Dover to Calais school trips
Source: gov.uk (2025-05-16)

How school groups can reduce processing time when travelling by ferry from Dover to Calais.

This guidance applies to schools organising a school trip and school travel operators organising a trip on behalf of a school.

School groups travelling from Dover to Calais can reduce processing time at the French border by submitting passenger information in advance to participating ferry operators.

Before using this process, contact your chosen ferry operator to check if they allow for faster border processing.

1. Collect passenger travel information for all individuals

Trip organisers should collect the following information for every individual travelling on the school trip, including the driver and any other adults:
- last name
- first name
- date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY)
- nationality
- type of document
Children who are visa nationals in the UK can travel visa-free when travelling to France as part of any school trip. Visa nationals are non-UK nationals living in the UK who would ordinarily need a visa to enter the EU.

2. Add this information to the spreadsheet provided by your ferry operator

The spreadsheet should be completed for each coach.

It’s important to carefully follow these instructions for completing the spreadsheet. Data cannot be submitted to the French border authorities unless it is in the format requested:
- do not change the format of this file for example do not add additional vertical columns or horizontal rows above the format that already exists
- pay attention to column headings and only fill in what is asked for - for example, if the column asks for surname, only add the surname and not both names
- fill in names in alphabetical order (by surname)
- family name – this means surname
- do not add numbers into text fields
- do not add in any special figures such as brackets
- you do not need to specify who the driver is in brackets on this form
3. Once completed, save the spreadsheet for each coach

Save the spreadsheet for each coach as a .csv file and title each file as the first 7 letters of the school name. Schools using more than 1 coach for the trip should complete a separate spreadsheet for each coach. The title of each spreadsheet should be the first 7 letters of the schools followed by the number of the coach the spreadsheet refers to. For example, if there are 2 coaches, titles of the spreadsheets should be ACADEMY1 and ACADEMY2.

On date of travel, individuals should be allocated to the coach in correspondence with how they were submitted on the spreadsheets.

The French border authorities will not accept the spreadsheet if it is not titled appropriately.

4. Provide evidence that your group is from a certified school in the UK

Trip organisers should provide evidence that the school group travelling is from a certified school in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. This can be in the form of a screenshot of evidence of verification. All eligible schools can be found on relevant national databases.

In England, evidence can be found on:

Get Information about Schools (https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Search?SelectedTab=Establishments)

Apprenticeship provider and assessment register (https://download.apprenticeships.education.gov.uk/apar).

In Wales, evidence can be found on:

Find a school list (https://mylocalschool.gov.wales/)

List of apprenticeship training providers (https://www.gov.wales/apprenticeship-training-providers-contact-details)

List of further education institutions and contact details (https://www.gov.wales/further-education-institutions-contact-details).

In Scotland, evidence can be found on:

School contact details for state funded schools (https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-contact-details/)

Register for independent schools (https://www.gov.scot/publications/independent-schools-in-scotland-register/)

In Northern Ireland, evidence can be found on:

Schools directory (https://apps.education-ni.gov.uk/appinstitutes/default.aspx)

List of FE colleges (https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/contacts/further-education-fe-colleges)

Skills for life and work training providers (https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/articles/skills-life-and-work-training-providers-by-council-area)

Search for apprenticeships (https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/campaigns/apprenticeships)

5. Send passenger information and evidence of eligibility to your ferry operator in advance

Trip organisers should send the spreadsheets and the evidence of school eligibility to the chosen ferry operator.

This must be done at least 72 hours in advance of the date of travel, or the school group will not be able to use the faster border process.

6. The ferry operator sends the information to the French border authorities

Your chosen ferry operator will securely submit this information to the French border authorities.

If there are any last-minute removals from the originally submitted spreadsheets, the school will still be able to use the faster process. Any new passengers added after the 72-hour deadline will not be able to benefit from the faster process and will go through standard border processing.

7. Prepare labels with school information to display on the coach on the day of travel

On the day of travel, schools should display a label in each coach windscreen which clearly shows the first 7 letters of the school name and the number of passengers per coach.

This windscreen label helps the French border authorities identify participating coaches when they arrive at Dover. If trip organisers have sent the advanced passenger information but do not have the windscreen label when arriving at Dover, coaches will not be able to use the faster process.

For this step:
- ferry operators should send schools headed labels in advance of the date of travel
- schools should print this label and clearly add the first 7 letters of the school name and highlight if there is more than one coach on this trip. For example, if there is more than one coach, schools should include the coach number after the school name - ACADEMY1, ACADEMY2. Each coach signage should match the title of the corresponding spreadsheet.
- below the school name, schools should add the number of passengers per coach to the label. There will be a separate box on the label to add number of passengers. The number of passengers on each coach should correspond with the number of passengers on the corresponding spreadsheet for each coach.
Please remember, on the date of travel, individuals should be allocated to the coach in correspondence with how they were submitted on the spreadsheets.

Further guidance

This process is optional. If trip organisers do not follow these steps, the school group will proceed through border controls in the usual way.

If there are any last-minute removals from the submitted passenger information after the 72-hour deadline, the school group will still be able to use the faster process.

If there are any new passengers added after the 72-hour deadline, new passengers will not be able to benefit from the faster process and will go through standard border processing.

Contact your chosen ferry operator for additional information specific to the operator.