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Original poster

The cost of school trips in independent schools

153 replies

UkraineQueen · 14/05/2019 10:10

I have just moved DS to an independent school, due to problems he was having at his old state secondary.

One of the things I am genuinely shocked at is how much cheaper the school trips are in the independent school. For example, a 3-day trip to Germany at his old school was going to cost £800. The trip to Paris at the new independent school will be £600 for 6 days. Both trips involved flights and a stay at 2 star hotel accommodation.

I am wondering now why school trips in state schools are so expensive, or is it just that our experiences aren't typical of the norm?

OP posts:
Riverviews · 14/05/2019 16:49

My DS has always been at independent schools and I think the prices of school trips are very reasonable compared with the prices at state schools. I have always assumed they get good deals from the organisers because the school offers several trips per year and they are always fully booked. The organisers know the school is a regular reliable client.

MariaNovella · 14/05/2019 16:52

Different organizers.

Bobbybobbins · 14/05/2019 17:46

At my state comp we take all of a year group on a camping trip, though they sleep in twin rooms in a bunkhouse style accommodation. £75 for 3 days!

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EggAndButter · 15/05/2019 09:12

Yep same experience here.
I’m also finding the trips themselves are different.
So trip of one week in Paris organised by the MFL department at state school is a couple of days visiting the Eiffel Tower and taking the boat on the Seine. The rest is Disneyland Paris and shopping.

Trip for one week with the private school is the Eiffel Tower but also museums, Versailles etc etc. Restaurants were planned ahead for the evenings meals as well as activities in the evening.

It says a lot about what is expected form the trip in the two schools.
The cultural side was only given lip strive in the state school trip for example...

MariaNovella · 15/05/2019 09:24

The cultural side was only given lip service in the state school trip for example...

Sad
IncrediblySadToo · 15/05/2019 09:27

God, there’s always one who has to me-rail a thread 🙄

OP. You’re not comparing apples with apples and it’s not a state v private thing. No matter how long the stay is the transport costs are the same so shorter stays are always less value for money. Some organisers are better at negotiating. Some trips will have coaches others will have flights, accommodation standards will vary etc.

Mississippilessly · 15/05/2019 09:32

Eggandbutter I would suggest that that is purely down to the teachers and or the companies they have chosen.
I've organised and also gone along for many many school trips in private and state and I havent ever noticed that the itineraries are that way inclined.

MariaNovella · 15/05/2019 09:32

it’s not a state v private thing

Yes it is. PE firms have bought up providers of residentials and school trips to state schools and are milking the unsuspecting market for all it is worth.

BertrandRussell · 15/05/2019 09:36

“The cultural side was only given lip strive in the state school trip for example...”
Well-what do you expect? No point casting pearls before swine......

Mississippilessly · 15/05/2019 09:39

Private schools use trip organisers all the time though?

MariaNovella · 15/05/2019 09:42

Some private schools arrange their own trips but when they use external providers these are not the PE owned horrors that state schools use.

EggAndButter · 15/05/2019 09:43

What do I expect?
Well for a trip organised by the Modern and Foreign LANGUAGE department, an opportunity to use the language and to learn about the culture associated with that language .

Shopping (for things you can find in the U.K.) and Disneyland (who is a fully American entreprise and American ethos) is NOT learning about the French culture in any shape or form.

FWIW neither of my dcs went to the trip in Paris BECAUSE it was about shopping and Disneyland rather than Paris....

As for the the firms they are using... if one school, regardless if they are private or state, is using a firm that allows them to XXX and ££, why can’t the other school use it too?? Confused As far as I know, there is no exclusivity going on there.

HoldMeCloserTonyDanza · 15/05/2019 09:43

Was your upbringing very deprived Pinky?

Anyone who went on school trips themselves know that you neither need nor want room service and pools depend on the type of trip it is - you don’t have time on “educational European city” trips and you’ll probably go to a lake or water park if it’s an outdoor activities type trip.

Most teenagers would be baffled if you were to forbid them going because you didn’t think it was fancy enough for them.

MariaNovella · 15/05/2019 09:49

EggAndButter - the state school trip providers offer a more complete and less tailor made experience than the private school trip providers. Private schools have more resources internally to tailor make trips to fit their curriculum and they have more demanding parents... different markets...

EggAndButter · 15/05/2019 09:57

I think the issue is more than no one who went at the Paris trip in the state school would have been happy to spend half a day in a museum. This would have been uncool and boring.
It’s an issue with let’s say, centre of interest.... that was vastly different rather than access to the sort of providers etc...

I think it shows up with the skiing trip. Same aim for both schools. Similar organisation (so no particular involvement of the private school there) etc...
The two trips were at similar price. The one at private school was a bit more expensive as the place they went too was a bit more ‘upmarket’ and could ensure snow in more or less any case (less so for the state school who still managed to find a 4 star hotel at the bottom of the slopes....)

Re school involvement - yes it shows on a different type of trips. The ones where they end up all camping for a week. The teachers are cooking/driving the mini bus/looking after the kids. These are VERY cheap (£250 for a week in France, all incl). And clearly not something state schools can provide

BertrandRussell · 15/05/2019 10:01

“I think the issue is more than no one who went at the Paris trip in the state school would have been happy to spend half a day in a museum. This would have been uncool and boring”

Oh don’t talk bollocks.

AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 15/05/2019 10:07

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MariaNovella · 15/05/2019 10:11

EggAndButter - the providers spécialisé according to market segment and what they can get away with...

Pinkyyy · 15/05/2019 10:27

@HoldMeCloserTonyDanza no my upbringing was a good one, u wouldn't say overly affluent but definitely able to go to nice places.

@AvocadosBeforeMortgages I find that extremely offensive for a number of reasons. Have you ever been inside a caravan belonging to a gypsy? How dare you suggest that we should be used to squalor because we live in caravans. As it happens I live in a house.

Pinkyyy · 15/05/2019 10:28

I wouldn't* not u

SmellMySmellbow · 15/05/2019 10:37

Still though, I'm happy in 4/5 stars and so are my children. They will never stay in a hostel though.
Oh dear. That's all the outward bounds experiences out then. Those are some of my best school trip memories! What about a tent? I did Guides and DofE through school and we had many a camping trip to do orienteering, mountain climbing, potholing etc. Can't wait for DS to get a go on these. I love me a 5* hotel but now I have DS it's pitching a tent all the way... he adores it. Much more of an adventure!

Pinkyyy · 15/05/2019 10:47

@SmellMySmellbow we've never really been into camping to be honest, my DC hate the idea of it. But again, that's not something I've thought about. Perhaps they will want to go one day though, will have to see what the future brings.

The prices of these school trips are quite shocking though. A local school recently sent out a letter asking for over £1000 for a trip to New York and apparently were sending letters about how disappointed they were about having to cancel it when they didn't get enough interest.

RomanyQueen1 · 15/05/2019 10:53

I'm not sure Pinkyyys kids will miss out on the equivalent of DofE. They could probably teach us a thing or two.
We are all different and just because we live with different values in a different culture doesn't mean our dc will miss out.
mine is doing DofE and loving it.

There was no way any of them were going on outward bound activities in primary, though.

I think even the prices in State are prohibitive for those on a low income, and not all schools subsidise for low income families. Mine weren't the only one's that didn't go there were a few that couldn't afford it, mine didn't go because they either didn't want to or we didn't agree.

SmellMySmellbow · 15/05/2019 11:12

@RomanyQueen1 There was no way any of them were going on outward bound activities in primary, though.
Why not? They're not keen out outdoorsy stuff or you wouldn't let them?

RomanyQueen1 · 15/05/2019 12:41

Both, although my dd is doing lots now, she's 15, and loves Scouts and DofE.
I think primary are too young and these outward bound places always see someone injured or in a few cases dead.
I don't think teachers are trained to look after children outside the classroom, I've worked with kids outside school and it's completely different to teaching.