School trips to Manchester

Art & Design

A city bursting with charm and character, Art is available in abundance, with Manchester school trips often boasting a number of fascinating galleries on their itineraries. Why not explore the latest exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery, or delve into the works of one of the region’s most famous artists L.S Lowry?

Learn more about our Art & Design trips to Manchester here

Primary school trips

This lively city is a fantastic alternative to a school trip to London for groups based in the North West, or Scotland with a colourful array of educational and cultural visits. For an unforgettable primary school trip to Manchester, make sure you book tickets to see one of the major touring musicals at the Palace Theatre during your study tour to the North West city.

Exciting things have been happening in Manchester over recent years, and this vibrant North West city offers lots to see and do. Major touring musicals stop off at the Palace Theatre, MediaCity UK continues to grow, and the exciting tour of Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground is still our most popular day visit. As well as this, there are excellent options for history and science-filled days, which are perfect for KS2 students. The Museum of Science and Industry and Manchester Museum has lots of interesting, interactive exhibitions for your students to enjoy. 

Learn more about our primary school trips to Manchester here

Manchester Art Gallery

Uncover the history and rich culture with the Manchester Art Gallery, one of the country’s finest art museums. With a mix of wonderful historic collections alongside the best international contemporary art to bring fresh perspectives to familiar images, Manchester Art Gallery offers a blend of historic and contemporary architecture that echoes an innovative arts programme. 

The Lowry

Set in a magnificent waterside location at the heart of the redeveloped Salford Quays in Greater Manchester, The Lowry brings together a wide variety of performing and visual arts under one roof. The Lowry offers school groups the best in entertainment and education in the arts in the North West.

Whitworth Art Gallery

The Whitworth Art Gallery has been part of the University of Manchester since 1889, and holds both historic and contemporary collections and exhibitions. The gallery is well-known for its displays of modern art and sculpture, including works by British sculptor Jacob Epstein, British artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth, Vincent van Gogh, and Pablo Picasso.

The Manchester Museum

This museum, based at the University of Manchester, is host to a mix of collections. From natural history to science and technology, dinosaur skeletons to mummies from Ancient Egypt, this diverse museum showcases objects which will engage and education any mind. The Manchester Museum is perfectly suited to students who are studying history, science and culture. With free, public tour running throughout the week, this would be a fantastic time to generate the student's interest and gain an insightful view into the museum's history and the collections housed here.

The Trafford Centre

Situated just five miles outside of Manchester city centre, where groups can enjoy a vast range of stores along three miles of granite and marble boulevards! There are many restaurants and places to eat plus the Trafford Centre is also home to the Odeon 20 screen cinema - one of the largest in the UK. Not only that, but the Trafford Centre is also home to Sea Life Manchester, which is filled with lots of family-friendly sealife exhibitions.

Tour planning service

With NST, you’ll get your own dedicated, knowledgeable Tour Co-ordinator who’ll work with you from start to finish. You’ll benefit from their unrivalled destination knowledge, and their experience gained from working with many other groups too. They’ll tailor-make your itinerary from scratch and take care of everything for you:

• Pulling together an itinerary that runs smoothly
• Planning the right balance of visits every day with realistic timings
• Pre-arranging and pre-booking your visits, entrance tickets, passes and meals

You’ll receive your final itinerary a full 4-weeks before you travel too.

FREE school trip promotion pack

We’ll support you and provide everything you need to advertise your school trip around school and to parents. Our free school trip promotion pack consists of:

• Parents’ letter & permission slip template for you to complete A3 posters to promote your trip around school
• PowerPoint presentation templates which you can tailor to your own needs
• Parents’ leaflets covering how NST manage safety, financial protection and details of our travel insurance
• Online parents’ video which showcases the benefits of taking a school trip

For selected destinations, we’ll provide a trip launch web page using video footage and imagery. This web page is provided by a weblink and can be shared with pupils and parents in many ways.

Risk assessment support including preview visits

Risk assessment plays a vitally important part in the planning and organisation on any school tour.

Our risk assessment guide aims to help you understand more about your obligations and how you can more effectively manage group safety on your next educational visit and provide you with risk assessments for your trip.

Planning first school trip

Organising your first school trip can appear to be a daunting process.

If you're planning your first school trip, our guide will help to take you through each step of the planning process, answering frequently asked questions and providing tips and support along the way.

Our helpful guide covers the following:

• Choosing your destination
• Gaining approval from your Local Authority and/or your Head
• Promoting your tour in school
• Confirming your booking
• Tailor-make your tour
• Completing your risk assessments (including a sample risk assessment)
• Quick reference timeline
• Pre-tour checklist

View our essential guide to a successful school trip here

Get live updates on your group's tour location

Locate My Trip uses GPS technology and is the easy, convenient way for your school to follow your location whilst on tour. Specifically designed to provide reassurance to both parents and teachers, NST will know where your group are 24/7. If your schedule needs to change, we’ll put plans in place to keep your tour on track. 

With Locate My Trip your group can also share photos and videos with the school and parents, via a secure link, to keep them updated on your experience whilst you’re away.

Watch our short Locate My Trip video here.

Your online school trip organiser - My Tour Manager

Save time and stay on track with your school trip admin with our online orgnaniser - designed to help busy teachers like you.

With My Tour Manager, you'll be able to download FREE resources and access trip paperwork online and in one place. Your personalised checklist details what you need to do and by when, plus you'll receive fortnightly reminders too.

What's more, you can take all your trip documents on the go whilst on your tour with our app, My Tour Manager-On-the-Go.

Find out more and watch out short My Tour Manager video here.

FREE classroom resources

We've created a range of free resources and educational posters to brighten up your classroom!

Take a look at our downloadable posters here.