Group customer FAQs

If you are booking on behalf of a group eg society, school, university you are making a Group booking. If you have agreed exclusive use of a centre and are paying a rate for each night of your stay, rather than for each person, you have made an Exclusive Use Centre Hire booking.

Please make sure you can collect money from your group participants as we will request your holding deposit, interim deposit and final payment for these dates. We will contact you before the interim and final payment dates to confirm your numbers.

Type of payment: Group bookings

Priced per individual as part of a group/collective

– Holding deposit:

From 10% of booking value subject to a minimum of £500 for residential bookings and £150 per class for non-residential bookings. Due within 28 days of invoice date.

– Interim Deposit:

£75 per participant due to 6 months before arrival.

– Final balance:

8 weeks before arrival based on final numbers confirmed 12 weeks before arrival.

If your final numbers increase at any time, please contact us to make sure we have accommodation available.

If your final numbers drop after you have confirmed them but there are still more than 84 days (12 weeks) to go before your trip, please contact us and we can issue a credit note against the final invoice.

With less than 12 weeks to go before your final trip please let us know so that we can update accommodation and fire lists etc. but we cannot issue a refund for the reduction in places.

Please see the payment table for the dates of holding and interim deposits. These deposits are non-refundable if you cancel your trip.

If you want to change your trip dates or centre please contact us. If it’s possible we will transfer your payments but cannot guarantee it, particularly with less than 6 months to go before your trip.

Please make sure that you have travel insurance to cover any issues such as transport as we cannot provide additional dates if you are not able to get to the centre or teaching location.

Occasionally, events outside our control may affect your booking. Sometimes these changes are minor changes to activities e.g. if affected by weather conditions. In these circumstances your trip will go ahead.

If there are more serious factors that we cannot accommodate we may offer alternative dates or centres. If we have to cancel your trip, we will offer a full refund.

Field Studies Council cannot offer school trip insurance. Please make sure that your insurance is sufficient for your group.

Please agree dates and numbers with our team. We will then send you a deposit invoice and booking agreement form to complete and return. We hold these dates for 28 days for you as a provisional booking. When your deposit is paid, your booking is confirmed.

When you book your trip you will receive information on course options. Please let us know what you would like to cover. Your course tutor will be in touch around 4-8 weeks before you arrive to confirm the activities that will be included in your course programme. If you want to let parents know more in advance, or need to sign off risk assessments for individual activities please ask us for example programmes and a list of activities available at the centre.

We will be in touch a few weeks before arrival to ask for this information. We will also ask you confirm the rooming for your group.

We will always try to make our activities inclusive for all young people. Please contact us to discuss the requirements.

We regularly cater for specific dietary requirements, allergies and preferences. Please contact us as soon as possible if you or a parent has specific concerns.

We welcome pre-course visits but do need to arrange a suitable time to make sure somebody is available to show you round.

All Field Studies Council centres, sites for fieldwork and activities led by our staff will be comprehensively risk assessed with the significant findings documented and acted upon. Our tutors will be capable of carrying out ongoing risk assessments at field sites and amending the fieldwork or activities if required due to group, weather or other circumstances.

The risk assessment summaries are generated from the formal risk assessment programme carried out by the senior management at each centre. All our risk assessments are moderated centrally, to ensure continuity and consistency in approach.

We no longer make copies of our risk assessments available to visiting groups, in line with the updated advice from the Outdoor Education Advisers Panel.

All our centres have been awarded the Quality Badge by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom for school groups. Each centre achieved the badge by demonstrating that they consistently deliver high quality teaching and learning experiences to school groups and manage risk effectively. This means that you do not have to assess them and therefore have to complete less paperwork for your local authority.

Information on this page is usually all that educational visit co-ordinators require for checks but customers are welcome to arrange a pre-visit to the centre when a member of staff will be pleased to show you the centre facilities, discuss field sites and any concerns.