A post-Brexit scheme to reduce bureaucracy for French children on school trips to the UK is in danger of being canceled due to new entry requirements being implemented by the UK, according to warnings from the travel industry.
The new regulations for French school trips were put in place in December 2023 after a meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and then UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak resulted in an agreement to address a significant decline in visits following Brexit.
The change allowed French children to travel to the UK using national identity cards, as well as their non-EU classmates, without the need for a visa. This was aimed at cutting costs for schools that were struggling with the bureaucratic process of obtaining visas and passports for short trips to the UK.
However, the scheme is now at risk due to the UK’s new Electronic Travel Authorization scheme (ETA), which will come into effect on April 2, 2025. This policy will require all EU visitors to register before traveling to the UK, a process that necessitates children to have a passport and is therefore not compatible with the French school trips scheme.
The EU is also introducing a similar scheme, the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), for UK travelers entering Europe from mid-2025.
Valérie Boned, president of Les Entreprises du Voyage, the main trade body for travel agencies in France, wrote to UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on October 8 to inquire about the future of the program for French school groups.
The group has not received a response from the Home Office as of late last week and is urgently seeking clarity as trips for spring 2025 are currently being booked.
Home Office officials stated that the implications of the ETA policy for the French schools travel rules are “under review” but did not provide further details.
French government officials have expressed concern to London over how the ETA program will impact the school trips scheme, which has made significant progress in strengthening Anglo-French connections.
They are working closely with their British counterparts to ensure the scheme remains fully operational.
The potential cancellation of the scheme comes as the UK and the EU seek to “reset” their relationship following the Labour party’s election victory in July. However, both sides are already in disagreement over a proposed “youth mobility scheme” that would facilitate young people living and working abroad.
Sir Keir Starmer has consistently opposed such a scheme despite pressure from pro-EU groups within the Labour party advocating for an agreement. Some ministers believe that potential agreements may become clearer next year.
Ministers in the previous Conservative government suggested that the French school trips scheme, if successful, could be expanded to other EU member states.
According to data from Les Entreprises du Voyage, the group travel scheme led to a 30% increase in school trips to the UK, although they are still 60% below 2019 levels when the scheme was first introduced in December.
Edward Hisbergues, director of PG Trips, a prominent school trips travel company, emphasized the importance of preserving the scheme to prevent a further decline in school trips to the UK.
A survey conducted by PG Trips of over 300 French teachers found that more than three-quarters of teachers said that removing the new scheme would make it less likely for them to bring groups to the UK.
Isabelle Regiani, a teacher at a middle school, said: ‘Colleagues from the north of France who used to cross the Channel for a day with their pupils won’t do it any more © Régis Suhner/FT
Isabelle Regiani, a teacher at Jean Jaurès middle school in Sarreguemines, stated that requiring supervised groups of 15-year-old teenagers to go through the ETA process for a short trip to England was “complete nonsense.”
“Colleagues from the north of France who used to cross the Channel for a day with their pupils won’t do it any more because of the tremendous paperwork. We dearly hope the British government will reconsider the situation,” she added.