Your most popular stories from School Travel Organiser in 2025…

11. Exploring famous sights on a packed trip to New York

Frank, a Year 10 pupil at Royal Liberty School in Romford, wrote about his experience of a memorable school trip to New York. We heard all about the sightseeing they did, as well as the food they ate - that’s always a highlight on school visits isn’t it? And they even got a sprinkling of snow during their stay which, as Frank put it, “made the New York experience even more magical”. 
Read Frank’s report >>

10. Flanders Fields: visiting Belgium’s landscapes that are changed forever

Our editor, Keeley Rodgers’ report back from Flanders in Belgium is still proving popular with readers, demonstrating the importance of school visits to the area. Staying in Ypres, Keeley visited the In Flanders Field Museum, which is fantastic for school groups, as well as the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 which has undergone a huge transformation with even more features now for students. 
Keeley’s experience of Flanders >>

9. The results: School Trips & Learning Outside the Classroom Survey 2025

We had a fantastic response to our School Trips & Learning Outside the Classroom Survey - thank you to everyone who took part. The results gave us a great insight into the trends for educational visits as well as information about where schools and organisations find ideas, advice and contacts. 
See the results here >>

8. Unusual places that offer school sleepovers

Do your students fancy staying a night on one of the country’s most famous war ships? Well, you can do that, and more with this fantastic selection of unique places for school sleepovers. There are some fun suggestions, including The Deep in Hull where you can settle down for the night next to a host of marine life - not least sharks, rays and turtles.
Inspire my next school visit >>

7. Lesser-known but brilliant destinations for school trips

Highlighting 21 off-the-beaten-track attractions, we brought you some food for thought when planning future school trips. This piece included the likes of Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean, which is an enchanted maze of ancient pathways and mysterious rock formations, or the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent which invites students to create their own ceramic masterpieces. 
Check out where to go for a trip with a difference >>

6. Life-changing experiences: The 2025 ‘My Best School Trip’ Award finalists

It’s no surprise that so many of you wanted to read about our amazing finalists for the 2025 ‘My Best School Trip’ Award. The quality of the entries were outstanding and we had five fantastic finalists; shining examples of what can be achieved on a school trip, and how the learning can be embedded to create a long-lasting impact. Congratulations again to the 2025 winner… St Woolos Primary School in Newport for their life-changing Year 5 residential to Lower Treginnis Farm, but a huge well done to all of the finalists. 
A reminder of the 2025 finalists >>

5. How to use the STAGED approach when planning educational visits

Planning an educational visit can be complex with so many things to remember so any way of making the process easier and stressfree is definitely welcome. This article about the STAGED method, a framework to support teachers and EVCs when planning visits, continued to be popular in 2025. An expansion on National Guidance’s ‘SAGE’ alternative, the approach asks a series of questions to help identify any risks for visits such as ‘what’s your staff contingency plan’ and ‘does the provider hold an LOtC Quality badge’. 
How to use the STAGED approach >>

4. School Travel Awards: attractions, providers & schools celebrated

The 2025 School Travel Awards ceremony in London was another memorable occassion and, as usual, readers wanted to know what happened. Sharing some of the many highlights from the day, this story included several photographs showing how much guests enjoyed the lunch and ceremony at the five-star Royal Lancaster Hotel, watching awards host, Rory Bremner and a surprise performance from a West End classic. 
School Travel Awards celebrations >>

3. Inspiring Learning Group placed into administration

At the start of 2025 we had the sad news that Inspiring Learning Group had been placed into administration. The move resulted in the Kingswood brand closing several residential centres but the good news was that PGL Beyond and Halsbury Travel Group acquired some of the sites, meaning that children could continue to benefit from brilliant outdoor learning experiences. 
Goodbye to a popular brand >>

2. New faster border process for school groups in Dover

This was definitely welcome news earlier in the year - a faster clearance system for school groups to be piloted at the port of Dover in a bid to create a smoother process for pupils heading to Europe. Following the scheme, the Department for Education released new guidance for school groups travelling from Dover to Calais, a move welcomed by the School Travel Forum in particular which has been working hard to help streamline the border crossing process. 
Read the article  >>

1. Four exceptional teachers: your 2025 School Trip Champion finalists

Our most read article of 2025 was this one - introducing your School Trip Champion finalists. Celebrating the dedicated individuals who go the extra mile to help create impactful school trips, we shared who the finalists were and some of the amazing visits they had organised. And what a list it was, everything from Morocco and Burma to Italy, Belgium and New York as well as some some great experiences in the UK. Congratulations again to the four finalists - and to the winner Dave Cook from Tendring Technology College. 
Your 2025 finalists >>