Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the new requirements for EU children visiting the UK on school exchanges to have a passport on the number of British children (a) from state schools, (b) with low-socioeconomic status and (c) from all backgrounds participating in school exchanges.

As part of the changes to the Immigration Rules in September 2021, we no longer accept national identity cards as a valid travel document from EU, EEA and Swiss visitors to the UK. Almost a year’s notice was provided for this change to allow groups to plan ahead and obtain passports where they do not already have them before they travel.

We have always expected people who visit the UK, including children visiting as part of a school group, from outside the EU (including close allies such as the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to hold a passport and we now expect those visiting from EU countries to do the same.

The experience at the UK border since the change has been positive, with EU, EEA and Swiss citizens making the switch to using their passport for travel. Using a passport also means most EU nationals making a short visit can also use e-gates where available for a quicker and easier arrival experience. There are no plans to change our approach.

An impact assessment was undertaken of this change. There are no plans to make an assessment of the effect of this policy on the number of British school children involved in school exchanges.