Make school trips available to all, says teacher union

Every pupil should have a guaranteed number of school trips each year, says Britain's biggest teachers' union.

The National Union of Teachers says "personal tuition entitlements" for all schoolchildren would see a significant rise in the number of trips by schools to museums and art galleries.

Teachers say that affluent parents find it easier to lay on trips to theatres and museums out of school hours to broaden their children's horizons.

"Social class and low income should not be a barrier to any child," said Steve Sinnott, the NUT general secretary. "Such extra support should not depend on whether their parents can afford it."

The second-largest teachers' union, the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, is urging its members to boycott school trips in case they face compensation claims in the wake of accidents to pupils.