Are Schools Taking Trips at the Wrong Time of Year?

23 Jun 2026, 15:59
by Kate Moore

When is the Best Time to Run a School Trip v2

Most teachers choose trips in the summer term. But should they?

When we surveyed teachers about when they would ideally run a school trip, there was a clear preference:

Summer term: 56%
Spring term: 25%
Autumn term: 19%

At first glance, the result isn't surprising. Summer offers better weather, fewer curriculum pressures and usually coincides with activity week.

But elsewhere in the survey, teachers described school trips as far more than an end-of-year reward. They talked about building confidence, broadening horizons and inspiring future choices.

Which raises an interesting question:

If school trips are designed to enrich students, are we choosing the best time for that to happen?

Practical rationale

The reasons teachers gave for choosing summer were overwhelmingly practical. One respondent commented:

"It is part of our activities days so it has to be summer. The weather is usually much better then anyway!"

Another explained:

"This is exam season so there are fewer classes to cover and it is easier for the school."

These are entirely valid considerations. Yet the same teachers also described trips as valuable opportunities to build subject knowledge, confidence and aspiration.

Enrich learning and inspire future choices

Teachers said they value school trips not simply because students learn something new. They value them because they help students become something new.

"It is about broadening their horizons, opening them up to new experiences and raising their expectations and awareness of new possibilities."

They also present an opportunity to inspire continued study.

60% said they would consider using a trip to encourage pupils to continue with a subject beyond Key Stage 3.

This was particularly marked for languages and other non-compulsory subjects.

Research on Voyager's immersive language programmes found that 90% of pupils developed their language skills as a result of the trip.

"We have just completed the GCSE Spanish speaking mocks, and it is evident that the students who went on the trip were more confident in their speaking and pronunciation than those who didn't."

The summer term dilemma

This evidence suggests an interesting contradiction:

If trips are designed to enrich subjects, build independence and inspire future choices, is the end of the academic year the most effective time to travel?

Some teachers definitely think so:

"We do our trip at the start of term to give students the chance to bond with each other."

"At the start of the academic year to help support team building in the class and getting to know your students to improve the learning journey."

Time to buck the trend?

None of this means summer trips are wrong. But it does suggest that schools may sometimes plan trips around operational convenience rather than educational impact.

Perhaps schools should ask a different question: When can a trip have the greatest impact on my students?

The most popular time for a school trip may not always be the most powerful.