How to Make School Music Trips More Accessible

1. Start planning early

One of Vicky’s biggest tips for organising an accessible music tour is to start planning early. At The Carlton Academy, she aims to launch trips around a year in advance, ideally before the summer holidays. This gives pupils plenty of time to sign up and families more time to plan for the cost. 

As Vicky explains, “One real key tip for me has always been […] to give the families as much time as possible to make those payments.” 

Planning early can also help schools fill available places and build excitement around the trip. 

2. Make payments manageable

Even with plenty of notice, the cost of a school music tour can be difficult for some families to manage. Vicky’s approach is to be flexible and explore ways to spread payments over a longer period. 

Alongside the payment plans available through Rayburn Tours, her school sometimes breaks payments down further to suit individual circumstances. “We come up with payment plans. We break that down,” Vicky states. 

Vicky also encourages open conversations with parents and carers, making sure they know they can get in touch if they have concerns about the cost. 

3. Explore funding and financial support

School support can play an important role in making music tours accessible. 

At The Carlton Academy, the school helps eligible pupils with up to 50% of their tour costs through pupil premium funding. This can help reduce the financial barrier for students who might otherwise miss out. 

Vicky is passionate about giving young people opportunities regardless of their background, particularly as some pupils have had less access to music before joining the school. 

4. Be flexible when circumstances change

Even the best-planned tour can encounter unexpected changes. A pupil may need to drop out, leaving a space to fill at relatively short notice. 

Vicky experienced this ahead of the school’s recent Germany tour, when a student withdrew in May for a trip taking place in July. 

Working with her finance team, she offered the place to other students involved in the school’s band and singing group. They also explored whether payments could continue over the summer holidays, helping another family manage the cost. 

Vicky explains that, in this situation, the payment plan could continue after the trip had taken place if that would help the family spread the cost. 

5. Make music accessible to every ability

At The Carlton Academy, Vicky works with students who have a wide range of musical abilities and previous experience. 

Her Anything Goes band welcomes young musicians who play different instruments and are at different stages of their development. Rather than expecting everyone to perform at the same level, she adapts and arranges music to suit the group. 

“If you can play any instrument at any level apart from absolute beginners […] then please come along. […] We’ll have you. We want you and we’ll, you know, we’ll find a place for you,” Vicky says. 

This inclusive approach carries through to touring, where adapting the music allows pupils to contribute to performances while continuing to develop their skills. 

6. Put pupils’ experiences first

A successful music tour doesn’t have to mean a high-pressure performance in a prestigious venue. 

Vicky’s first tour with The Carlton Academy included a concert at Disney in Paris. Although it offered an exciting opportunity, she found the experience more stressful than expected for both herself and some of her students. 

Since then, she has favoured more informal performance opportunities, helping pupils enjoy making music together without feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to perform. 

She also prefers destinations closer to home, where travel costs and logistics are more manageable. 

“I personally think that the coach time, you know, the actual time that they spend on that coach is really, really important and is a really important part of those friendships that they build and those relationships,” Vicky states.  

7. Make friendship part of the journey

For Vicky, some of the most rewarding moments of a music tour happen away from the performance venue. 

Travelling together gives pupils time to connect with classmates they might not usually spend time with. For some, it can also be their first opportunity to travel abroad and experience a different culture. 

To make the journey home special, Vicky organises a quiz and an informal awards ceremony. Pupils nominate one another for awards recognising everything from musical achievements to kindness and funny moments. 

Reflecting on these nominations, she says, “There’s 50 different students that have been nominated for each award. And that’s always really heartwarming and just goes to show just how much, you know, how important these experiences are for young people.”