How the Key Accounts Team helps schools make educational visits more inclusive

1. Look ahead: the benefits of an 18-month trips booklet

One approach the KAT Team recommends is looking at your school’s educational visits programme 18–24 months ahead. Some schools even introduce an 18-month trips booklet, giving students and parents an overview of the exciting opportunities coming up across different year groups. This doesn’t mean every trip needs to be launched that far in advance. Instead, it gives families an early opportunity to see what’s on offer, think about which trips their child might like to join and start considering the costs involved.

There are benefits for schools, too. Having a longer-term overview makes it easier to coordinate the school calendar, plan trip details, organise staff cover and secure better availability for flights and accommodation. Having early sight of upcoming trips also gives schools more time to consider staffing requirements and make arrangements for cover, helping to minimise disruption to the wider school timetable. It also gives families more time to spread the cost and save towards the experiences they want their children to enjoy.

For EVCs, having one dedicated point of contact to discuss these plans can make things much simpler. Rather than having separate conversations about every individual trip, the Key Accounts Team can look at several opportunities together, helping schools plan their next four or five trips in one conversation.

By looking further ahead, the KAT Team can also explore a range of destinations and price points, helping schools build a varied programme that works for their students.

2. Consider your students’ needs and experiences

Every school is different, and an inclusive trips programme needs to reflect the needs of its student community. It’s worth considering your school’s demographics, including whether there is a high proportion of students eligible for Pupil Premium or students with Special Educational Needs (SEN). These factors may influence whether some students feel able to participate in educational visits.

Understanding students’ circumstances from the outset allows the KAT Team to have more meaningful conversations with EVCs about the destinations, durations and costs that could work best.

For example, starting with shorter, more local residential trips for younger year groups can be a great way to introduce students to the experience of travelling away from home. It can also help address some of the concerns parents may have around distance and cost.

As students progress through the school, trips can gradually become further afield or longer in duration, offering new experiences as their confidence and independence grow.

3. Listen to students and parents

One of the most important things to consider when planning a trips programme is simply listening. Where do your students want to go? What experiences would they love to have? And, importantly, what might be stopping them or their parents from signing up? Understanding these barriers is the first step towards finding ways to overcome them.

One way to do this is by setting up a student panel before launching the trips programme. This gives students the opportunity to share their ideas, suggest destinations and talk about the experiences they’d love to have. We know of schools that already do this, using student feedback to help shape their trips programme and ensure the opportunities on offer reflect what students are genuinely interested in.

Cost will naturally be a consideration for many families, and whilst not every barrier can be removed, exploring different destinations, durations and price points can help make trips more accessible.

The KAT Team finds that staying organised and encouraging honest feedback from both students and parents can make a real difference to participation. By involving students early in the planning process, schools can help build excitement and give them a greater sense of ownership over the opportunities available.

4. Make the most of funded places

The cost of a school trip can be a significant barrier for some families, which is why funded places can make such a valuable difference.

Rayburn Tours offers eight funded places to help give students the opportunity to experience educational travel who may otherwise be unable to afford it.

This is another way to support schools in making their trips programmes more inclusive and ensuring more students can benefit from the opportunities that educational visits provide.