Education Service Working with schools to support young people's understanding of Parliament and democracy

Visit Parliament programme

A year-round programme of visits for students aged 7-18. Choose from a selection of themed workshops and tour the awe-inspiring Palace of Westminster.

About Visit Parliament

Visits begin with a tour of the Palace of Westminster, providing the context for learning about the work and role of Parliament. A choice of curriculum-focused workshops follows, including a question and answer session with your school's MP, subject to their availability at the time of your visit.

Palace of Westminster tour

Learn how Parliament works inside the amazing building where its business takes place. Tours will vary according to the time of your visit as access to the debating chambers and public viewing galleries is not always possible.

Choice of interactive workshops

All workshops are designed to support the teaching of the Citizenship curriculum, and build on the palace tour with more focused content. Each is differentiated for the appropriate key stage, makes use of interactive technology and culminates in a question and answer session with your school's MP (subject to their availability).

Choose one of the following workshops:

• Elections and voting
  Younger students will make their own manifestos for an interactive election, while older learners will explore the world of different voting systems and voting behaviour.
• Your voice
  Local, national and European responsibilities are the focus of this session. Crucially, it explores how people have effected change in this context and what students can do to make a difference on the issues that matter to them.
• Making laws
  We all have to obey laws, but how are they made? Students will find out by following the process of a bill from the spark of an idea to the Queen putting pen to paper.

Visiting times and information

Visit Parliament runs four times daily during term time:

• 9.30am - 11.45am
• 11.00am - 1.15pm
• 12.30pm - 2.45pm
• 2.00pm - 4.15pm

All visits last 2 hours 15 minutes.

Due to the high demand for this service, palace tours will be cut short for late arriving groups. Useful visit preparation resources are available alongside our booking information.

We welcome pupils with special educational needs - please contact us to discuss your requirements.

How to book

Contact us to book your visit. All visits and resources are free of charge.

We advise taking note of the booking line opening date for the term you're interested in. Visit Parliament is extremely popular and books up quickly.