How much does a school trip cost?
There is no question, school trips add value to a child's personal development, understanding and overall education. Classroom lessons can be supported and enhanced by good quality trips with real educational value. But following years of austerity and with regional disparity in national per pupil funding, finding affordable trips can be a real headache for many teachers. With this in mind, we decided to take a look at some of the best value trips of various types and covering several areas of the National Curriculum. The following venues are not intended as an exhaustive list, nor do we claim they are the cheapest you will find, but rather they are intended as an example of the type of trip you can find for various budgets.
Day Trips Workshops Residentials Overseas Ski
UK Day trips for schools
A typical day trip cost from £10-£50 per child, with coach travel adding more to the total
How much is a school day trip? A school visit to somewhere like a museum, gallery, science centre or country park can be surprisingly affordable. These venues welcome schools and try to make your trip as accessible as possible. Some places will even allow you in for free if you are leading the trip yourself.
We are delighted to be working with English Heritage, featuring a good number of their exceptional venues, perfect for school groups on a budget. Responsible for the management and upkeep of some of England's finest monuments and historic buildings, English Heritage allow free self led school visits, meaning your only cost is transport. Alternatively you can take advantage of their specialist knowledge and book an expert led trip which can cost as little as £100 for a class of 30. Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter at the bottom of this page. English Heritage (and many other venues we work with) sometimes have special offers for school groups and we'll be sure to let you know when they become available.
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In-school Workshops
A typical workshop costs from £350 for a half day to £600+ for a full day
A workshop that visits your school can be a good way to save money on the cost of transport. School workshop cost will depend on the location of the workshop company in relation to your school, the cost of materials required for the workshop, the number of people required to run the workshop, as well as several more. However, if we had a pound for every teacher who has come back to us saying their school trip cannot go ahead due to the cost of the coach travel. In-school workshops are also a time saver as you don't lose the whole day out of the classroom.
We feature a number of specialist science centres, throughout the UK. These venues often have hands on exhibits that go beyond what it possible in a school physics or chemistry lab. Southern Water offer a free trip showing students how waste water is recycled. Their knowledgeable team has a real passion for their industry.
Multi Day Activities
A typical 3 day residential trip costs from £200-£450 per pupil
Quite a few companies who run residential trips have grants available for schools. These grants can take various forms, sometimes aimed at local schools, sometimes schools with high pupil premiums. They can be designed to help allow more children to take part, or to enable you to deal with the cost of travel.
For multi-night residential activity trips, you only need to have a look at our residential trips pages to see that you are spoilt for choice. While cost may not (and should not) be the only factor, for some schools it can be the difference between being able to send their pupils on a trip and not. With the generous support of individuals and donors, we have up to 100% funding available for children who do not have the financial support to join their classmates on a residential trip.
Ski Trips
A typical 7 day school ski trip costs from £900 to £1300 per pupil for the European Alps, and £1500-£2000 for the US and Canada
UK schools often organise ski trips for students as part of their extracurricular activities. Trips to Europeean destinations such as the French Alps or Pyrenees, can range from great value to scary expensive. Duration, accommodation standard, and included activities all affect the price your students will pay. A typical 7 day trip usually covers the cost of getting there by coach or plane, accommodation, ski passes, equipment hire, and lessons. Schools can often negotiate group discounts with tour operators to make the trips more affordable per pupil, but additional expenses like travel insurance, clothing, and meals can add to the overall cost.
Ski trips to North American resorts are more expensive due to the longer travel distance and higher accommodation and lift prices. A similar 7 day trip can cost £1,500 to £2,000 - a different experience but with a higher price tag. There are ways to make your trip more affordable - avoid the peak times (every school aims for February half term!) where you can and get quotes from a range of ski operators.
Overseas Tours
A typical 7 day overseas school trip costs from £500-£750 per pupil for European trips and £900-£1600 for long haul travel
If your school party wish to travel abroad, there are plenty of specialist school tour operators who can help you. They all have many years of experience in organising school tours for a budget you can afford. There are genuine budget friendly options like 3 day Normandy trips to study the Battlefields of World War Europe. As long as you can be flexible, you can take advantage of great savings. It's certainly worth a look if you are planning on taking your students overseas.
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