Lesson planner · classroom toolsSchool Trip Risk Assessment Template
A ready-made risk assessment for a day trip, with the usual hazards already filled in: travel, roads, a lost pupil, crowds, medical needs and weather. Edit it for your venue, then hand it to your EVC.
Starting points – Check every row against your school's policy and the venue's own risk assessment, and add what is specific to your group.
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This supports, but does not replace, your school's or employer's policy. The visit leader, EVC or head teacher must check and approve it.
Planning a school trip: the checklist
Before
- Ask your EVC early and check the visit fits the policy
- Book the venue and transport through the school office
- Ask the venue for its risk assessment (most have one on their schools page)
- Pre-visit, or read the teacher pack and map
- Agree adults and the ratio; choose a deputy leader
- Send the letter home (and a consent form if needed)
- Check healthcare plans and SEND needs; plan medicines
- Write this risk assessment and hand it in for approval
- Leave lists, itinerary and contacts with the office
On the day
- Head count leaving, on and off the coach, at every move
- Carry the first aid kit, medicines, register and school phone
- Brief pupils: buddy, meeting point, what to do if lost
- Brief adults on their group and the plan for the day
- Adjust the plan if things change (weather, crowds, closures)
Afterwards
- Head count before pupils go home
- Record accidents and near misses
- Tell the EVC what to change
- Update this assessment for next year
Ratios: how many adults do you need?
There's no single legal ratio for school trips. Your school's policy and your risk assessment decide, based on the age and needs of the pupils, the venue, the activity and how experienced the adults are. Many schools set their own starting points by age group, and OEAP National Guidance encourages deciding ratios through planning rather than fixed numbers. Always plan for an adult to be able to leave with an ill or injured pupil while the rest of the group stays safely supervised. Early years settings must also follow the EYFS rules on ratios and assess the risks of each outing.
What to send home
- A letter with the date, times, venue, cost or voluntary contribution, kit list, lunch arrangements and how to contact school on the day.
- A consent form, if the visit needs one. DfE advice is that written consent isn't usually needed for trips in school hours that are part of the curriculum (except for nursery-age children), but parents should be told. Schools usually ask for written consent for residentials, adventurous activities and trips outside school hours. Use the trip letter and consent form template.
- A request to update medical information with the office, not on the letter.
If a pupil goes missing
- Keep everyone else together with an adult and do a head count.
- Search the immediate area and tell venue staff (most have a lost child procedure).
- Phone the school's emergency contact. Call the police if the pupil isn't found quickly.
- Record what happened and when.
What to hand your EVC or head for sign-off
- This risk assessment (printed, PDF or Word).
- The itinerary with times, the venue's address and the transport booking.
- Staff and adult list with the ratio, and who is the visit leader and deputy.
- A copy of the letter home (and consent form, if this visit needs one).
- How medical needs are covered: the number of pupils with healthcare plans and who carries the medicines (no names on the form itself).
- The venue's or provider's own risk assessment, and its licence if the activity needs one.
Keep pupils' details out of it
Write "Pupil A" or initials, and say where the confidential plan is kept ("held by the visit leader"). Names, medical details and contact numbers belong in the school's own system, not in a risk assessment that gets printed, emailed and left on a coach seat. Everything you type here stays in this browser.
Sources and further reading
- HSE: School trips and outdoor learning activities – tackling the health and safety myths
- HSE: school trips
- DfE: Health and safety on educational visits
- OEAP National Guidance (oeapng.info)
We link to these so you can read the original guidance; we haven't copied it. Check for updates, and follow your school's or local authority's own policy where it says more.
Questions teachers ask
What should a school trip risk assessment include?
The visit details, the significant hazards (travel, roads, getting lost, crowds, the venue, weather, medical needs), who might be harmed and how, the controls, a risk rating, extra actions, emergency procedures and sign-off from the EVC or head.
Do I need a new risk assessment for every trip?
Not always. DfE advice is that regular, routine visits can be covered by an existing assessment that you review. A new or higher-risk trip needs its own. Check your school's policy.
Do parents have to sign a consent form for a school trip?
Not usually for curriculum trips in school hours (except nursery-age children), though parents must be told. Schools normally ask for written consent for residentials, adventurous activities and trips outside school hours, or use a one-off consent form signed when a child joins.
What is a dynamic risk assessment?
The checks you make on the day as things change, such as rain, a closed exit or a crowded platform, and deciding to adapt, pause or stop. Mention in your plan who makes those calls (usually the visit leader).