Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of children who do not participate in (a) school trips and (b) residentials due to financial constraints; and if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her Department's policies.

The Department does not collect information about children who participate in school trips.

Schools may not charge for school trips that take place during school hours. Schools also may not charge for school trips that take place outside of school hours but that are part of the National Curriculum, part of religious education, or part of the syllabus for a public exam that the pupil is being prepared for at the school. Parents can be asked for contributions towards the cost of a trip, but schools must make clear that contributions are voluntary.

If a trip requires a night away from home, parents can be charged for board and lodging, but parents who receive certain benefits cannot be charged and schools should be clear about this in their communications.

The published advice, ‘Charging for School Activities’, is clear that no child should be excluded from an activity simply because their parents are unwilling or unable to pay. This advice is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charging-for-school-activities.