At KS4, there has been a gradually burgeoning number of types of educational visits – foreign language school exchanges, cultural visits all over Europe and further afield, sports competitions, youth conferences, winter sports and adventurous activities in more extreme environments. The Duke of Edinburgh Award becomes available at 14 years old and continues to be offered for those up to 24 years of age, and pupils of many ages start work on specialist awards in areas such as mountaineering, sailing and river sports. This increase in venue variety has led to a proliferation of specialist companies catering for these activities.
The aims of history trips tend to be more focused in KS4, with study trips to the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation and the 1944 Normandy Landings often proving popular along with the 1815 Waterloo battlefield. Venues of this type are often catered for by specialist travel companies to ensure participants get the best experience available.
A lot of schools have a tradition of school trips with their choirs, orchestras and musical/theatre students. There are specialist companies that can help any school wishing to explore this possibility, and many venues have tailored activities for groups that can help improve performers’ confidence and motivation.
British schools have been the forerunners in Europe for undertaking challenging outdoor activities both at home and abroad (you can visit here for good list of activities and gateway sites) but there is a notable increase of interest at KS4 in science-based trips – most notably the Science and National History museums in London, the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, the National Railway Museum in York, Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre in Macclesfield, Techniquest in Cardiff, and the Bristol Science Centre, all of which have reported an increase in visitors in recent years.
Heritage centre at Llanberis, bringing back to life the inheritance of the North Wales slate industry.
Dinorwig Quarry closed in 1969. Today, rather than fashioning wagons and forging rails, the workshops tell a very special story: the story of the Welsh slate industry.
Part of a monastic building, perhaps the abbot's lodging, of Benedictine Abbotsbury Abbey. St Catherine's Chapel is within half a mile.
St Catherine's Chapel
Set high on a hilltop overlooking Abbotsbury Abbey, this sturdily buttressed and barrel-vaulted 14th-century chapel was built by the monks as a place of pilgrimage and retreat.
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) was founded in the 17th century as a physic garden. Now it extends over four Gardens boasting a rich living collection of plants, and is a world-renowned centre for plant science and education.
Cheddar Gorge is one of England's most iconic and spectacular landscapes. We are really proud to own the north side of this spectacular gorge and we hope that you will enjoy exploring it in a way that suits you.
The National Memorial Arboretum is the perfect venue for developing an understanding of Remembrance, memorials and the impact of conflict. It provides a relaxing place where current and future generations can remember loved ones, whilst wandering through growing woodland. There are over 300 memorials within the 150 acres of the arboretum.
Carisbrooke Castle is best known as the place where King Charles I was imprisoned.
Whitecliff Bay is located in a comfortable and hospitable chalet park surrounded by countryside, on the sheltered east side of the Isle of Wight.
The Cathedral Church of SS. Peter and Paul is the Roman Catholic cathedral in the Clifton area of Bristol.
The church was built in the 1840s to a neo-Gothic design by architect August Welby Pugin, famous for his work on the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. It was paid for by halfpenny donations from the poorest community of immigrants on Tyneside, and was enhanced in the following decades by bequests from the Dunn family: the Dunns are remembered in several windows.
Situated in a prominent position in London Road, Arundel, West Sussex, England the cathedral overlooks the ancient town of Arundel on the west bank of the river Arun, where the valley opens out into the coastal plain.
The Cathedral of Saint Mary the Crowned is the central point of Catholic worship in Gibraltar.
Birmingham Orthodox Cathedral (also Dormition of the Mother of God and St Andrew) is a Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Birmingham.
A stimulating environment in which children and adults can connect with the countryside.
Experience a cutting edge eco-build and be inspired to respond to climate change back at home and work.
Education programme, Racing to School. The programme enriches the National Curriculum with hands-on learning at racecourses across the country.
The Bushcraft Company offer residential school trips with a difference, taking students into the wild and giving them real back-to-nature experiences they will never forget.
A 15-year-old boy fell 60ft over the edge of a cliff whilst on a geography school trip, miraculously only suffering minor injuries.