Students from France and other European Union countries will be able to travel more easily on language and cultural trips to the UK after the British government on Thursday simplified the rules for entering the country.
The move follows talks in March over the issue between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Pupils from the EU will now be allowed to enter the UK with a national identity card instead of a passport, just as they could before Brexit – Britain's formal departure from the EU in 2021.
Non-EU nationals attending French schools will still have to show passports to enter, but the British government has scrapped the need for them to obtain a visa costing 120 euros.
Les voyages scolaires deviennent plus faciles entre 🇫🇷 & 🇬🇧! Annoncé au sommet bilatéral du 10 mars, cet engagement se concrétise le 28 décembre: nos élèves @education_gouv🇫🇷 & 🇪🇺 pourront voyager avec leur carte d’identité et nos élèves de pays tiers n’auront plus besoin de visa pic.twitter.com/d7ZBCkyVro
— French Embassy UK🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@FranceintheUK) December 11, 2023
Welcome change
The British Educational Travel Association (Beta) described Thursday's changes as a positive step, but said it didn't "go all the way to meeting the needs of our industry".
Emma English, the association's executive director, said Beta wants a youth group travel scheme that would allow supervised groups of EU nationals and residents under 18 to travel to Britain for up to six weeks for educational and cultural tours.
"We will push for the expansion of this scheme in France and call that it be expanded to our European neighbours," she added.
In France, the director of an organisation offering school trips warmly welcomed the move to relax restrictions, claiming it would lead to more visits.
"These changes are much more than a victory," said Edward Hisbergues of PG Trips, which had complained of a drop in demand for excursions to the UK owing to prohibitive costs.
"The United Kingdom is once again giving teachers an image of a welcoming country that loves France," he told the French news agency AFP.
(with newswires)
