Millport Field Centre School Trip

Field Studies Council

Isle of Cumbrae Ayrshire KA28 0EG

-The centre has a high standard of accommodation with twin en suite rooms in two blocks.

-Millport field centre is on an island, the centre is right on the coast and close to field sites. It is easily accessible on a 10 minute ferry from the mainland at Largs.

-Field Studies Council courses are created carefully to link to curriculum requirements. Tutors will work with you to tailor content to fit in with work back in the classroom.

-Our staff are passionate and experienced.

- Field Studies Council take care of everything once you arrive; comfortable accommodation, all your meals (residential visits) plus transport during the course.

-Different price bands are offered through the year to offer value for money.

- Millport field centre is part of Field Studies Council, an environmental education charity with 80 years’ experience of providing fieldwork and outdoor learning and a network of UK centres offering day and residential fieldwork opportunities.

-We work in many other ways to create a world where everyone feels connected to the environment including through projects working in local communities and lobbying government to include fieldwork in the curriculum.

Teacher Checklist

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

What activities are available during educational visits in 2026?

There is a wide range of activities available such as:
Primary: minibeast hunt, pond dipping, hiking, low ropes, eco-activity, rock climbing, bushcraft, orienteering
Secondary/A level: geography independent investigations, adventurous geography, coastal geography, biology core practicals

Which curriculum topics do we cater for?

Wildlife School Trip

Click to read full text 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.

Bushcraft School Trip

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.

Biology School Trip

Plants Animals including humans Living things and habitats Evolution and inheritance Ecology and environment Life Cycles Minibeasts Habitats Underwater Animals and Habitats

There are 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. Pupils can go on a mini beast hunt and observe insects in their microhabitats.

Human Geography School Trip

Settlement and land use Natural resources Population Urbanisation

Click to read full text 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.

Physical Geography School Trip

Water cycles Rivers Map and atlas Environment Coasts and seaside Fieldwork

Click to read full text 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:
Coastal – Where the land meets the sea, the UK’s coastline is over 7500 miles in length, and are influenced by many physical and human forces, with dramatic consequences for the people who live there.
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 School Trip

Plastic pollution Extreme Weather Climate change

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.

Fieldstudies School Trip

Sampling and Statistics Coastal Ecosystems Rivers

Click to read full text 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.

Physical Education School Trip

Climbing Archery

Millport field centre can offer a range of adventurous activities including hiking, archery, rock climbing and raft building. Pupils can do these activities in a residential course alongside curriculum content or environmental education.

Team Building School Trip

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.

What size groups do we cater for?

We can cater for groups of varying size. Some courses have a minimum of 10 students. This centre has 139 beds.

On-site classroom facilities?

Millport field centre has several work rooms which all have whiteboards including two classrooms, a brand new lecture theatre seating up to 100 people and four seawater-fed laboratories equipped with microscopy equipment.

Is there first aid on site?

All our field teachers are trained in first aid and group management. A qualified first aider is available at the field centre 24 hours a day.

Who are Field Studies Council?

Field Studies Council 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. Visits will immerse primary school children in the natural world, taking in its sights, sounds and smells.

For secondary and A level groups geography, biology and environmental science courses are offered. Courses can be tailored them to your own requirements to ensure you get the most from your visit and trips utilise our local environment to fully engage students.

Bring your subject to life in the outdoor classroom!

Teacher Checklist

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