Holidays and School Trips in the UK

Where there is a proposal for a child in care to go on holiday in the UK, the child's social worker must obtain full information about the holiday and seek the views of the child and parent as soon as possible.

If the parents' consent is required, their consent must be obtained in writing.

Where the social worker, parent and staff/carer agree to the proposed holiday, the holiday can be approved and should be included in the child's Placement Plan.

For children in a long-term placement, if there is agreement with the Children's Services that the carers have Delegated Authority, depending on the nature of the delegation, the carers may be able to make such decisions themselves. However, good practice should ensure that decisions by the carers are shared in a timely way with the Supporting Foster Care Social Worker and/or the child's allocated practitioner.

Where the social worker considers that the holiday should go ahead despite the parents' opposition and legal advice supports this, the approval of the social worker's manager to the holiday should be sought. The request for such approval should include the legal advice given.

Written confirmation of the manager's decision, together with the reasons, should be provided to the parent.

Where the holiday will involve additional costs, the social worker should obtain approval for the costs from the relevant manager before the holiday can be agreed.

If approved, the holiday should be included in the child's Placement Plan.

Where the holiday will interrupt contact arrangements between the child and parents, consideration should also be given to arranging additional contacts before and after the holiday.

In the section, Granting Leaves of Absence in Working Together to Improve School Attendance, statutory guidance, it states that generally, the Department for Education does not consider a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation to be an exceptional circumstance.

The School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024, regulation 11 Leave of Absence sets out the circumstances under which an authorised person may grant a pupil leave of absence. Schools maintained by a local authority and special schools not maintained by a local authority can only grant leave of absence in the circumstances laid out in regulation 11.

In the exceptional circumstance that a holiday has been agreed by the authorised person at a school not maintained by a local authority and which is not a special school, the Social Worker's Manager must also give their approval. 

See Types of School (GOV.UK).

The social worker should ensure the school has conducted risk assessments.

The child's participation in school/organisational trips should be considered at the time of the placement, and the consultation required before they can be agreed should be included in the Placement Plan.

Where a child is placed with the parents, the Placement Plan will usually provide that a school trip of up to 4 days can be agreed by the social worker in consultation with the school and the parent.

Where a child is placed in foster care or residential care, the Placement Plan will usually authorise the staff/carer to agree to the child going on school or other organisational trips of up to 4 days away without prior consultation with the social worker or the parent - see Social Visits (Including Overnight Stays) Procedure. If the staff/carer has not been so authorised, the child's social worker and parents must be consulted before agreement can be given.

Where parental consent is not given, the social worker should consult their team manager and obtain legal advice as necessary. Where the team manager agrees to the child going on the trip despite parental opposition, the reasons must be recorded and explained to the parent.

Where the child expresses a wish to go on a school or organisational trip lasting more than 4 days, the following procedure should be followed.

To obtain approval for the trip, the social worker must first obtain full details of the arrangements for the trip, including how many staff will be present, and whether all the adults on the trip, including volunteers, have had the necessary checks.

Social workers should ensure the appropriate procedure has been followed for risk assessments.

The child's social worker must seek the views of the parent, staff/carer and school as soon as possible and decide whether it is appropriate to recommend that the child be allowed to go.

If the social worker considers that it would be appropriate for the child to go on the trip, the social worker must seek the consent of their team manager.

The written request for such approval should explain the purpose and length of the trip; the wishes of the child; the views of the parent; the views of the staff/carer (unless the child is placed at home), the views of the school; arrangements for adult supervision on the trip, whether the adults are well known to the child and vice versa and the likely cost and how it is to be funded. A request for financial support may accompany the request for approval.

Where parental consent is not given, the social worker should obtain legal advice, and the request to the social worker's team manager should refer to the legal advice given. Where the team manager agrees to the child going on the trip despite parental opposition, the reasons must be recorded, and a written explanation should be provided to the parent.