New scheme to fund free school visits to local museums in Wales
Emily Price
A new scheme funded by the Welsh Government will enable state-maintained schools in Wales to visit local museums for free.
The Museum Visits Bursary scheme was launched by the Group for Education in Museums on Wednesday (July 1).
It will cover 100% of the costs of visits in a bid to remove financial barriers so that all children in Wales can benefit from their cultural heritage.
Cost
National museums in Wales such as St Fagans National Museum of History and the National Museum Cardiff offer free admission.
But many Cadw sites – such as Caerphilly Castle – require an admission fee to help cover the costs of maintenance and upkeep.
The new scheme will allow schools in Wales to apply for bursaries of up to £1,000 to cover the entire cost of a museum visit, including transport, entrance fees, workshops, and staffing costs.
The bursary requires no match-funding, making it easier for teachers to give their students the opportunity to explore Wales’ rich history and culture.
Learning
Local museums offer valuable, curriculum for Wales relevant learning opportunities across humanities, science and technology, art, and health and wellbeing, supporting interactive learning in a vibrant cultural setting.
Bursaries will be awarded on a first-come, first-served rolling basis while funds are available up to the end of February 2026.
Schools are encouraged to check and reserve dates with their chosen museum before submitting their application to GEM.
Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership, Jack Sargeant, said: “Our local museum network is a fantastic resource for children to learn more about how
the history of their local area fits into the story of Wales.
“This is something that is key to the cynefin focus of our curriculum. But financial barriers can often prevent schools from accessing these learning experiences, so we’re providing funding to remove those obstacles.
“The Museum Visits Bursary scheme will give children and young people across Wales the opportunity to understand not just where they come from, but how their communities contribute to the rich tapestry of Welsh culture and identity.”
Karin Molson, Chair of GEM Cymru and MonLife Heritage Learning Manager, said:
“Transport costs are a really big barrier to school visits in Wales.
“This new scheme will give a fantastic boost for both local museums and schools in Wales.”
For further information and the application form please visit here.
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The principal problem for welsh school children to access museum and galleries is not admission charges but one of transportation, ie to take a class of primary age children via bus is not usually part of school budgets and wholly reliant on fundraising by the school or parental contributions which run the risk of those families children on the poverty threshold missing out on these vital school experiences.
Hopefully this scheme, which will no doubt be very highly subscribed and successful, will cover the transport costs and be available for many years to come., not just until 2026.
A great idea in principle, but (while history is an important topic) science needs to be given much more attention than it receives currently. Money needs to be found to establish regional science information hubs so that pupils can learn about ALL the sciences as they are what will enable them and society in general to understand how they will function in the future.
Transport for Wales should be approached to provide free train tickets off peak – i.e. give away unused capacity.
Then a school in Aberafan can walk to Port Talbot Parkway, catch a train to Swansea train station and visit Swansea museums between 11am and 2pm.
Take a packed lunch and the school can turn off heating / power in a few classrooms and save money!