More than one in 10 (13%) parents questioned said they have had to work overtime to meet the cost of the away day or residential trips, with a similar number (9%) selling possessions on second-hand sites such as Vinted or eBay to cover the cost.
The findings reflect the ongoing squeeze on finances for parents, with 35% citing the cost of living as the biggest challenge and a further 24% blaming high utility bills.
The One Poll survey of 1,000 parents for Zurich Municipal found the cost of a day school trip is now £30 on average. Residential trips cost £412 on average.
Schools stepping in for cash-strapped parents
Schools are conscious of the financial pressure that parents are facing and are stretching their budgets to help foot some, or all, of the cost of educational trips.
For instance, more than one in five (22%) parents say their child’s school has either covered the full cost of the trip, subsidised it or taken part in fundraising activities to ensure pupils don’t miss out. It is a trend confirmed by national charity Parentkind, a network of parent teacher association (PTA) fundraisers in the UK.
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Jason Elsom, CEO of Parentkind, said: “School trips are an important milestone in children’s lives and something that many of us look back on and reminisce about as we get older. But these trips are becoming more expensive and unfortunately many parents are struggling to afford them.
“Parent teacher associations (PTAs) work tirelessly all year round to raise money for their school. A new trend we’ve seen emerge over the last year is the number of PTAs now stepping up to cover the cost of these extracurricular activities.
“Schools struggle with budgets at the best of times and it is important we do what we can to make sure children don’t lose out on school trips.”
Natalie Bate, head of education at Zurich Municipal, said: “These trips are a key milestone in a child’s education and often open children up to experiences they wouldn’t necessarily have with their parent or guardian outside of school.
“School trips should conjure up happy memories, but the truth of the matter is that they’re now often steeped with guilt or embarrassment as parents struggle to find the money to pay for their children to attend.
“It’s great to see schools and PTAs stepping in to help fund these all-important trips so that children don’t miss out, but it’s more important than ever that schools have protection in place in case trips need to be cancelled for any reason.”
Last month, the Child Poverty Action Group found it cost nearly £2,300 per year to send a child to state school, with costs including packed lunches and snacks, uniforms, PE kit, bags, school transport and trips.
