A scheme designed to boost the numbers of French children able to travel to Britain for school trips is reportedly in peril as a result of an overhaul of entry requirements in the UK, reports The Guardian.
New rules for French school trips were introduced in December last year after a meeting between the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the then UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak.
The pair struck a deal to allow French pupils to travel to Britain using national identity cards, and for their non-EU classmates to enter without the need for a visa, in an attempt to address a decline in visits after Brexit.
However, the Financial Times reported that the scheme was at risk because of the UK’s new electronic travel authorisation (ETA) scheme, which is due to come into force on 2 April 2025 and will require all EU visitors to register before travelling to the UK, a process that requires children to have a passport.
The FT cited a letter written by Valérie Boned, the president of Les Entreprises du Voyage, the main trade body for travel agencies in France, to the UK home secretary, Yvette Cooper, on 8 October asking whether the programme for French school groups would be retained.