Centre Hire FAQs

We have 11 residential centres, some of which have additional properties on-site/nearby available for exclusive hire too. Our centres generally consist of main houses with hostel-style dorms sleeping 2-12 people. There will be one large kitchen for everyone’s use and several communal areas which you will have access to. And of course, they are all in beautiful, rural locations with lovely grounds to explore. Please visit Venue Hire – our residential centres.

We have centres in various locations across the UK.  If you’d like to find out which of our residential centres is closest to your location, you can use our handy distance calculator or see our location map here.

The exclusive hire fee for our centres varies according to location, time of year and whether you are hiring on a catered or self-catered basis. Prices range from £1587 per night (off peak) to £3018 per night (peak) for self-catering use (2025 rates), based on 4pm arrival/10am departure. Additional charges apply for catered stays and early arrival/late departure, please enquire for more information.

A minimum 2-night stay applies. (Christmas & New Year is a minimum 3–5-night stay, depending on centre location).

All types of groups are welcome; however, we do not accept stag or hen parties. Please note that under the terms of their lease, our Somerset centre, Nettlecombe Court, is only able to accommodate bookings that are education based.

You will usually have privacy and sole use of all areas and facilities during your stay unless otherwise stated. Some of our centres have additional properties on-site/nearby available for separate hire whose guests may have shared use of communal outdoor spaces. The offices may be in use by our staff and are not available for your use. Also, some of our centres have staff living on-site, whilst their presence will not interfere with your stay, we would ask you to be considerate and respect their privacy.

Changeover days are flexible, but exclusive centre hire is normally only available outside of school term time. Please contact us to check up-to-date availability.

Standard check-in time is 4pm. Please note that our staff will meet you at the agreed arrival time, so please contact the centre should you be delayed. Access and handover of buildings will only be possible once the lead organiser has checked in and been given a Welcome Tour. On departure day, bedrooms must be vacated by 9.30am and the centre by no later than 10am. At check-out, our staff will meet with the lead organiser to walk around the centre to agree any changes in condition of buildings or site (this may take up to 60 minutes). For an additional fee, it may be possible to accommodate an early arrival/late departure, please ask at time of booking as this cannot always be guaranteed if requested closer to your visit date.  If the centre is not vacated by the agreed time, you may be charged a late departure fee.

See our late availability which is regularly updated with current offers.  We also offer reduced rates for stays between November – February, please ask for more details.

Not for exclusive hire bookings as the hire price does not reflect the numbers of guests and is a set price regardless of numbers.

At some centres you can enhance your visit by taking part in an organised activity, these are designed to be enjoyed by all ages! View available activities here.  They provide opportunities to work together as a team, improve confidence, develop interpersonal and social skills and build friendships. Charges apply.

All our centres hold a licence to play music, media & radio. If you have live music and/or are selling alcohol you may need your own Temporary Event Notice (TEN) and you will need to comply with our site restrictions, including the level and timing of noise. Singing and acoustic chamber music should be fine. Please contact us to confirm this in advance.

We understand the need for some of our customers to request adjustments to sensor lighting whilst staying at our centres. We would like to work with you to agree this where possible, and the charges it may incur. Please contact us for more information.

Please visit the Venue Hire – our residential centres page on our website where you can find individual brochures for each of our centres.

Generally only assistance dogs are allowed, but please check directly with the centre you wish to visit as some may allow this by special arrangement and may incur a fee to cover additional cleaning.

All of our centres are different and have unique characteristics, please check the specific details in the individual brochure for the centre you wish to visit for mobility/access provision.

Camping is only permitted when hiring our main centres exclusively at our Castle Head (motor homes only), Preston Montford, Start Bay and Millport sites and is charged accordingly. Advance agreement and booking are essential. Please ask the centre for more information.

Yes, we very much encourage a site visit so you can see the centre and its facilities first hand. Visits are typically offered Mon-Fri during office hours, and we politely request no more than 3 group leaders attend.  We advise you to prepare a list of questions beforehand to ensure these are answered during your site visit.

Yes, all except for Flatford Mill in Suffolk, where only a catered stay is available. All our centres have large commercial kitchens, with everything needed for a self-catering stay including cookware, utensils, tools, appliances and crockery. For a more detailed inventory, please contact the centre you wish to visit directly. We do not use nuts in any food prepared on-site in our centres. Our suppliers provide nut-free products, and our catering environments have risk-assessed procedures to minimize cross-contamination risk. While we cannot guarantee freedom from nut traces, we request that you do not bring nut products into our catering environments.

Not all our centres have gas stoves and eventually for those that currently do, these will be replaced with induction hobs. For customers used to cooking with gas, we want to reassure you that induction hobs and Rational combi ovens are fantastic alternatives, and we’ll provide guidance to ensure a smooth transition. While induction hobs are fast, efficient, and easy to control, they require magnetic (ferrous) cookware, which we can provide.

If you’d prefer to use your own pots, we can arrange to provide (at prior request) induction adapter plates that enable non-induction-compatible pans to work with the system, although they may be slightly less responsive. Please note that induction hobs aren’t ideal for oversized pots, so for larger volumes, we recommend using the Rational combi oven. Cooking is restricted to designated kitchen areas unless specifically authorised in writing by the Field Studies Council.

Our Rational steam roast combi ovens are perfect for large-scale cooking, capable of handling up to 200 portions of curry and rice daily, for example. You can cook rice faster using the steam function than boiling it on a stove, and the deep gastronome trays allow for roasting vegetables and meat before adding curry sauce and simmering away.

We’re confident that with a little guidance, you’ll find the transition to induction and Rational equipment easy and efficient for your cooking needs.

This is certainly something we can offer. Our catering teams have a wealth of experience in catering, and we can ensure your dining experience is not only delicious but also meets your dietary and religious requirements. When choosing a catered stay, our standard catering package will apply, e.g. breakfast, packed lunch and 2-course evening meal – see our sample meals. Alternative catering options are available at a supplement – please see our catering options and prices. Catering charges are subject to a minimum quantity (50% of centre bed number) even if your group size is smaller. Under 2yrs – eat free, 2-12yrs – 50% of adult price. Catering requirements must be agreed by the centre in advance and final numbers must be confirmed by no later than 12 weeks before arrival.

For new enquiries and to check up-to-date availability, please contact us by completing our online enquiry form here, or email [email protected] or call us on 01743 852100. We will then send you a quote with availability and pricing information.

When we have confirmed suitable dates and venue with you, we will send a Booking Agreement Acceptance Form for completion together with an invoice for the deposit which should be paid within 28 days. We will also send a copy of our Exclusive Use Booking Conditions providing information about the expectations at our Centres. Please make sure that you and your participants are familiar with these to avoid issues when staying with us.

The Group Agency Agreement (GAA) puts in writing how your group booking is administered and guest data collected where applicable. This only needs to be signed once for all your bookings should you make a group booking in the future. The intention behind the GAA is to lay out the responsibilities of both the Field Studies Council and the group leader and to make clear that this booking will be managed via Field Studies Council and the group leader as opposed to individual attendees. This is also to ensure that parents/guardians of under 18s and other participants are aware that they accept our Terms & Conditions when they pay your organisation for the trip. The ‘agent’ promotes the visit and disseminates information about it.  It is up to you and your group as to how the visit is organised and promoted. The Field Studies Council Terms & Conditions are still effective upon confirmation of your booking even if you choose not to sign the GAA.

£500 or 10% of the total booking fee (whichever is higher). Invoiced at time of booking, payment due within 28 days. For bookings with an arrival date of 8 weeks or less, the full booking fee is payable at time of booking. For bookings >20K in value, the initial deposit is 15% of the total booking fee with payment of an interim deposit of 50% of the remaining booking fee due 6 months before arrival.

The total booking cost minus any deposits paid is required 8 weeks before arrival (or at time of booking if arrival is 8 weeks or less). A refundable damage/security deposit (from £1000) is also included in the final invoice.

When booking exclusive use of a centre we require a refundable damage/security deposit (from £1000.00) as per our booking Terms & Conditions. This is required 8 weeks before arrival (or at time of booking if arrival is 8 weeks or less) and is added to the final invoice. A deduction may be taken from your security deposit if the property is not left as found.  In the event that no loss, damage or unreasonable cleaning needs has deemed to have taken place, we aim to refund your security deposit within 28 days after your departure from the accommodation.

Yes, it is useful for us to have an outline of your planned itinerary at the time of booking or soon after booking so we can ensure your requirements can be met.  It is important that you keep us updated with any changes to your itinerary along your booking journey as we cannot guarantee that we can meet any last-minute requests without sufficient notice.

The exclusive hire fee is charged at a flat rate per night, regardless of numbers and there is no reduction if all available bed spaces are not filled. We can accommodate late number changes (for catering purposes) up to 8 weeks before arrival for the per person elements of the booking but at 8 weeks, the full fee (as per the numbers we have at that point) will be due. Any increase in catering numbers beyond this date will be invoiced for separately.

Your booking deposit is non-refundable and non-transferrable. Please refer to our Terms & Conditions for information about cancellations. If you need to cancel your booking within 8 weeks of arrival (at which time the final invoice will be due) then you will be responsible for full payment, the reservation deposit will also be forfeited.  If you cancel more than 8 weeks before arrival (and before the final invoice is due) then only the reservation deposit will be forfeited. We strongly recommend that you take out your own travel insurance at the time of booking.

We charge VAT based on the service we are providing, e.g. accommodation.  As your booking is for accommodation, we must charge VAT according to HMRC – any invoice we issue will be to your accounts department who may be able to claim the VAT back.  If there is a known exemption under the current tax regulations, please let us know which exemption this falls under and provide us with any supporting evidence, and we will happily look into this for you.

The Field Studies Council provides Public Liability Insurance for £20 million and Employers Liability cover for £5 million. Details can be found in our Customer Information document under Supporting Group Leaders here.

The centre you are visiting will send you arrival information ahead of your visit which will contain details on what you need to bring.

Upon arrival at the centre, please report to the reception area.  Entry to the centre is at 4pm on the day of arrival unless otherwise agreed in advance – please note that centre staff will meet you at the agreed arrival time, so please contact the centre should you be delayed. You will be given door codes at check-in for the buildings that you have hired. Access and handover of buildings will only be possible once the lead organiser has checked in and been given a Welcome Tour. This tour will take approximately 30 minutes. During this tour we recommend you take photos of the room layouts, so you can easily reset rooms before departure.

Towels are not provided – please kindly bring your own. We supply all linen but we do not provide a bed-making service for exclusive centre hire. Guests are required to strip their beds upon departure to assist our hospitality teams. We ask that you provide a list of names or number of people in each bedroom a week prior to arrival so that we can provide the correct amount of bed linen.  The correct number of duvet covers, fitted sheets and pillowcases will be left in a convenient location as advised during your welcome tour, ready for your group to make their own beds. If there are any missing items, please ask at reception or call our duty staff on the number provided during your Welcome Tour. Duvets, pillows and mattresses must be covered with bedlinen; failure to do so will incur a cleaning/replacement charge.

Yes, this will be fine, but we will need to agree any deliveries you are expecting before your arrival; we cannot take food deliveries before you arrive.

Unfortunately, not at present, but this is something we are currently working towards making available for our guests.

You must not exceed the number of beds in each room and only designated bedrooms can be used for overnight accommodation. You must supply a room plan with names of all individuals on arrival. This must be updated throughout your stay if there are any changes.

The lead organiser will be provided emergency contact details on arrival. In case of emergency please call our duty staff, a member of our team will be able to assist you.

At some centres, a housekeeping service can be arranged and must be agreed at the time of booking. Additional charges apply, please ask for more information.

Our centres operate on a ‘leave it as you find it’ principle. You should ensure that the centre is left in the same condition as when you arrive, we recommend you take photos of the room layouts on arrival, so you can easily reset rooms before departure. Any rubbish must be disposed of correctly, washing up must be done and any damage or breakages you have had must be reported to a member of staff. A deduction may be taken from your security deposit if the property is not left as found.

It is worth taking the time to do a final check of all rooms before you leave to look for any forgotten items, remember to check under beds etc. Any property found after your departure will be kept for a period of 30 days before disposal.