When planning your next school trip abroad, ensuring that every member of your school or college group has accurate and valid documentation to leave and enter the UK is vital.
Incorrect or Invalid passports, non-matching names on passports and flight tickets, not having a visa for a non-UK passport holder and other document issues can have serious consequences for the smooth running of your trip arrangements and cause you a great deal of stress.
Making sure you avoid problems with passport and visa documentation is easy but does require you to be methodical in your approach. On this page, we have given you some useful passport and visa website links as well as information and advice on collective group passports.
For more details on collective passports, other passport advice and visas, we recommend that you consult with the ‘UK Passport Office’ plus other appropriate embassies where applicable.
Passports
A valid passport is completely essential for travel overseas.
Whilst the majority of your group may be UK Passport holders, please be aware that some members of your group might hold non-UK passports, which may restrict movement across international borders, even in the EC.
Please check what type of passport each member of your group holds and ensure they have all relevant documentation (including visas where applicable) to allow them to travel to your intended destination and return to the UK.
Please note that some countries also require at least 6 months validity on passports beyond the date of departure form that country. These countries include Russia, India, China, Mexico and Egypt.
First Time Applicants over 16
From April 2007, anyone aged 16 or over who is applying for a passport for the first time, may have an interview as part of the application process. The interview will confirm that the passport application checked actually belongs to the applicant and that they are the rightful owner of that identity.
If these children have previously held a child passport, they will not need to be interviewed to obtain their first adult passport. They will only be required to have an interview if they have never held a British passport before.
Their applications should be made in the usual way and after submitting an application form, they will then receive a letter asking them to arrange an interview. To begin with, not everyone applying for a first passport will be interviewed. Normally, if they have not received a letter asking them to arrange an interview within eight working days of their application being received then they will not normally require an interview. For the latest details please consult the UK Passport Office.
Please note: If a student is aged over 16 or over and hasn’t yet got a passport, our recommendation is that they should apply for one at least 10 weeks prior to departure (longer if a visa is required).
Useful Websites
UK Passport Office
DirectGov Passports & Visas
Collective Passports
FREE for qualifying tour operator groups
A collective (or group) passport is an easy and cost-effective way for organised groups of young people to make foreign trips.
The group organiser is responsible for completing a Collective Passport application form and sending it to the UK Passport Office, however the cost of your collective passport will be born by NST, who will credit the amount you pay when applying, onto your final invoice balance. An application form can be downloaded from the UK Passport Office website.
Please note: identity cards are also necessary in some countries for students travelling on a Collective Passport.
Who can use a collective passport?
A collective passport is issued to approved groups of students, scouts, guides or other recognised youth organisations who plan to travel together on a trip overseas. There can be between five and 50 children and young persons on a collective passport. Everyone on the collective passport must be under 18 years old upon return to the United Kingdom and must also be a British national, which means one of the following:
- British citizen*
- British overseas territories citizen
- British overseas citizen
- British subject
- British protected persons
- British national (overseas).
*Note: Children born in the UK on or after 31 December 1982 may not have British nationality
For more information or to check nationality or for any exceptions to the above please contact the UK Passport Office’s 24-hour Passport Adviceline on 0870 521 0410 (UK Passport Office terms and conditions).
Each group must have a named adult Group Leader to accompany them when they travel. The UK Passport Office also recommend that groups name a Deputy Leader who could take over should the Leader become ill, for example, and was unable to travel*. This would avoid delays while the name of a new Leader was added to the collective passport.
*Note: The collective passport would become invalid if the Leader was unable to travel and a Deputy Leader had not been appointed.
Group Leaders and Deputy Leaders must be over 21 years old and hold a valid 10-year British passport.
The UK Passport Office website explains in more detail who can use a collective passport and how to apply for one.