Planning your school visit
Your visit
On this page you will find all the information you need to plan and prepare a trip for your school to London Transport Museum.
Discover how London’s transport has changed and adapted over time. Uncover the stories of the people and objects that have helped shape it and will continue to shape it as we look to the future of transport.
Planning your visit to London Transport Museum? Book onto one of our interactive school sessions, or plan a self-guided visit to explore our galleries at your own pace. All school visits, including self-guided ones, must be booked in advance. All booked school visits include an allocated space and time slot for lunch.
Please read our FAQs below to help you prepare for your visit.
How to book
To find out more and book your visit or online workshop, please contact our bookings team on 0343 222 5000. Phone lines are open from 9:00-16:00 Monday-Friday, and 9:00-17:00 on Saturdays and Sundays.
Schools FAQs
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When are school visits available?
Schools can book educational visits to London Transport Museum in Covent Garden on weekdays, during UK term time: see the term dates above.
Please note certain visit types are only available on specific days.
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What type of school visits are available?
Self-guided visits are available for EYFS – Key Stage 4 & 5.
We offer sessions for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 at the Museum, and Key Stage 3 sessions either virtually or onsite at our Depot in Acton, west London.
We run SEND Early Explorer Mornings and SEND onsite workshops at Covent Garden.
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Can I book a school visit to the Museum Depot in Acton, west London?
We are unable to book any self-guided school visits to the Depot. Currently, only our KS3 Inspire Engineering programme runs at the Depot.
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What provision do you offer for learners with SEND?
Our SEND programme includes our Sensory Horse Bus workshop and a sensory storytelling session. These Schools Early Explorer Mornings take place on selected Thursdays in the Museum’s galleries. These sessions allow your students to visit the at a quieter time, free from the general public.
We can also provide sensory explorer bags, filled with sensory objects to support your visit. Please note these must be booked in advance.
Please download our Museum Visual Story for you to look at with your students in advance of your visit.
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Do I need to book my school visit in advance?
Yes. All school visits, including self-guided ones, must be booked and if applicable, paid for, in advance.
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How can I pay for my visit?
Our preferred method of payment is via BACS. You can find the details on your invoice. Please use your invoice reference number for us to be able to track your order. Allow a minimum of 10 working days for us to be able to trace your payment once you have paid.
You can also pay by credit or debit card via the unique payment link in your invoice. We are not able to accept cheques or any payment on the day.
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Do you have a cancellation policy?
We operate a cancellation policy. All cancellations must include your order number and be sent by email to [email protected].
For any visit fees, cancellations made within four weeks will incur 100% of the cost.
If the Museum has to cancel your visit, we will give you 14 days prior written notice where we can. However, we regret that occasionally this may not be possible and in that case, we will notify you as soon as we can and offer you an alternative session or the option of rebooking for another time.
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What are our recommended adult to pupil ratios?
Groups must have the correct adult to pupil ratio when attending the Museum.
- Early Years Foundation Stage = 1:3
- Key Stage 1 = 1:5
- Key Stage 2 = 1:8
- Key Stage 3 = 1:10
- Key Stage 4 and 5 = 1:15
Accompanying teachers and adults are free within the ratios detailed above. Additional adults will incur an additional charge. For more information, please ask our Bookings Team for more details.
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How early should I arrive before my booked session?
Please arrive at the Museum or the Museum Depot at least 15 minutes before your session. This is to allow you time to drop off your coats, bags and lunches and run through a short induction.
If you would like to book the earliest session (10:30am), we recommend factoring in additional travel time as we are unable to delay the start time of sessions.
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Will there be a space for us to eat our lunch?
Yes. All booked school groups will have a 30-minute time slot and space for lunch.
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Can I change the lunch slot I have been given?
Unfortunately, we are unable to change any lunch times as we will have other schools onsite.
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Can I come on a pre-visit?
After you have made your booking, we encourage all teachers to carry out a pre-visit of the museum to complete a risk assessment and familiarise yourself with the space.
You will need to book your pre-visit in advance: please see the bottom of this page for more information.
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Do you have a risk assessment for your sites?
We provide health and safety guidelines (which you can download below) to support teachers to create their own risk assessment. We also strongly recommend teachers book a pre-visit to further help carry out a risk assessment.
If you are taking part in our Inspire Engineering KS3 workshop at Acton Depot, please download our Depot health and safety guidelines to prepare for your visit.
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Is there a place to put our coats and bags?
Yes, when you arrive you will be met by a member of our Museum team. They will show you where you put your bags, coats, and lunches for the day.
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Can we all go around the museum as one group?
As some of our galleries are limited in space, we recommend breaking into smaller groups of 10 to explore our galleries. Please make sure pupils are always accompanied by adults and meet the correct supervision ratios.
Information for your visit
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Museum visit
Before your visit
- Complete a risk assessment for your visit. Please refer to the health and safety information on our website for guidance.
- We strongly recommend that you make a free preliminary visit to the Museum to familiarise yourself with our facilities and displays and complete your risk assessment. To book you free visit, please fill out the form below or speak to our bookings team.
- Ensure all adults in your group have a copy of your school’s timetable of the day. If you are booked in for one of our facilitated sessions, please make sure you have read all necessary information, such as session times and meeting points or pre-visit activities, if applicable.
- Schools in the Greater London area can apply for free public transport when making visits to museums within the GLA. For more information and to apply online, visit TfL’s Travel for schools page. We recommend travelling by public transport as there is very limited coach parking around Covent Garden. For more information see Westminster’s Coach parking page.
During your visit
- You will be met on arrival by a member of staff who will welcome your group, deal with coats and lunches and check your timetable.
- Your unique timetable will ensure that you are in the right place at the right time, so please make sure you stick to it.
- Divide children into small groups, each with an adult helper. Make sure that each group has a copy of your timetable and map.
- Your group will have been given a 30-minute timeslot in our lunchroom (primary and secondary groups only). Please ensure you tidy up any rubbish and leave the lunch room on time to allow the next group to have lunch.
- Please arrive a few minutes before the start time for any activity or lunch. We cannot allow sessions to overrun.
- If you have been allocated a time slot in the All Aboard play area (KS1 groups only) please do not use the area outside your timetabled slot, as other schools will be booked in.
- Leave plenty of time for departure (toilets, coat and bag collection).
- The Museum Shop is full of great souvenirs, and is always popular. To avoid overcrowding, all school groups are allocated a specific time slot to browse. If you wish to visit the shop, please visit at your scheduled time and take supervised groups of no more than 8 children at a time.
If you have booked one of our onsite sessions
- Please ensure that you arrive promptly to start at the allotted time. You must arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of your first booked session to drop off your coats and bags and run through your introduction. Any delay may mean you miss you scheduled workshop(s).
- It is important to note that if you are late for your session, it may have to be shortened and you may miss some content. If you are running late on the day, please contact our bookings team on 0343 222 5000 so that the facilitator can be made aware.
- If you have booked the 10:30 session, please ensure you factor in additional travel to arrive at the museum on time to start your session.
Pre-visits
Teachers are welcome to book a free pre-visit to carry out a risk assessment ahead of a visit to the Museum in Covent Garden or our Depot in Acton, west London.
To book a pre-visit, please call our bookings team on 0343 222 5000 to arrange a date and time.
Please note:
- A copy of your invoice and/or confirmation of booking will be required on the day of your pre-visit
- A maximum of two adults per class can come, but they must both be able to show their school ID upon request
- Up to three children can attend with each adult
Term dates
Autumn 2023
Monday 4 September – Friday 8 December*
*October Half Term, Monday 23 October – Friday 27 October (no school visits)
Spring 2024
Monday 15 January – Friday 29 March
*February Half Term, Monday 12 February – Friday 16 February (no school visits)
Summer 2024
Monday 15 April – Friday 12 July
*May Half Term, Monday 27 May – Friday 31 May (no school visits)
Teachers' mailing list
Sign up for our Teachers’ mailing list to keep up to date with upcoming school workshops, special events and early bird offers.
Related pages
Explore the story of London’s social history, celebrate London Transport’s world-class design heritage and develop historic and contemporary STEAM learning with a school visit or session in your school.
Bring the world and history of transport to life through adventure and imagination for Key Stage 1 pupils.
Key Stage 2 students can apply skills such as communication, teamwork, empathy and resilience in one of our hands-on workshops which explore how we travel around London and who helps us to do that.
Our Key Stage 3 sustainability-inspired sessions give students a chance to meet engineers, undertake challenges and gain an insight into the world of work.
Case studies from the Museum's offer for students at Key Stage 4 and 5, which included a virtual Air Quality Challenge, a Green Skills Hackathon and a co-creation project, Inspire Engineering Careers.
Find out more about our CPD for teachers, upcoming special events, school workshops and special offers - and join our teachers mailing list.
With our broad collection of vehicles, objects and posters, our collection is accessible to students with a wide range of needs. Take part in our Early Explorer Mornings, self-guided visits, or Sensory Horse Bus workshop.
We are proud to be supporting schools and education settings on their Artsmark journey, inspiring children and young people to create, experience, and participate in great arts and culture.
