Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce administrative requirements for school groups visiting the UK from Europe.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

As the department for opportunity, we recognise the importance of school trips and the impact that this valuable learning experience can have on children and young people. The department also recognises the difficulties that schools have faced in recent years when it comes to organising trips between the UK and the EU. Departments across government are working to mitigate these challenges. The department is working with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Home Office to improve border processing and facilitate school trips between the UK and the EU. The UK has an agreement with France which permits the use of national identity cards for French schoolchildren (aged 18 and under) travelling on organised trips and waives UK visa requirements for their classmates who are visa nationals.

The Home Office has recently announced that children aged 18 and under travelling as part of a French school group will be temporarily exempt from the Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme requirement until a group solution is developed.