What the Outdoor Education Bill means for schools – and why it matters
For years, outdoor education has often been treated as the "nice to have" in a child's education. A memorable week away. A reward after exams. An enrichment activity that's valuable if budgets and timetables allow. That perception may finally be starting to change.
Earlier this month, South Devon MP Caroline Voaden introduced the Outdoor Education Bill to Parliament. As a Ten Minute Rule Bill, it's unlikely to become law in its current form. These Bills are designed to start conversations rather than guarantee legislation. But that doesn't mean it should be ignored. Often, they reflect where thinking is heading. In this case, the debate suggests a growing recognition that outdoor learning isn't simply an enjoyable addition to education—it has a meaningful role to play in children's development and learning.
For schools, and for organisations like ours, that's an important conversation.
More than learning outside
The Bill proposes that every child should spend at least 30 minutes outdoors each school day, have one outdoor lesson every week and be offered an outdoor education experience during both primary and secondary school. Whether those proposals ever become statutory is almost secondary. What's more significant is why they're being proposed.
The Parliamentary debate centred on children's wellbeing, resilience, confidence, engagement with learning and connection to the natural environment. These are challenges that schools are already navigating every day, and increasingly they're recognised as being just as important as academic outcomes.
Importantly, England isn't the first nation in the UK to move in this direction. Earlier this year, Scotland passed the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Act, establishing a legal entitlement for every pupil in state and grant-aided schools to experience a residential outdoor education programme during their school career. The legislation also places a duty on Scottish Ministers to ensure funding is available to support delivery.
That landmark legislation has helped move the conversation beyond whether residential outdoor learning has educational value to how it can be delivered consistently and equitably. While the Outdoor Education Bill for England takes a broader approach—covering daily outdoor learning as well as residential experiences—the Scottish Act demonstrates that outdoor education is increasingly being recognised as an integral part of a young person's education rather than an optional extra.
Outdoor education isn't the answer to every challenge facing education, but it can make a significant contribution.
Residentials remain something special
One comment from the debate particularly resonated with those of us working in residential outdoor education. Caroline Voaden described residential experiences as the "holy grail" of outdoor learning. It's a phrase that captures something many teachers already know. There is a difference between taking learning outdoors for an afternoon and giving young people the opportunity to spend several days living, learning and growing together. A residential creates time and space that simply doesn't exist during the normal school week. Away from familiar routines, children develop independence, solve problems together, build new friendships and discover confidence they didn't know they had.
We've seen it countless times. The quiet child who volunteers to lead their team by the end of the week. The pupil who thought they "couldn't" suddenly realising they can. The friendships that continue long after the coach has pulled back into the school car park. Those moments aren't accidental. They're the result of carefully designed experiences that encourage challenge, reflection and achievement in a safe, supportive environment.
A changing role for outdoor education providers
If outdoor learning continues to move closer to the heart of education, providers will also need to evolve. Schools aren't simply looking for adventurous activities. They're looking for experiences that complement what happens in the classroom and support wider educational outcomes.
That means being able to demonstrate how programmes develop confidence, resilience, teamwork, communication and independence—not because those outcomes are fashionable, but because they're increasingly recognised as fundamental to helping young people succeed.
It also means building longer-term relationships with schools. The strongest partnerships are rarely based on a single residential visit. They're built over time, with programmes that become part of a school's wider approach to personal development and outdoor learning.
The opportunity—and the responsibility
The Bill also highlights something our sector has been discussing for many years: access to outdoor learning remains unequal. Too many children still miss out because of financial barriers, transport costs or a lack of opportunity. If outdoor education is genuinely to become part of every child's educational journey, accessibility has to remain central to the conversation. That isn't solely a question for Government. It's something all of us involved in outdoor education should continue to think about—whether through bursaries, inclusive programme design, SEND provision or working closely with schools to remove barriers wherever possible.
If we're talking about outdoor learning as an entitlement rather than an enrichment activity, then every child should have the opportunity to benefit from it.
Looking beyond the legislation
It's important to keep the Bill in perspective. Nothing changes immediately. Schools aren't under any new legal obligation to increase outdoor learning. There is no additional funding. Residential visits are not suddenly becoming mandatory. The Bill still has a long Parliamentary journey ahead and may never progress beyond this stage. But judging it purely on whether it becomes law risks missing the bigger picture. The conversation around education has been changing for some time.
Schools are placing greater emphasis on character development, wellbeing, attendance, confidence and preparing young people for life beyond the classroom. Employers continue to value communication, resilience and teamwork alongside academic achievement. Outdoor learning sits naturally within that wider conversation.
Looking ahead
At Skern Adventure, we've spent fifty years working alongside schools and seeing first-hand the impact that well-designed residential experiences can have on young people. That's why we welcome this debate.
Not because we expect the legislation to transform education overnight, but because it reflects a broader shift in how outdoor learning is valued. The question isn't really whether this particular Bill succeeds. It's whether we, as a sector, continue to demonstrate the educational value that we've always known outdoor learning can offer.
If the national conversation is moving towards recognising outdoor education as an integral part of a child's development rather than an optional extra, that's something worth engaging with.
For schools, for outdoor education providers and, most importantly, for the young people whose confidence, resilience and love of learning can be shaped by experiences beyond the classroom, that's a positive direction of travel.