Educational visits to new EU member states — border controls
TeacherNet's guidance on health and safety of pupils on educational visits already covers non-EU pupils in British school groups going to EU countries. However, some consulates or border staff of new EU member states may be uncertain of relevant EU rules or guidelines. A school's risk assessment will need to take account of early learning curves in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Cyprus, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic (the new accession states).
Health and Safety of Pupils on Educational Visits (HASPEV, DfES 1998) states:
- the group leader should ensure that all members of the group have valid passports and visas (if appropriate) in the early stages of planning the trip. A group passport may suffice in certain circumstances;
- pupils who are not nationals of any EU member state may need a visa to travel from the UK to another member state. However, they may receive visa exemption if they are members of a school group. Pupils other than EU nationals may require a separate passport and may need to use separate passport control channels from the rest of the group. (Paragraphs 214 & 217-218).
Standards for LEAs in Overseeing Educational Visits (HASPEV supplement DfES 2002) states:
- collective passports can be held for an approved group of usually five to fifty British nationals under 18 years of age travelling abroad in the charge of a responsible leader. The leader and deputy leader must be over 21 years old and hold a standard UK passport [...]. Pupils who are not British nationals cannot be named on the collective passport;
- details of visa exemption, which is available only for members of a school group taking part in an educational visit, and not for other youth groups, can be obtained from the British Council on 0161 957 7755.
As regards the new accession states, educational visits co-ordinators in schools, or outdoor education advisers in LAs, could ask the consulate to confirm that appropriate arrangements are in place — and to obtain assurances in writing before leaving the UK.
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