animals by looking at simple food chains/webs. They will investigate how living things are adapted to the environment they live in and how their habitats help them to survive. Investigate the structure of a plant and discover their roles. Classify a variety of invertebrates using their features and investigate how they are adapted to their habitat.
Identify basic survival needs, explore the woods, build a shelter and forage for wild foods. Follow a woodland trail and search for tracks and signs. A day filled with team building and problem-solving activities.
We offer a range of sessions and courses on bushcraft including den building, fire lighting foraging and more, delivered by fully trained and experienced tutors.
An exciting and challenging introduction to the concepts of working well together, using a wide variety of fun activities and puzzles designed to encourage problem solving and teamwork.
Courses fuse fieldwork with outdoor activities to give students the opportunity to explore real geographical contexts in an exciting and engaging way. Our courses allows students to get first-hand experiences of a range of physical landscapes and processes and a unique insight into the interaction of people and the environment.
Individuals undertaking the course will be encouraged to develop their team skills and individual motivation whilst involved in activities that promote a healthy lifestyle.
Blencathra offers fieldwork and outdoor learning for groups of all ages at centres across the UK. Trips use our stunning locations to teach curriculum focused work and inspire everyone about the environment.
Primary field trips enable you to pick and choose from a range of exciting adventure or curriculum sessions to build your own trip. A visit to a Field Studies Council centre will immerse primary school children in the natural world, taking in its sights, sounds and smells.
For secondary and A level groups we offer geography, biology and environmental science courses. Courses can be tailored to your own requirements to ensure you get the most from your visit and trips utilise the local environment to fully engage students.
Bring your subject to life in the outdoor classroom!
Different price bands are offered throughout the year to offer value for money.Talk to our team about the best options for your group.
Risk Assessments
Inspection Visits
Free Places for Teachers
Bursaries or Funded Places Available
Resource Packs
LOtC Quality Badge
AALA Licence
Institute of Outdoor Learning
Duke of Edinburgh Award
Top 5 ways The Field Studies Council are supporting teachers, schools, parents and children to benefit from fieldwork and outdoor learning.
outdoor experiences provide opportunities for development and growth, including exploration, hands-on learning and risk-taking.
Jess from the Field Studies Council talks to us about the latest exciting new changes and events taking place.
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We are bursting with school trip ideas on places that deliver first class teaching both outside the classroom and as in-school workshops. Feel free to use our tailor-made trip form and we can help you find the perfect experience for your class!