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Information and FAQs for visiting schools and youth groups

Here you can find key information that will help you plan your school or youth group visit.

Download this information to print or share with staff

Culture, spirituality and sensitivity

Durham Cathedral is a Christian place of worship. Public visiting continues during standard daily services, and you can continue to explore the Cathedral while these take place. Visitors are welcome to take part in acts of worship but are under no expectation or obligation to do so.

During prayers on the hour, or in the vicinity of services, we ask for quiet as a mark of respect to our Christian community. If you would like to take part in an act of worship on your visit, we are happy to help arrange this. On weekdays and Saturdays, services are held at 8:30am, 12:30am and 5:30pm and are broadcast over the Cathedral PA.

It is common for difficult topics including death, gender politics and interreligious dialogue to arise when visiting the Cathedral with young people. Please consider their need for support whilst engaging with these themes.

Durham Cathedral is a burial ground. This is a key consideration for visitors from some faiths, including Judaism.

What are the toilets like?

Toilets at the cathedral are public facilities. There are 12 cubicles in the female toilets and the equivalent in the male toilets. We have two wheelchair accessible toilets.

We are not able to supervise your pupils in the toilet block. Please make sure that you have considered your school’s supervision policy and be sensitive to the comfort and safety of our visitors in these shared facilities.

Supervision and safeguarding

No child should be left unsupervised in the Cathedral. We are committed to following government and Church of England guidelines for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. The minimum supervision ratios set out in those guidelines help ensure the safety of these vulnerable groups. We will always indicate the minimum supervision ratio for your visit on the confirmation form. If you arrive without adequate adult supervision, your group may be asked to leave.

You will also be asked to read, sign and return a safeguarding pledge before your visit to ensure you understand the implications for your group and allow you time to ask questions. We want every group to arrive reassured that everyone in the Cathedral is abiding by the same rules and protected by the measures we have in place.  

Do we have to pay to come to Durham Cathedral?

There are unavoidable costs of administration and upkeep to our facilities so that we can welcome groups. We ensure all groups receive accurate information in planning the visit, comply with our safeguarding commitments, and get the best possible experience on their visit. Your support helps keep Durham Cathedral accessible to young people from all around the world. Funding also helps our Learning & Engagement team offer free activities for young people and families, and provides outreach projects for schools. For these reasons, there is a charge for all groups coming to Durham Cathedral. Charges for school and youth groups are detailed on this page.

All organised groups must be booked in advance of their visit. Payment can be arranged by invoice after your visit, or at the visitor desk when you arrive - you can let us know your preference when you enquire about a visit. We generally don't charge in advance and this allows us the flexibility to charge only for people who attend on the day.

We rely heavily on donations from visitors. With this financial support along with charges to groups, we can continue to care for our buildings and communities for the future.

Photography

Photography is permitted at Durham Cathedral and these are the key things to consider:

The Cathedral is open to the public and is a popular tourist destination. It's possible that your children will walk in front of someone taking a picture. However, if you believe someone is taking pictures of your young people, always let a member of Cathedral staff know.

Photography of children from outside your group and photography of acts of worship is prohibited. Photography in certain areas of the museum is also prohibited to help preserve some of the artefacts. Please ask a member of the cathedral team for advice if you’re visiting the museum.

What should we wear?

Generally, school uniform is fine. Some of our sessions are outdoor (e.g. Cuthbert’s Challenges, Riverbanks tour) and so weather-appropriate clothing is essential.

Accompanying adults will also need to be reminded to wear weather-appropriate clothing and sturdy footwear. Open-toed shoes and high-heeled shoes are discouraged due to the uneven surfaces at the cathedral.

Food and drink

Make sure you have enough time to finish your coffee! If you plan to purchase food or hot drinks in the Cathedral, please consider lunchtime rush and get your orders in early. Consumption of food, drink and chewing gum is not permitted in the nave and chapels of the Cathedral so you may be asked to pack or dispose of food and drink that is being carried into the church.

Packed lunches can be eaten on our site in a few different places. We don’t charge for this, but we offer spaces on a first-come, first-serve basis. Although we often get asked, we can’t offer/arrange for you to have lunch on Palace Green because it is owned and operated by Durham University.

A family enjoy drinks and snacks in the cathedral's undercroft cafe

Is there anywhere we can put our bags?

For guided groups, we provide space in our Learning Centre for bags where possible. This building is closed to the public, but accessible by our staff. We are unable to take responsibility for damage or loss of belongings stored in the Learning Centre.

For self-guided visits, we try to provide space where we have capacity, but we can’t guarantee this. Plan to keep belongings with you, but do ask on the day.

Parking and coach drop off

There isn’t any parking for coaches at Durham Cathedral due to the historic nature of the city. 

Palace Green, where the small council-operated Cathedral bus drops off, is owned by Durham University and barriers are operated by Durham Council. Enquiries regarding drop-off and pick-up on Palace Green should be directed to security@durham.ac.uk.

If you are a small group arriving by car, we can sometimes arrange an exemption to the congestion toll for using the Bailey, but we can’t reserve parking on our site unless for wheelchair access. 

Will there be other schools at the Cathedral?

There is a good chance that there will be other schools at Durham Cathedral on the day(s) of your visit. There are only so many days in the calendar where we can accommodate school visits so quite frequently, we have multiple schools visiting at a time. As such, it’s essential to regularly count or register your group and remind your group of the importance of staying together.

Central tower climb

We only recommend the tower climb to KS3+ school or youth groups. Health and safety requirements for the tower are quite strict. There is a maximum of 35 people (adults + young people combined) allowed up the tower at any time. Under 18s must be accompanied on a 1:5 ratio of adults:children. That means that the maximum group size for young people is effectively 29 per slot.

There is additional agreement for groups who wish to climb the tower which we send out when you enquire. There is a flat £100.00 surplus fee per hour slot for groups climbing the tower which helps the cathedral mitigate against loss of public ticket sales.

Do you have a risk assessment?

Learning activities at the Cathedral are risk-assessed and we have a continuous programme of review to ensure our site and its precincts are as safe as they can be.

Visiting parties should conduct their own risk assessment prior to their visit in line with DfES guidelines.

The Outdoor Education Advisers’ Panel for school trips has many useful guidance resources here.

Visiting parties should conduct their own risk assessment prior to their visit in line with Department for Education guidelines.

Key considerations you might make in hazard identification and risk reduction at Durham Cathedral:

  • Have we shared information about our participants that might impact the risk level of activities?
  • Due to the historic nature of the building and its surroundings there are many uneven surfaces.
  • Have we made note of the position of potential tripping hazards, e.g. steps, steep or muddy surfaces, uneven pavements, kerbs etc. Have we taken note of the position of ramps and handrails to minimize this risk?
  • Some of the paths along the riverbanks are not fenced- have we considered what we would do if a child fell into the river?
  • Have we considered the presence of prickly, stinging or poisonous plants in flower displays at the cathedral and growing on the riverbanks?

Key considerations you might make in hazard identification and risk reduction at Durham Cathedral (cont'd):

  • Durham Cathedral is in the centre of a popular world heritage site and university city. How will we monitor pupils when travelling through the city? What risks are posed by the public, travel, animals and vehicles in the vicinity of the cathedral?
  • Durham Cathedral is host to many events and concerts, have we considered that children may come into contact with electrical equipment?
  • The cathedral is both a place of quiet and of great noise (members of the public, organ rehearsals, singing, announcements) Have we considered how best to issue instructions to children in the Cathedral?
  • On bright days, allow time for your eyes to adjust to the light in certain areas of the Cathedral.
  • Many of the Cathedral staff are trained fire wardens but have we considered appropriate fire exits and assembly points?
  • Have we ensured that we are able to provide the required supervision ratio? Do we comply with the Cathedral Safeguarding pledge, and with our own school policies?
  • Have we shared our risk assessments and mitigations with all adults accompanying the group?

We encourage, and are more than happy to assist with, conducting a planning visit to help you prepare your risk assessment.

What's the booking process?

Enquiry

Send an enquiry form via our website. Include any learning objectives or additional needs.

Enquiry Form

Date agreed

Our team will let you know if the date you've requested is available or offer alternatives. You can accept the provisional date and learning offer by return email

Calendar

Safeguarding pledge

You will need to return a completed safeguarding pledge for your visit via email. This is an agreement that your organisation complies with the principles of our safeguarding policy

Safeguarding Policy

Confirmation

Our team will issue a confirmation form and offer further planning help.


After this step, we look forward to welcoming you to the cathedral, at the agreed date and time.