Funding for School Trips

School trips can offer unprecedented learning opportunities for students of any age, be it a day-long visit to a local farm or museum, or a week’s adventure holiday with fellow pupils. School trips enable kids to grow in confidence, learn outside of the classroom, make new friends and consolidate their education by seeing animals, exhibitions or events first hand.

But at the same time, for parents having to foot the bill of their kids attending a school trip, these can become a burden on household expenses. The cost of residential trips can soar into the hundreds, whilst if a school asks parents to pay for travel such as coach hire, even a day trip can easily cost between £10 and £30. Sometimes this bill might come through quite quickly, if a school wants to capitalise on a one-off experience, for example, such as a visiting foreign diplomat being in town, and this might mean parents do not have long to budget and plan for the cost.

What Can Schools Charge?

The good news is that there are a number of funding initiatives in place that should help prevent children from lower-income families missing out on school trips. The amount schools can actually charge depends on the type of school; this is not limited for private schools, but in the state maintained sector, while schools are allowed to ask parents for money to cover residential lodging fees, they are not permitted to ask for funds to cover activities that take place during school hours, such as, for example, museum entry fees - although this may not stop them from asking parents for “voluntary” funding.

In 2006, the then-Education Secretary Alan Johnson laid bare a plan to increase the quality and availability of learning outside the classroom with a £2.7 million funding package to improve school trips. These funds should certainly be trickling through to schools, and should help remove some of the obstacles to school trips.

In families where the income level means that children are able to claim free school meals, parents should not be expected to pay any charges for a school trip, including residential trips. Speak to the school, in confidence if preferred, if your family is in this position. Speaking to the school in advance of any school trips being planned, say as soon as a child has a new form tutor or directly to the headteacher, should alleviate any last-minute problems and save any potential embarrassment for your child.

Other Sources of Funding

Families who are not eligible to receive help with free school meals but are nonetheless facing significant financial pressure, to the extent that their child would not be able to attend a school trip due to a lack of funds, might be able to find help elsewhere. It’s best to look into this on a local level, because a lot of small charities work locally to help kids in this kind of position. Other charities that might be able to help include Gingerbread, Parent Line Plus, or The Family Welfare Association. The Citizens Advice Bureau might have more information on sources of funding help in your area, and families should approach them for further advice on available grants or loans.