As Brexit checks are implemented, UK-France School Trips could be cancelled.

Travel industry warns that a post-Brexit plan to reduce red tape for French schoolchildren coming to Britain on school trips is in danger of being cancelled due to new entry requirements introduced by the UK.

In December 2023, the new rules for French School Trips were introduced following a meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron with then UK Prime Minister Rishi sunak. The summit resulted in a settlement to address a dramatic drop of visits due to Brexit.

This change allows French children and their non EU classmates to travel to Britain without a visa. The change was made to reduce costs for schools who complained about the difficulty of obtaining passports and visas for short-term trips to Britain.

The scheme, however, is in danger from the UK’s new electronic travel authorisation scheme which will come into effect on April 2, 2025. This policy requires all EU visitors to be registered before traveling to the UK. Children must have passports and therefore are not compatible with French school trip scheme.

From mid-2025, the EU will introduce a similar system for UK travelers entering Europe. It is called ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System).

Valerie Boned of Les Entreprises du Voyage (the main trade association for travel agencies in France) wrote UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, on October 8, asking if they would continue the program for French school groups.

The group claimed it hadn’t received a response from the Home Office as of late last week and that it urgently sought clarification because it was already booking trips for spring 2020.

Boned’s letter stated that the sooner the problem is resolved, the smaller the impact on the number school trips in 2025.

Home Office officials declined to give further details but said that they were reviewing the implications of ETA policy on the French school travel rules.

The French government said it had “expressed concerns” to London about how the ETA program would impact on the school trip scheme, which has made “major advances” in strengthening Anglo-French ties.

They added, “We’re in constant contact with our British counterparts to ensure that the system remains fully functional.”

The scheme is under threat as the UK and EU try to “reset their relationship” following Labour’s victory at the July election. Both sides are at odds about a proposed “youth Mobility Scheme” which would make it easier to live and work abroad for young people.

Sir Keir has repeatedly ruled out this scheme despite the pressure from pro EU groups in the Labour Party pushing for a deal. However, some ministers are confident that “landing zone” will be discussed during the next round of negotiations.

The previous Conservative government’s ministers hinted at the possibility of extending the French school trip scheme to other EU members states if it was successful.

Les Entreprises du Voyage reported that the introduction of a group travel scheme led to an increase of 30 percent in school trips in the UK. However, the data showed that the number was still 60 percent below the 2019 levels at the time the scheme began in December.

Edward Hisbergues of PG Trips – a leading travel agency for school trips – said that a deal was needed to maintain the scheme to prevent another drop in school visits to the UK.

PG Trips conducted a survey with over 300 French teachers. More than three quarters said that removing the scheme would reduce the likelihood of them taking groups to the UK.

Isabelle Regiani is a teacher from the Jean Jaures Middle School in Sarreguemines. She said it was “utter nonsense” to require supervised groups 15-year old teenagers to undergo the ETA for a quick trip to England.

The paperwork is too much for colleagues from the north of France, who used to travel across the Channel with their students. They won’t be doing it anymore. “We hope that the British government will reconsider this situation,” she said.