From 23 January schools can apply online for a free school visit to UK Parliament
From 10am on Thursday 23 January, schools in each constituency will be able to request a free school visit to UK Parliament this Summer Term (April to July). Eligible schools visiting from outside London and the South East of England could claim up to 85% (up to £2,400) of their receipted travel costs back with our travel subsidy.
Each term, the Education Centre has a very high number of applications from schools. We try to ensure as many schools as possible can visit us, but with over 33,000 schools across the UK and around 1,000 slots available, demand outweighs capacity. To ensure fair access, we will be processing applications on a first come, first served basis and a queue management system will be in place on the day.
For full details, please see here: ParliNet | Free summer term school visits
UK Parliament offers a range of tours which allow visitors to see inside one of the world’s most famous buildings and find out about the work of UK Parliament. There are free and paid-for options.
Free Inside UK Parliament Tours
The Visitor Experience Team delivers free Inside UK Parliament tours (formerly known as Members’ tours or Democratic Access tours) to thousands of UK constituents every year. Most of these tours are sponsored by MPs and Peers and booked via their offices.
These tours of UK Parliament take 75 minutes, are free of charge and open to UK residents only. The tour focusses on how Parliament works, the role of MPs and some key history and heritage of the Palace of Westminster. UK residents wishing to book a tour can do so by contacting their MP’s office and should be booked several weeks in advance if possible, as they fill up very quickly.
You can find details of how to book, when tours run and other important information on ParliNet.
Other Tours at UK Parliament
Find out more about Members’ allocated tickets, passholder staff tours and paid tickets.
These tours are available to visitors from the UK and overseas for which there is a charge.
Tours of the State Apartments of Speaker’s House are available to purchase on selected dates during parliamentary recesses. The tours are not sponsored by Members.
Charging for Tickets/Tickets as Prizes
It is strictly forbidden to offer Palace of Westminster or Big Ben tours as raffle or auction prizes and anyone attempting to do so may be investigated for a breach of the rules by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
Private Tours
Members of Parliament and full passholders may choose to conduct private tours, with a maximum group size of six. However, these may cause congestion on the tour route, so it is better to book your guests onto the official tours. You can find a script for the tour here: https://w4mp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Parliamentary-Tour-Script-2017.pdf
More information on bringing visitors to Parliament and escorting guests along the visitor route can be found on ParliNet.
Public Gallery Tickets
Please see our separate guide here.
School Visits
Please see our separate guide here.
