French children may no longer be able to take school trips to the UK under facilitated rules as the scheme to cut red tape for them may be halted.
Under the scheme, which was introduced in December of last year, French pupils have been able to take trips to the UK with only their ID card, and the non-EU pupils in French schools have been permitted to take trips without obtaining a visa, Schengen.News reports.
However, as the Financial Times explains, this scheme is now at risk of being halted as the UK will implement its new electronic travel authorisation (ETA) scheme on April 2, 2025.
Once the UK’s ETA becomes effective, all EU visitors will be required to register before travelling to the UK. Since everyone will need to register into the new system, children will need to hold a passport as the registration cannot be made without holding this travel document, and this is not compatible with the French school trips scheme.
French Schools Travel Rules Are Under Review, UK Govt Says
Concerned about the matter, the president of Les Entreprises du Voyage, Valérie Boned, wrote to the Secretary of the UK Home, Yvette Cooper. Boned required Cooper to explain if the news system would mean that the programme for French school groups would be maintained even after April 2025.
Despite the group wanting to receive a response on the matter as soon as possible, as trips for spring of next year have started to be booked, the UK authorities have not provided an answer yet.
As seen by the Financial Times, Boned said in the letter that they would be able to prevent inconveniences if they had information on the matter soon.
Nonetheless, the UK Home Office said that the matter is still under review and did not provide any further information on the future of this scheme.
In addition to the travel agency, the French government has also expressed concerns. Its officials said that they are in close contact with the British government and that they hope for the scheme to remain operational even after the new system gets introduced.
Data show that since the UK and France reached an agreement on the scheme, school trips to the UK saw an increase of 30 per cent.
Source: https://schengen.news/french-school-trips-to-uk-at-risk-as-new-entry-rules-begin-in-april/
