cost of school residential - higher than normal?

[Frazzled2207]

We have just had a letter about the year 6 school residential which is October 2023. Two nights in a location around 2 hours away (travel by coach).
£230 and apparently this is less than the actual cost as partly subsidised by school.
We're very lucky to be able to afford it but am shocked at the cost. Not yet clear what the children will be doing but various outdoor activities most likely.
Wondering if this is normal or higher than average. Am certain that many families just won't be able to afford it. Understand that the cost this year was considerably less.

That's a bargain. My dd went on her year six trip last summer...£390!

This is my first experience of paying for a school residential
my son’s cub camp similar trip is a quarter of the cost hence my jaw dropped just sightly. I am fairly sure they are sleeping in dorms not luxury rooms.

I am reassured that it seems in the right ballpark, thanks everyone. And yes best start saving for the secondary ones
now.

i just can’t see how many families round here will afford these costs. sadly many won’t be able to go.

I actually used to sell school trips for a living. £230 would get you an all inclusive week in Barcelona not that long ago.

That was the cost of the same trip this year. £50 more for 2023.

My dds yr 6 residential is in June, its £395 for 4 nights, and its about 2 1/2 hours away. They do lots of activities and it looks really good so think that justifies the cost. We can pay in monthly instalments and had to pay an £80 deposit. Ds's yr 7 trip last year was £500 for 4 nights, but he didn't want to go so that was a relief!

Ds1 & DS2 go to an international school near us, which is renowned for its trips. However, even though DS1 is Year 9, he has not yet been abroad with them due to Covid.

We have just recieved letters about their respective trips this year:
Year 7 - 5 nights PGL-type holiday in France £690 😳
Year 9 - exchange trip to Spain (5 nights there, 5 nights child staying with us) £550

We have had to pay £150 & £120 deposits this month, on top of the mortgage increasing by £200 PM & rising fuel costs 😭

I am very thankful that DS1 did not opt to do Japanese or Mandarin, as their trips are 6 weeks & I can only begin to imagine the costs!

I think that £230 is pretty good actually (tho obvs will sadly be too much for some families).

My DC went on a yr 6 trip, admittedly 4 nihts IIRC but it cost a lot more than that, about £350 I think and AND this was 8 + yrs ago as DS2 (youngest) is 19 now.

We used to run a yr 7 trip to France also for four nights (one of which was on the coach) and made it as cheap as possible (coach, cheapest ferry, multi-bedded dorm style rooms in a hotel) and it was still about £350 last time I ran it, which was in 2017. So probs would cost more than £500 now.

Oh yes secondary can be expensive, but remember that unlike primary IME at least, you deffo do not have to go. Virtually every child went on the yr 6 trip in my DCs' school, but the French trip I mentioned could only accommodate about 70 so maybe only a third of the year.

DD went to Iceland in sixth form which was ££££. Amazing trip tho which she still talks about (it was 4 years ago) - she knows how lucky she was that we could afford it.

my son’s cub camp similar trip is a quarter of the cost hence my jaw dropped just sightly

But cub camp are run by volunteers, often camping at scout campsites, which are cheap, and usually also run by volunteers, so it really keeps the cost down.
I'm a cub leader, and we've just done a two night camp ( in tents ) which cost £40 per cub.

Last time we did a PGL (just before lockdown), it was £90 per cub. But I have noticed that places like PGL offer a much lower cost per night to cubs/brownies etc than they do to schools.

Also, we rarely use coaches, and keep fairly local (within an hour travel), so we ask parents to drive the cubs there themselves, which helps to keep costs down.

I actually used to sell school trips for a living. £230 would get you an all inclusive week in Barcelona not that long ago. Really? How long ago was that? My son went to Barcelona 10 years ago for 4 nights and I think we paid in the region of £500 back then.

Given the cost, you'd be reasonable not to go.

My son went on his year 6 residential in the summer for 2 nights for £70. They did high ropes, low ropes, kayaking, orienteering, abseiling, circus skills, mud run and had a campfire. It was about an hour away on the coach. Feel very lucky seeing some of the prices on here.

I'm more shocked by how cheap this trip was than the cost of the OPs trip. Accommodation, food, activities, coach hire and all for just £70. How on Earth did the school manage to keep costs so low?

I have no idea how they covered all the costs. I know the school took all the food and cooked it so maybe that kept the cost down. I know the centre charges different prices for different schools as my friends kid went there the week before and it cost an extra £50 for the same trip.

That was the cost for DD's 3 night residential 7 years ago so I would say it fits.

DD is an Explorer and they stay in youth hostels/dorm style outdoor centers in addition to camping and the leader said the costs have doubled since Covid. Last year we paid £645 for a 6 night stay and that was also subsidised by a grant and two prize monies they won.

@budgiegirl
longer ago than 10y Tbf 😂 it was around the time the budget airlines were getting in their stride and the plane tickets at least were super cheap

I think everything now costs more than "normal", or what it used to. 7 years ago I paid £80 for three nights primary school residential. Now that would seem like an absolute bargain.

As pp have said the cost of hiring coaches has gone through the roof. In addition a lot of Local Authorities used to own their own residential places which meant their schools could have be much cheaper accomodation. I'm not sure how many of these still exist, but I do know of several in Wales where the LA no longer funds/ owns them.

I also suspect that the days of the PTA being able to chip in are coming to an end in many schools. PTAs are struggling for volunteers and cash in many schools. The pp who suggested the school apply from funding - can I ask from where? There simply are no pots of money. Schools are struggling to pay for basic essentials like books, glue sticks and colouring pencils. If extra funding was available it would be hard to justify it being used for residentials.

Another issue in many schools will be the sheer number of families who are on FSM. Quite rightly it would be wrong to expect them to pay full for residential trips, and it would be lovely if the pupil premium was high enough to use it for this purpose. But the pupil premium is not a magic money tree. It simply is not enough to pay for all of the things that those children need in school.

It's a shame, but I do think that these trips will fast disappear. The children get so much out of them, and for many it is their only chance of a holiday.

To put the costs into context. It costs £12 - £20 per child per activity in Haven to do things like trampolines, high walks, segway etc. This is clearly on top of the amount paid to actually go on the holiday. Trained and qualified outdoor activity staff all cost money.

Ours was £270 for two nights in a location 30 minutes away, which I thought was astonishingly expensive. The school is in an affluent area with some extremely wealthy families so I think they forget that 'normal' families also go there. We haven't been on holiday as a family since 2019 because we couldn't afford it so £270 was a lot of money for us.

I am Yr6 teacher and have organised the resedential for years. The coach prices are absolutely through the roof and that's what makes up the majority of the cost. We try everything to keep the cost as low as possible. After loads of complaints (some of which are extremely personal, as if I'm profiting from the expense!) we met with parents to suggest no resedential and 3 days of activities at school for a third of the price. Then had more complaints and even a formal complaint made against me. Can't win!
The school will be trying everything to keep the cost down and there is absolutely no funding for anything like this, so if they are able to substadise as well that's a bonus. They should offer a payment plan and fsm children should have a discount (usually have to ask for it though).
It's such a shame that they're so expensive as they're fantastic experiences for the children.

*subsidise!

My son went on his year 6 residential in the summer for 2 nights for £70. They did high ropes, low ropes, kayaking, orienteering, abseiling, circus skills, mud run and had a campfire. It was about an hour away on the coach. Feel very lucky seeing some of the prices on here

That's very cheap indeed - I guess if it was in the summer holidays, it can be cheaper than term time. But often the coach is almost as much as that on it's own, so that's a bargain!

I recall doing a similar thread myself when DD was in year 6, now she's coming towards the end of secondary school she's just been offered an overseas subject-related trip which will be around £600 for three days.

That seems expensive for 2 nights. My daughter's residential in June is £320 for 5 days. Inc food and everything.

I recently paid £300 for my year 8 to have 2 nights away (3 days of activity).

Coach prices have gone up plus fuel cost gone up. Just about everything has gone up so you should not be surprised about residential stay going up too I guess. Difficult if you have to pay before Xmas though.