Field Trip Permission Slip
Consent slip for a school trip, with the detail parents actually need.
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| Trip | [destination] |
| Date | [date] |
| Leaves school | [time] |
| Returns | [time] |
| Transport | [transport] |
| Cost | No cost |
| Staff contact | [teacher] |
Permission
Please complete and return this slip to [teacher] by [date].
| Child’s name | _________________________________ |
| Class | _________________________________ |
| I give permission for my child to take part | Yes / No |
| Any medical or dietary needs | _________________________________ |
| Emergency phone number on the day | _________________________________ |
| Parent / guardian signature | _________________________________ |
| Date | _________________________________ |
What is a Field Trip Permission Slip?
A field trip permission slip is the signed form that tells a school a named child may travel off-site on a named date, and gives staff the contact and medical details they will need if something happens. It is a consent record first and an information sheet second. A child without a returned slip usually cannot board the coach, which is why the form goes out early and the chasing starts a week before.
Class teachers, trip leaders, scout and guide leaders, sports coaches, nursery managers and youth club organisers all send these out. They are also called a field trip permission form, a consent form or simply a permission slip, and the name changes nothing about what the office needs back. The person writing it is usually the one who will be standing at the coach door with a clipboard, so it is worth designing the slip around what they will need to check in thirty seconds: name, class, signature, emergency number.
What a signed slip actually achieves legally varies, and it is worth knowing the limits. In many places a parental signature does not waive the organiser's duty of care, and a clause purporting to release the school from liability for its own negligence may be unenforceable — the position differs by country and, in the US, Canada and Australia, by state or province. Handling of health data on the form falls under privacy rules such as the UK GDPR, FERPA in the US or your own data protection law. Check your school's policy and local guidance rather than copying a waiver from elsewhere.
The slip is not a risk assessment and does not replace one. It does not authorise medical treatment by itself — consent to treatment is a separate question governed by local law and by what a clinician will act on in an emergency. It is not a substitute for the adult-to-child supervision ratio your organisation or local authority requires, and it does not transfer responsibility for the trip from the staff running it to the parent who signed. Treat the slip as the record that a parent was informed and agreed, nothing more.
What to put in a Field Trip Permission Slip
These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Institution name | For example: Andhra Christian College |
| Organisation address | For example: 1420 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
| Trip | For example: Franklin Park Conservatory |
| Date of trip | Free text |
| Leaves school | For example: 8:45 AM |
| Returns | For example: 2:30 PM |
| Transport | For example: School bus |
| Cost optional | For example: 12.00, payable to the school office |
| What to bring optional | One per line |
| Return this slip by | Free text |
| Teacher | For example: Ms. Whitfield |
How to write a Field Trip Permission Slip
Describe the trip in specifics
Destination, date, departure and return times, mode of transport, and the staff member leading it with a mobile number for the day. Vague wording generates telephone calls. An educational visit to a museum is not enough; the Natural History Museum, coach departing school at 8.45 and returning by 15.30 is what lets a parent arrange collection and stop worrying.
Ask for two contactable numbers
One parent or carer is not enough — people are in meetings, on planes, out of signal. Ask for a primary and an alternate emergency contact with names, relationship to the child and mobile numbers, and make the alternate a required field rather than an optional one. On the day, the number on the slip is the only one the trip leader has.
Collect medical and dietary information
Allergies and what triggers them, current medication and when it is taken, conditions such as asthma, epilepsy or diabetes, dietary requirements, and the doctor's surgery. Ask whether the child carries their own inhaler or adrenaline pen. Say on the form who will see this information and that it is used only for the trip — health details attract data protection obligations wherever you are.
Separate each consent into its own tick
Travel, participation in the activity, emergency first aid, photography for school use, and any swimming or adventurous element each need their own box. Bundling them means a parent who objects to photographs has to refuse the whole trip, and you will not know which part they were refusing. Separate ticks also give you a clean record of exactly what was agreed to.
Set a return deadline and a tear-off line
Put the deadline in bold, a few days before you actually need it, and name the person the slip goes back to. Keep the top half as the information sheet the parent keeps and the bottom half as the part that comes back signed. Print the child's name field twice, top and bottom, because slips get separated and an unnamed tear-off strip is useless.
Common mistakes
- Leaving the cost and what it covers off the form, which produces a week of emails and a handful of children who arrive without payment.
- Bundling photography consent in with travel consent, so a parent who objects to one has to refuse the trip entirely.
- Asking for a single emergency contact, which fails the moment that one person is unreachable and a child needs a decision made.
- Taking the slips on the trip as the only copy, so if the folder is lost the leader has no medical information for any child.
- Using a blanket liability waiver copied from elsewhere, which may be unenforceable where you are and gives staff false confidence about what the signature covers.
Frequently asked questions
What should a field trip permission slip include?
Child's name and class, trip destination, date, departure and return times, transport, the staff member leading it and a contact number for the day, cost and what it covers, kit and clothing, two emergency contacts, medical and dietary details, separate consent ticks, the parent's signature and date, and a clear return deadline. Keep the top half as information the parent keeps.
Can a child go on a field trip without a signed permission slip?
Most schools say no, and that is a policy decision rather than a legal one in many places. The slip is the record that a parent knew about the trip and agreed to it, and without it staff have no emergency contacts and no medical information for that child. Some schools accept an emailed confirmation from the registered parent address as a stopgap. Check your own school's policy.
Does a permission slip protect the school from liability?
Not in the way people assume. A signature records informed consent; in many jurisdictions it does not release an organiser from a duty of care, and a waiver of liability for the organiser's own negligence may be unenforceable. The position varies by country and by state or province. Treat the slip as evidence that the parent was told what the trip involved, and rely on your risk assessment and supervision for the rest.
Can one permission slip cover a whole year of trips?
Some schools use a blanket consent for routine local visits — a walk to the library, a nearby sports fixture — and a separate slip for anything further, overnight, or involving water, heights or a specialist activity. Whether blanket consent is acceptable is set by your school or local authority policy. Even where it is allowed, medical and contact details need refreshing during the year, because they change.
Who can sign a field trip permission slip?
A parent or the person holding legal parental responsibility — which may be a guardian, a foster carer or a local authority for a looked-after child. An older sibling or a grandparent without that standing cannot give consent unless your policy recognises them. Where parents are separated, schools generally accept a signature from either parent with parental responsibility, but check what your school's own records say about who may be contacted.
This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.