New rules about identity papers come into force on 28 December that will make taking school groups to the post-Brexit UK a bit easier.
Many teachers had given up trying to take classes on trips to the U.K. since post-Brexit rules came in that required every pupil (like every French person travelling to the U.K.) had to have a (paying) passport instead of just a (free) identity card. And pupils who didn't have French nationality had to obtain a visa for the U.K., an expensive and time-consuming process.
At the bilateral summit held between France and the U.K. in March, it was announced that rules would be relaxed for school groups. Pupils with French nationality will be allowed once again to travel with just an identity card (CNI) and the visa requirement will be dropped for pupils with non-French passports.
The new rules will apply to people aged 18 or under, studying at a school or educational institution in France registered with the French Ministry of Education and seeking to enter the UK as part of a school party of 5 or more pupils organised by that school or institution.
That should make organising school trips seem just that bit more feasible!