School Travel Awards 2023: your winners and finalists

The winners were announced during the School Travel Awards ceremony on Tuesday 6th June at London’s five-star Royal Lancaster Hotel, hosted by Olympian and broadcaster Katharine Merry. Thanks to everyone who voted, nominated or entered the initiative.

Read about the 2023 ceremony

Here are the attractions, companies, experiences and people who took home this year’s trophies: 

Best Heritage Venue

• Bletchley Park (winner)
• Hever Castle
• Ironbridge
• The Mary Rose
• St Paul’s Cathedral
• UK Parliament

Best Sporting Venue

• Lee Valley, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
• Manchester City Educational Tour Experiences (winner)
• Snozone
• Twickenham Stadium and World Rugby Museum
• UK Sailing Academy
• Wembley Stadium

A special thank you to our 2023 Awards Partners…

Best Theatre Production for Schools

• Frozen The West End Musical
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (winner)
• The Lion King
• Matilda The Musical
• SIX
• Wicked

Best UK Attraction

• Cadbury World
• Chessington World of Adventures Resort (winner)
• Go Ape
• KidZania London
• LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort
• Zip World

Best International Destination or Attraction

• Berlin, Germany (winner)
• CERN, Switzerland
• Disneyland Paris
• Iceland
• PortAventura World, Spain
• Venice, Italy

Best Ski Resort

• Aosta Valley, Italy (winner)
• Claviere, Italy
• Passo Tonale, Italy
• Prato Nevoso, Italy
• Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria
• Zell am See, Austria

Best Museum Visit

• Black Country Living Museum
• British Motor Museum
• Imperial War Museum, London
• In Flanders Fields Museum, Belgium
• National Justice Museum
• Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre (winner)

Best Education Workshops

• Blenheim Palace
• Cadbury World
• Kent Life
• LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort (winner)
• Museum of Brands
• Safety Centre Hazard Alley

Education / Learning Team of the Year

• Celtic Harmony (winner)
• Children’s Adventure Farm Trust
• Eden Camp Modern History Museum
• Ringsfield Hall’s Education Team
• Yorkshire Wildlife Park’s Education Team

To read more about the Education Team category, and the winner and finalists, click here.

Best Venue for STEM Learning

• LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort
• Magna Science Adventure Centre
• Royal Observatory
• Science Museum, London
• Techniquest (winner)
• Winchester Science Centre

Best Geography Learning Experience

• Canal & River Trust
• Field Studies Council
• The Living Rainforest (winner)
• Natural History Museum, London
• Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
• Zip World

Best Venue for English Learning

• Jane Austen’s House
• Royal Shakespeare Company (winner)
• Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books
• Shakespeare’s Globe
• The Story Museum
• Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter

Best Venue for History Learning

• Gainsborough Old Hall
• Hever Castle
• Kentwell Hall
• National Memorial Arboretum
• The Roman Baths (winner)
• Warwick Castle

Best Wildlife Attraction

• Chessington World of Adventures Resort
• Chester Zoo
• Port Lympne
• Lower Drayton Farm
• West Midlands Safari Park (winner)
• Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Best School Tour Operator

• Equity
• European Study Tours
• Halsbury Travel
• Next Generation Travel Group (winner)
• NST
• TCBC School Tours

Best Residential Experience

• Conway Centres (winner)
• Essex Outdoors
• Girlguiding activity centres
• Kingswood
• PGL
• YHA

School Trip Champion Award

A category that rewards those who play an important role in organising trips that help their school and pupils benefit from learning outside the classroom.

• Selwyn Boothe - Gunnersbury Catholic School, Brentford, Middlesex
• Jo Hilson - Thomas Gainsborough School, Sudbury, Suffolk
• Karen Tidmarsh - Winchmore School, Enfield, London (winner)
• Michele Vidler - Potters Gate CofE Primary School, Farnham, Surrey

Find out about each of the finalists for this award here. 

‘My Best School Trip’ Award

Every year we ask schools to enter a brilliant trip into the School Travel Awards. We want to hear about experiences that have achieved a range of objectives and helped to embed learning outside the classroom when back in school.

• Clapham & Patching CofE Primary School, Worthing, West Sussex, for their KS2 trip to Camp Kingfisher at Blackland Farm
• Langdale CE Primary School, Ambleside, Cumbria, for its KS1-2 Our Place in Space trip to Liverpool (winner)
• Ridgeway Academy, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, for its Year 9 trip to Wales and Bristol
• St Ives School, Haslemere, Surrey, for its Year 5/6 residential to Powys, Wales
• The Royal Liberty School, Romford, for its Year 7-9 History and Science trip to Belgium

Read more about each of the finalists for this award here.