Dover school groups coach fast track pilot guidance is released

The Department for Education (DfE) has published guidance for school groups travelling via the Port of Dover by coach and are using a pilot to accelerate their passage through French border controls there.

That scheme began on 3 April as the busy period for cross-channel trips neared. It was described at the time as being something that will make outbound travel for school groups via Dover as “more seamless and accessible.”

Organisers bear the burden of submitting the necessary traveller information, with the coach driver included in that group of individuals. Name, date of birth, nationality and type of identity document are required and must be added to a spreadsheet supplied by the participating ferry carrier.

DfE says that all the instructions posted on gov.uk must be followed. French authorities will reject data if it is not submitted in the required format.

Where more than one coach is being used by the group, a separate spreadsheet for each vehicle must be completed and individuals should be seated on coaches in accordance with those manifests.

Evidence that the group is from a certified school must also be provided. All data is to be sent to the ferry carrier at least 72 hours before the date of travel. If it is not, the group will be unable to use the expedited process.

If there are any late removals from the spreadsheets, the faster passage through border controls will remain available. Any new travellers added after the 72-hour cut-off will need to go through standard border processing.

In the area of greatest relevance to coach operators, each vehicle should display a label in the windscreen showing the first seven letters of the school name and the number of passengers aboard the vehicle.

Those labels help French border authorities to identify participating coaches at Dover. Without the label, the coach will not be able to use the faster processing.

Labels will be supplied to schools by ferry operators. The school is responsible for completing the label, including highlighting if there is more than one coach on the trip by adding the coach number after the seven letters of the school name.

Read the DfE guidance here.