School children sat around a table, cheering.

Educational Groups - Day Visit

The National Space Centre welcomes over 80,000 school children each year for out-of-the-classroom learning day trips! From a standard day trip, including a planetarium show, to live talks, workshops and presenter-led planetarium shows, you can tailor your visit to your groups educational goals. 

Please see our booking FAQ for information about booking enquiries.

Booking enquiries can be made via email by contacting bookings@spacecentre.co.uk, calling us at 0116 258 2111, or filling out our contact form.

After emailing or filling out the contact form, a member of our bookings team will be in contact with you as soon as possible; please allow up to two days for a response during busy periods.

You will receive an email detailing what we offer, as well as letting you know what information we require to create a booking; please read all the information and ensure you provide the correct details to allow us to contact you and book you in.

During a standard visit, groups are allocated a standard planetarium show and a lunch slot. Any time not allocated to either of these is for groups to explore the centre's galleries.

The centre is open from 10:00 to 16:00 during term time. Groups may enter at any point and may spend as long as they like exploring, up until we close at 16:00.

Any additional activities, such as workshops and live talks, will be booked in during time otherwise given for centre exploration.

Find workshop and live talk activities here.

Find Planetarium shows here.

Visits are charged per child. Upgraded planetarium shows are charged per child. Additional activities are charged per session. 

Please find our prices here.

All information about payment for bookings can be found here.

Please contact our bookings team for more information at bookings@spacecentre.co.uk.

Please access the following document to find out more.

Your group's itinerary is based on your group size, our own availability (based on other group bookings), any additional activities you have booked, presenter availability, lunch room space and your arrival and departure times.

While we aim to fit all your activities in in a convenient and reasonable manor, this may not always be possible. Please book as far in advance as possible to ensure we have availability for you and your group.

Large groups or visits booked in on particularly busy days may be split into smaller groups to accommodate for the activities you book.

Your itinerary will be sent as part of your 'Visit Letter' (the letter we require you to sign and return to confirm your booking), which you receive upon booking a visit. 

If your arrival and departure times change, please let us know as soon as possible, as we may need to or be able to alter your to suit your groups new visiting hours.

If you group is expecting to be late, please call us at 0116 258 2111 and let us know when you expect to arrive and we will attempt to rearrange your activities, however we cannot guarantee availability.

When booking, your group is assigned a lunch slot based on our own availability and your groups activities. Typically, lunch is held in our school group lunch hall, however this may vary depending on our own availability and unforeseen circumstances. 

A member of staff will brief your group on where to wait for your lunch; a member of our housekeeping team meet you at the designated waiting spot and will take you to our lunch room.