Top Farms for Educational School Visits

Founded in 1976 by children's author Sir Michael Morpurgo and his wife Clare, Farms for City Children remains the gold standard for transformative residential farm education. Clare used her inheritance from her father, Sir Allen Lane (founder of Penguin Books), to establish the charity at Nethercott House in Devon, where the first children arrived in January 1976. The programme has since grown to three heritage farms: the original Nethercott House near Iddesleigh in Devon, Wick Court in Gloucestershire (a moated Elizabethan manor house once rumoured to have hosted Elizabeth I), and Lower Treginnis in Pembrokeshire, a 700-year-old farmstead that is the most westerly farm in Wales.

More than 100,000 children have experienced the charity's immersive five-day residential programme, with over 3,000 underserved children and young people (ages 8-19) benefiting annually. During their week-long stays, children engage in purposeful farm work rather than passive observation. Activities include feeding livestock and collecting eggs, grooming ponies and donkeys, herding sheep, working in kitchen gardens, making butter and yoghurt, and even whittling wood and building dens. The farms are proudly screen-free, swapping digital distractions for analogue adventures. HRH The Princess Royal serves as patron, and the charity holds CEVAS accreditation across all sites. Michael Morpurgo has spoken of how a relationship between a stammering boy and a horse at Nethercott partly inspired his novel War Horse.

Spanning 700 acres in the Durham countryside, Hall Hill Farm has been in the Gibson family since 1925 and first opened to visitors in 1981. The farm has become a beacon of educational excellence in the North East, winning the National Award for Best in Education in 2014 and achieving runner-up status in 2015 and 2016. It was the first farm in the North East to receive CEVAS accreditation and also holds the Learning Outside the Classroom quality badge. More recent accolades include Farm Attraction of the Year 2022, a VisitEngland Gold Accolade in 2023, and a Welcome Accolade in 2024.

The farm specialises in school visits, welcoming groups from March to December by prior arrangement. Each class receives its own guide who leads them through hands-on experiences including holding chicks and rabbits, feeding lambs and goats, and meeting Highland cattle, Jacob sheep, alpacas, llamas, and wallabies. Tractor and trailer rides offer views of the surrounding countryside. Three barn classrooms provide covered spaces for picnic lunches, and teacher information packs aligned with the National Curriculum are included along with comprehensive risk assessments.

This Gloucestershire landmark stands as the home of rare breed conservation, established in 1970 by Joe Henson, father of BBC Countryfile presenter Adam Henson. Today Adam runs the farm with his business partner, welcoming approximately 160,000 visitors annually. The park houses over 50 flocks and herds of rare and traditional breed farm animals, from Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs to Highland cattle, offering visitors an unparalleled journey through the history of British farming.

Educational visits can be either guided or self-led. Guided visits (from eight pounds fifty per child with one free adult per five children) include a structured timetable of activities, reserved lunch seating, animal snacks, and comprehensive teacher resources. The Farmer Package covers food miles, seasonality, Fairtrade, and egg and milk production, while the Animal Package focuses on handling small animals and learning about their care. Self-led visits offer excellent value at five pounds per child, with access to seasonal farming demonstrations, interactive animal barns, a two-mile wildlife walk, and adventure play areas including bouncy pillows that prove perennially popular.

This family-run working farm sits in the beautiful Pennine foothills and has gained national recognition as the host farm for Channel 5's Springtime on the Farm. The Nicholson family has farming roots in Barnsley stretching back decades, and education sits at the core of their mission. School groups of 20 or more are welcomed for just seven pounds ninety-five per child (with one free adult per five children), and each group receives a friendly tour guide who highlights the best of farm life.

Children can explore barns, paddocks, and animal houses including a reptile house home to leaf-cutter ants, hissing cockroaches, chameleons, and iguanas. The daily programme includes ferret racing, sheep racing, and informative talks from the farm team, all designed to entertain while educating. The farm provides comprehensive risk assessments and offers free pre-visits for teachers. Indoor facilities including The Hungry Llama soft play ensure visits can proceed whatever the weather.

Kentwell Hall offers something entirely unique: full immersion time-travel to Tudor England. This magnificent moated Tudor house, with origins recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, has hosted historical re-enactments since 1979. Over 500,000 schoolchildren from as far afield as Japan have visited to experience these extraordinary recreations, where over 100 costumed living historians from all levels of Tudor society go about their daily business speaking, behaving, and working as though the 21st century does not exist.

School visits last approximately three and a half hours, during which students experience over 20 hands-on activities spread throughout the house, gardens, and rare-breeds farm. From food preparation and longbow archery to music, dance, and traditional crafts, the curriculum links extend far beyond history into language, science, and geography. Tudor Midsummer Schools Only Days typically take place in late June, suitable for Key Stage 2 through GCSE students. The distinctive feature is total immersion without a break, allowing children to genuinely feel they have visited the foreign country that is the past. Primary-aged pupils are encouraged to dress in simple period-style clothes to enhance the experience.

At 32 acres, Mudchute is the largest inner-city farm in the country, offering East London communities a piece of countryside in the heart of the city. The farm operates as a community charity with free admission every day, making it particularly valuable for schools working within tight budgets. It is one of London's only Rare Breed Survival Trust Approved Conservation Farm Parks, home to over 100 animals including cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, donkeys, llamas, chickens, ducks, geese, and rabbits.

School visits can be either self-guided or include a guided one-hour farm tour with animal feed included. The farm welcomes up to 180 school children per day across multiple bookings (maximum 30 per booking). An Education Centre and Living Classroom provide indoor facilities for learning activities, though note that inside areas are not accessible for independent visits. Teachers are responsible for booking their own transport, and a pre-visit is essential. The farm also provides educational workshops adaptable to age, ability, and current learning topics.

This Tower Hamlets charity brings a slice of countryside to urban families and school groups, operating as a unique outdoor classroom for all ages and abilities. The farm's education programme supports curriculum learning, bringing lessons around food, animals, and nature to life. Workshops explore themes of food, farming, and sustainability, designed to foster nature connection, and can be booked on Wednesdays or Fridays.

Guided tours cost eighty-five pounds for up to 30 children (price from December 2025), while self-guided visits allow access to the farm's gardens and animals for two-hour slots. Crucially, the farm believes in free education for all and will not refuse access to local schools or organisations that cannot afford to pay. Tower Hamlets schools unable to book can contact the education team directly, and a schools bursary scheme exists for KS2 and KS3 classes. If visiting is impossible, the farm team can bring the experience to your school.

Part of the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, these farms offer a distinctive Field to Fridge programme enabling school groups to trace milk's journey from crops grown in fields to cartons on supermarket shelves. The Holyfield Hall site is a fully operational dairy farm home to over 120 Holstein Friesian cows producing milk for some of Europe's largest dairy producers, and it is one of very few dairy farms in the region to permit groups such close, personal experiences with its cows.

Self-guided tours help build pupils' knowledge of how a farm works, with downloadable teacher resource packs available for KS1 and KS2. Guided tours through the Youth and Schools Service cover the crops that feed the cows, inspection of milking machinery, and close-up experiences in the calf shed. The Community Access Fund provides free coach travel for eligible school and community groups from London, Hertfordshire, and Essex, removing transport barriers to farm education.

Built in 1794, Wimpole Home Farm is the only in-hand farm of its kind in the National Trust. This model for sustainable farming practices sits within a 3,000-acre estate featuring a Georgian mansion, parkland, and extensive gardens. The farm operates as one of the UK's largest rare-breed centres, playing a key role in conserving traditional livestock breeds. From Shire horses to newly born piglets, there is a wide range of farm animals to meet.

School groups can benefit from an Education Group Access Pass offering free admission and parking across National Trust properties for a year. The estate welcomes self-led educational visits, with teachers able to contact the property to plan curriculum-linked days covering history, conservation, and agricultural knowledge. The 750-acre organic arable farm is one of the few organic farms in the area, producing wheat, rye, and spelt for organic breads, oats for porridge, and barley for beer. Little Acorns, the popular pre-school group, offers relaxed sessions for younger children with stories, songs, and activities inspired by the estate.

This family-run attraction opened in 2003 on a working farm within the Lancashire countryside and has since collected multiple awards including Best Small Visitor Attraction, National Farm Attraction, and Best Tourism Team. The farm holds Visit England Quality Assured Visitor Attraction status and combines farming fun with educational experiences in a safe environment. School visits are fully timetabled from 10:30am to approximately 2:00pm, covering most National Curriculum topics.

Educational packages cost six pounds seventy-five per child with supervising adults free within ratio for year group. The timetable includes a sheep show in the animal barn arena, tractor and trailer ride, and time with a variety of animals including pigs, goats, sheep, cows, ponies, horses, ferrets, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, and llamas. The farm assigns visiting schools a room as a base for storing packed lunches and coats at no extra cost. A Schools Writing Tour is also available for older children, featuring a historical tour of the farm, buildings, and fields explaining seasonal management.

With over 40 years of experience hosting educational visits, Godstone Farm has developed comprehensive programmes complementing Early Years, Key Stage 1, and Key Stage 2 classroom subjects. The farm guarantees fantastic learning experiences mixed with fun, welcoming schools from Surrey, Sussex, Kent, and beyond. Competitive 2025 rates start from ten pounds fifty per child (off peak) and eleven pounds fifty (peak), including one free adult per five children and free parking.

School bookings include a picnic area at lunchtime and a private animal interactions session with the Education Team. Activities are subject to availability and continue in most weathers. The farm provides risk assessments and strongly encourages pre-visits during term time (with school ID badge required). Coach discounts are available through Turbostyle Coaches. Opening times run 10am to 4:45pm, with suggested arrival from 9:45am and activities starting by 10:30am.

This mixed working farm near Carlisle holds CEVAS accreditation and the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge. Educational visits can be delivered from KS1 and KS2 through to GCSE and A-Level, with all packages developed on the principle of hands-on learning. Tailor-made Numeracy and Literacy activity days for KS1 and KS2 allow cross-curricular integration, while the Cooking on the Farm package links food and farming, giving students the chance to produce a healthy meal.

Whatever your educational requirements, the farm's Education Team works with schools to deliver fun, exciting, and interactive learning experiences. Minimum group sizes are 15 children. If the weather turns wet, the large indoor adventure play area and undercover Milecastle 62 provide entertainment, along with a dedicated under-5s soft play area for younger groups. CEVAS-trained guides are available for exclusive demonstrations tailored to your formal or informal teaching requirements.

Willows offers curriculum-linked activities for Early Years Learning and KS1, allowing urban children to explore the countryside, meet farmyard animals, and discover where their food comes from. The farm provides teacher resources for classroom use before and after visits, including worksheets on animals, families, breeds, songs, and animal needs. Groups can choose self-guided visits or add curriculum-led guided visits with trained Willows Educational Group Guides.

The trip includes daily demonstrations, shows, animal racing, dedicated educational guides, and full use of all activities and adventure play areas including the Woolly Jumpers indoor play barn and Peter Rabbit Adventure Playground. Under-2s are admitted free, with one adult free for every five paying children. Guides are free when the total booking exceeds one hundred and fifty pounds. The on-site Willows Farm Day Nursery extends this ethos to daily childcare, offering twice-daily visits to farm animals, Forest School sessions, and a Mini Farmer programme.