Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the merits of outdoor education for (a) children and (b) adults.

The department believes that outdoor education can be a valuable part of a broad and balanced curriculum, for example in physical education and geography, and a school’s enrichment offer. Both form an important part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity and to achieve high and rising standards for all children.

We are supporting research by the University of Oxford which will help us to better understand the specific benefits of spending time in nature and ascertain which nature-based activities are most impactful for which outcomes.