Updated Guidance for Overseas School Trips

Planning an international educational visit has become increasingly complex, involving intricate logistics, shifting customs regulations, and heightened safety protocols. To support schools in this endeavor, the Outdoor Education Advisers’ Panel (OEAP) has released updated guidance titled "7.1r Overseas Visits."

This document serves as an essential framework for Educational Visit Coordinators (EVCs) and trip leaders, ensuring that the immense benefits of global travel—such as cultural immersion and personal development—are balanced with rigorous risk management.

Strategic Planning: Choosing the Right Destination

The OEAP emphasizes that the choice of country should not be arbitrary. Instead, schools should evaluate potential destinations based on:

• Aims and Benefits: Does the location directly support the learning objectives?;

• Group Needs: Is the destination suitable for the specific aspirations and physical/emotional needs of the students?;

• Impact: What is the environmental and cultural footprint of the travel and stay?;

• Risk Assessment: A thorough evaluation of health, security, and potential natural disasters, utilizing the UK Government’s foreign travel advice as a primary resource; and

• Cost: Ensuring the trip remains financially viable for the school and families.

Leader Competence and Professional Support

Leading a group abroad requires a higher level of "complexity management" than domestic trips. The guidance stresses the need for staff competence in local culture and communication.

To meet these high standards, many schools turn to external experts like Handsam. Handsam provides specialized EVC Training and a suite of school trip planning resources designed to simplify the administrative burden while ensuring full compliance. By utilizing Handsam’s planning tools, leaders can ensure that every risk assessment—from transport to specialist activities—is robust and defensible.

Briefing Parents

Transparent communication with parents is deemed "good practice" to manage expectations and ensure student safety. The OEAP recommends a detailed pre-visit briefing that covers:

• Behavioural Expectations: Clear rules on curfews, downtime, and substances, including "repatriation" protocols (sending a student home at parental expense);

• Supervision: An explanation of how pupils will be monitored, including any periods of "remote supervision.";

• Disclosures: Ensuring parents provide full details on a child’s physical and mental wellbeing, as well as current medications; and

• Tech Policies: Establishing rules for mobile phone use and social media activity.

Logistics: Passports, Visas, and the EES

The updated guidance also provides a technical deep dive into the modern requirements of European travel, specifically:

• The Electronic Entry/Exit System (EES): Navigating the new automated registration for non-EU nationals; and

• Customs and Visas: Understanding the specific entry requirements and customs restrictions that have evolved post-Brexit.

How Handsam Supports Your Journey

Navigating these technicalities can be daunting for a busy EVC. Handsam’s school trip planning resources provide templates and checklists that specifically address these logistical hurdles, allowing staff to focus on the educational value of the trip rather than getting bogged down in red tape.

By combining the OEAP’s strategic guidance with Handsam’s practical training and resources, schools can continue to offer life-changing overseas experiences with the confidence that their safety foundations are secure.

Handsam EVC Training & EVC Refresher Training

Handsam offers a course which is suitable for all staff with a function relevant to approving and monitoring school trips and visits, otherwise known as Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC). It will be presented by an accredited member of the OEAP (Outdoor Education Advisors Panel)/AAOLEV, lasts for 6 hours of contact time plus breaks and can accommodate up to 30 people in one session.

It is a formally accredited course which will enable the EVC to evidence training in accordance with DfE requirements (please note that there is no online training which is accredited by OEAP/AAOLEV).

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