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Can Schools Charge for Trips? What the Law Allows, the 50% Rule, and When You Pay Nothing

Can schools charge for trips? For a state school in England, mostly not. A trip that happens during school hours is part of your child's education, so the school can only ask for a voluntary contribution, and it must say so. The main thing a school can charge for is board and lodging on a residential trip, and even that is waived for families on the benefits that qualify for free school meals. This page sets out the rules from the Education Act 1996 and the Department for Education's advice on charging, so you can read a trip letter and know what you actually owe.

What a state school cannot charge for

The Department for Education's advice, Charging for school activities, lists what a maintained school or academy in England may not charge parents for. The core rule is that education provided during school hours is free, and that includes "the supply of any materials, books, instruments or other equipment". On trips specifically, a school cannot charge for:

• the education provided on any visit that takes place during school hours;
• education outside school hours if it is part of the national curriculum, part of a syllabus for a public exam the pupil is being prepared for at the school, or part of religious education;
• transport provided in connection with an educational visit;
• supply teachers to cover for staff who are away on a residential trip.

The national curriculum point is wider than it sounds. The advice says it is not limited to subject fieldwork such as a geography or science trip; it also covers activities designed to meet the curriculum's inclusion requirements, such as teamwork.

Voluntary contributions: what "voluntary" has to mean

Nothing stops a school asking parents to contribute towards a trip in school time, and most trip letters do exactly that. The DfE advice is specific about how the request must work:

• The school must make clear there is no obligation to pay.
• No child can be left out because their parents are unwilling or unable to contribute, and the school should explain at the start how it will allocate places.
• If the trip cannot run without enough contributions, the school should say so at the outset. If contributions fall short and there is no other funding, the trip is cancelled; it does not go ahead with only the children who paid.
• Parents must not be pressured. The advice says schools should avoid colour-coded reminder letters and should not send direct debit or standing order forms when asking for contributions.

If a letter says a school-day trip "costs £18" with a payment deadline and no mention of the word voluntary, it is worth asking the school politely how it squares that with its charging policy.

The 50% rule: is the trip in school hours?

Plenty of trips straddle the end of the school day or run over several days. The law has a test for deciding which side of the line they fall on.

Day trips and other non-residential activities

If 50% or more of the time spent on the activity falls during school hours, it counts as taking place during school hours. Travel time counts if the travel itself happens in school hours. The lunch break does not count as school hours. A theatre trip that leaves an hour before the end of the day but runs until late evening would usually count as outside school hours.

Residential trips

For trips away, the test counts sessions. The school day is divided into two sessions, and a "half day" is any 12-hour period ending at noon or midnight. If the school sessions missed are equal to or more than 50% of the half days spent away, the trip counts as in school hours. The DfE gives two examples:

Even when a residential trip counts as outside school hours, the school still cannot charge for the education if it is part of the national curriculum, an exam syllabus or religious education.

What a school can charge for

A school can make a charge for board and lodging on a residential trip, and it must not exceed the actual cost. It can also charge for "optional extras": activities outside school time that are not curriculum, exam syllabus or RE, such as a ski trip in the holidays or an after-school club. Any charge for an optional extra must not be more than the real cost divided equally among the pupils taking part, which means a school cannot load the price to subsidise children whose parents will not pay, and it cannot make a profit.

No charge of any kind is allowed unless the governing body or academy trust has a written charging and remissions policy. Ask for it; most schools publish it on their website under policies.

Who pays nothing for board and lodging

When a residential trip includes education the school cannot charge for, parents who receive certain benefits are exempt from the board and lodging cost too. The DfE says the qualifying benefits have been aligned with free school meals eligibility since April 2003, and the head teacher must tell all parents about the right to claim. The school pays the remission from its own budget, so it may need evidence.

Free school meals eligibility in England widened in September 2026 to every child in a household on Universal Credit; our free school meals guide explains the two categories. How a school's remissions policy treats the new expanded group is worth checking directly with the school, because the remission rules sit in separate regulations from the meals themselves.

Private schools are different

None of this applies to independent schools. Their trip charges are set by the parent contract you signed, so read the terms on extras and trips. For state school costs more widely, see our guides to the cost of schooling, help with school costs and school uniform rules, or start from the Schools Insight homepage.

If you think a charge is wrong

1. Ask the school for its charging and remissions policy and check the trip against it.
2. Ask in writing whether the payment is a voluntary contribution, and whether your child can go if you do not pay.
3. If you are on a qualifying benefit and it is a residential trip, ask for the board and lodging remission.
4. If you are not satisfied, use the school's complaints procedure; our guide on how to complain about a school sets out the stages.

Sources: DfE, Charging for school activities (May 2018); Education Act 1996, Part VI Chapter III.