What does an Educational Visits Coordinator (EVC) do?

What is an Educational Visits Coordinator?

DfE's guidance on health and safety on educational visits says schools should appoint an educational visits coordinator and make sure they have the training they need. The EVC should be an experienced visit leader who can assess the competence of staff, check outside providers, and advise the headteacher and governors when they approve trips. If the school has no EVC, the headteacher takes on the role by default.

The Outdoor Education Advisers' Panel (OEAP) describes the EVC in National Guidance document 3.4j. It calls the post good practice for every establishment and notes that an employer's policy may make it a requirement. Check your own employer's educational visits policy for the formal job description, because local authorities and academy trusts set their own approval routes.

What does an EVC actually do?

OEAP lists the key functions. The table groups them by the question each one answers.

Where does the EVC sit in approving a trip abroad?

Most overseas trips go through three layers. The visit leader drafts the plan, itinerary and visit-specific risk assessment. The EVC checks it. The headteacher, governing board and often the employer approve it. DfE guidance says headteachers or governing boards give informed approval for trips that need a risk assessment. Many local authorities and academy trusts also require overseas and residential trips to be submitted to their outdoor education adviser through an online system, often weeks or months before departure.

For the content of the assessment itself, see our guide to the school trip risk assessment. The EVC does not replace the visit leader's responsibility to plan the trip. They provide a second, experienced check before anyone is asked to sign it off.

What does the EVC check on an overseas trip?

• Staffing. That the number and mix of adults fits the risk assessment and the employer's policy. See our guide to staff to pupil ratios on school trips abroad.
• Providers. DfE says schools must check that outside organisations have appropriate safety standards and public liability insurance, and recommends the LOtC Quality Badge or similar accreditation. The EVC advises on this.
• Medical and SEND information. That needs have been collected early and the plan makes reasonable adjustments.
• Consent and information for parents. That consent forms cover medical treatment, data sharing and financial terms.
• Insurance. That the policy fits the destination, activities and everyone travelling.
• Emergency arrangements. That there is a named home contact reachable throughout the trip, and that leaders know the emergency and communications plans. DfE expects schools to have both.

Who can be an EVC, and what training do they need?

OEAP says the person appointed should be specifically competent for the role. They should be an experienced visit leader with enough status in the school to guide the working practice of colleagues. Some tasks can be delegated to an administrator, but the role is not just administrative. Where the EVC does not meet these criteria, OEAP says they need structured support from a designated colleague who does.

• OEAP recommends all EVCs undertake EVC training, then revalidation at least every three years, delivered by a trained OEAP EVC trainer.
• The EVC should have access to expert advice from the employer, such as a competent outdoor education adviser.
• Leaders and helpers still need training for their own roles. The EVC checks that their competence has been assessed.

Scotland uses its own national framework, Going Out There, and Northern Ireland schools follow their employing authority's guidance, so the exact terminology and approval route can differ outside England.

What happens after the trip?

DfE expects a clear evaluation process. The EVC makes sure incidents, accidents and near misses are recorded and that lessons feed into the school's generic risk assessments and the plan for the next trip. Our group travel emergency plan guide covers how to run a post-incident review, and our guide to the post-trip review covers routine debriefs.

How Roamly can help

Roamly supplies the itinerary, accommodation, transport and supplier contact details an EVC needs to check a trip, and can help build the timeline for submitting it for approval. Use the free trip timeline builder and travel risk assessment tool as starting points, or see our consulting service. Approval and risk assessment stay with the school. Contact us to discuss a trip.