Campaigning success for English UK in UK-German agreement

German school parties will be able to travel to the UK without visas for third country nationals under a new treaty signed in London by the British and German prime ministers. The scheme will go live by the end of 2025.

A promising start

Jodie Gray, our chief executive, said: "We welcome the fact that third country nationals travelling as part of German school groups will not need visas to come to the UK once the scheme begins.

"However, there is no indication in the current agreement that German schoolchildren will be able to travel on an ID card or group travel document, as with the existing arrangement for French school groups. We need clarification on this point.

"We want children from the major EU countries to be able to travel with school groups to the UK on their ID cards, as French children can. This is what we are campaigning for and will continue to campaign for."

What the treaty says

Official commentary on the Friendship and Bilateral Cooperation Treaty promises: "We will make it easier for school groups to travel between the UK and Germany and consider ways to further enhance mobility between our people," and that it will deliver "visa-free school group travel between the UK and Germany, increasing opportunities for linguistic, cultural and academic experiences."

A joint expert group from both governments will be appointed "to identify mutually agreeable solutions to UK and German mobility issues, including challenges faced by educational and scientific institutions, cultural bodies and political organisations." Promises include "more school exchanges, focus on lower socio-economic groups and… new initiatives."

Third piece of positive news since May

Since English UK launched its position paper in May, more positive policy developments have occurred. Five days after we launched the paper in the House of Commons, the Government and the EU announced the intention to create a youth experience scheme and explore a return to Erasmus +. These two developments go some way towards meeting two of the recommendations outlined in our position paper.

We will continue to lobby, with the help of members, to ensure our sector's needs are met.