New national analysis indicates North–South differences in school residential visits in England
The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (CLOtC) has today published a novel report revealing regional differences in provision of school residential visits — and changes in provision since before pandemic and financial crisis.
The study, Different Journeys: Regional variations in English school residential visits and changes over time, is a quantitative analysis drawing on data from EVOLVE, a widely used educational visit planning and approval system. With more than 25,000 education settings using the platform, the findings offer the first published picture to date of how residential opportunities vary across England.
Decline in opportunities after the pandemic and financial crisis
Across multiple types of residential visits – including adventurous, non-adventurous, domestic, and overseas – the analysis revealed North–South differences. The findings suggest that children and young people attending schools in the North of England are less likely to take part in and benefit from residential visits than those attending schools in the South, particularly for domestic adventurous and for overseas visits.
The pattern closely mirrors levels of Free School Meal eligibility, indicating there may be a link between deprivation and opportunity to take part in residential visits.
Residential opportunities have not recovered since the pandemic
Residential visits have rebounded since the Covid shutdown, however, the data shows that provision has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
The steepest declines are seen for non-adventurous residentials – often subject-based and aligned with curriculum delivery – where visit numbers, participation, and average length have all fallen sharply across England.
Adventurous residentials have proved more resilient. This may reflect the value of this type of residential in supporting student personal development and wellbeing post-pandemic.
Cost pressures reshaping the landscape
The findings indicate the impact of pressures on schools and families, including rising transport costs, reduced budgets, and increased anxiety. The findings also suggest a possible shift to students taking part on fewer, slightly shorter visits, which could reflect an imperative to manage costs.
Residentials remain a powerful force for learning
Residential experiences are widely recognised for improving students’ confidence, engagement, relationships, resilience and wellbeing, as well as supporting curriculum learning. Yet the report highlights the indication of changes and possible inequalities in which children and young people can benefit from these experiences.
Dr Anne Hunt, CEO of CLOtC, said:
“This analysis was commissioned to help us validate what teachers, advisers, and learning outside the classroom (LOtC) providers have been telling us — as their feedback was that the scale and scope of learning beyond the classroom is changing in response to financial and other pressures, and that there are regional differences in opportunity depending on where you live. The finding that there are differences in residential provision over time and across regions in England is important insight if we are to remove barriers to opportunity and deliver an entitlement for enrichment. In particular, the apparent similarity between the gradients seen for residential provision and eligibility for Free School Meals as you move from the North to the South of England is striking.’’
She added:
“The next step is to understand the factors and drivers that sit behind these differences, so we can ensure all children and young people have equal opportunity to benefit from the educational experiences that schools plan to support their students’ personal development, curricular learning, and enrichment.”
A call for collective action
The report calls for further collaboration to better understand the implications of these findings, and in particular to understand:
- which groups of young people are missing out and why
- the barriers their schools and families are facing, and how to overcome them
- a more nuanced and complete understanding of the differences in LOtC provision across all schools, all home nations, and for all types of LOtC.
A replicable baseline for future monitoring
As a pilot study, Different Journeys establishes a replicable approach for future annual reporting.
CLOtC hopes the findings will stimulate additional collaborations and a renewed focus on ensuring that every child has the chance to benefit from high-quality learning beyond the classroom.
We are grateful to eduFOCUS for their support in enabling this important study.
