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School trips: risk assessments

Understand when you do and don't need to carry out a trip risk assessment, find out what you need to include and see template examples.

Last reviewed on 5 June 2025
School types: All•School phases: All•Ref: 4863
Contents
  1. Not all trips require a specific risk assessment
  2. Decide if a trip involves higher risk
  3. Write your risk assessment 
  4. See examples and templates

Not all trips require a specific risk assessment

The DfE's guidance on health and safety on educational visits explains that you only need to carry out a specific risk assessment for trips that pose a higher level of risk.

Routine visits that carry no more than an everyday level of risk should be covered by your current policies and procedures. They only need a little extra planning and should be considered as a 'lesson in a different classroom'.

Sometimes you might only need to review plans and arrangements that were successful for previous trips.

Decide if a trip involves higher risk

The higher risk level could be related to things such as:

  • Distance from school
  • Type of activity
  • Location
  • Need for staff with specialist skills

Lower-risk trips are those that only include everyday risks (for example, slips and trips).

Examples of higher-risk trips include:

The Outdoor Education

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