Creative Learning and Discovery | Visiting with a UK school

We invite children and young people to explore and discover this sacred space, its fascinating history and inspiring treasures for themselves.

Our vibrant Creative Learning programme welcomes over 2,000 children and young people each year, with opportunities designed to support and enrich the curriculum.

Our programme includes curriculum-linked RE trails, Art and Design art journals, creative workshops and hands-on sessions, GCSE Study Days and an Annual Sixth Form Conference. These experiences encourage children and young people to look closely, ask questions, make connections and explore their own ideas.

We ask all nursery, school, academy and college groups to book ahead of their visit using the provisional booking form available on this page.

Discover and Explore 950 years of Faith and History at Chichester Cathedral

Find out what you can do on a school visit. We offer a range of tours, creative learning sessions and self-guided visits.

Fully self-guided tour - perfect for sketch drawing, creative writing and self-discovery. Different lengths of visit available.

Facilitated self-guided tour 1-1.5 hours - Let us do the planning for you! This option includes a downloadable student work pack and teacher information booklet full of interesting facts, fascinating insights and top tips of where to look to make the most of your time in Chichester Cathedral.

45minute Guided tour with a creative learning volunteer - Learn about the cathedral by taking a tour with one of our knowledgeable guides.

3 Hour Visit - Facilitated self-guided tour and a 1hour creative learning session including a breaktime space.

4.5 Hour Visit - Guided tour and one 1.5hr creative learning session with a creative activity to take home and a break and lunch space.

Creative Learning Sessions

Sessions for 4- 7 year olds

Uh Oh! The Spire Collapsed!The day the spire came tumbling down
Stained Glass - an exploration of colour, shape and stories

Sessions for 7-12 year olds

Pilgrimage a journey of faith - follow in the footsteps of medieval pilgrims
Eco Church – Building a sustainable future

Session for 12-16 year olds

What is faith?
Is Pilgrimage still relevant today?

Session for 14-18 year olds / GCSE and A' Level

Liturgical art – Why is the Chichester Cathedral not an art gallery and how does liturgical art inspire faith and worship?

Designated lunch spaces for schools at Chichester Cathedral

Book a lunch space for your school group

You are welcome to come to Chichester Cathedral and eat lunch as part of a school visit. This needs to be booked in advance of your visit by downloading and filling in the provisional booking form.

Packed lunches can be eaten on our site in two different locations: The Eastern Arm is an enclosed area within the Cloisters with heating and it is away from the public behind glass doors. The use of the Eastern Arm lunch space comes with no additional charge if it is used as part of a guided, facilitated self-guided, half day or full day visit.

If you are visiting us on a fully self-guided visit which is less than 2 hours long, an additional charge of £25.00 is charged for the use of the Eastern Arm. Alternatively, if the weather is pleasant school groups can sit and eat on the Southwest Lawn, which is free of charge.

Both the Eastern Arm and The Southwest Lawn are offered on a first-come, first-served basis and must be booked in advance of your visit.

School group leaders are responsible for ensuring that the lunch space is left clean and tidy. A cleaning fee of £25.00 will be charged if a lunch area is left unclean and/or untidy.

Visiting the city and need a lunch space? If you would like to use the Eastern Arm lunch space as part of a trip to other organisations in the city which does not include a visit to Chichester Cathedral there is a charge of £25.00 per hour for this provision.

A typical booking journey

Complete a provisional booking form. Include special considerations, additional needs and requests for a lunch space

Our team will let you know if the date is available or offer alternatives.

You can accept the provisional date and learning offer by return email.

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

Enjoy your visit! We look forward to welcoming you.

Book your school visit today

To book your school visit fill in our online provisional booking form

Support with planning your visit

School Visits - Teacher Information Pack 2025-2026.docx

Download our FAQ's Teacher Information Pack

Support on the day of your visit

Chichester Cathedral Site Map.pdf

Download a Chichester Cathedral Map to know key destinations within the Cathedral Precincts on the day of your visit.

"This was the best day ever! I did not know the cathedral was so cool. I am going to work in a cathedral when I am older"

Year 5 Pupil

2259

Number of pupils who have visited Chichester Cathedral since September 2024

Number of UK school visits since September 2024

1501

Number of children taking part in Creative Learning outreach projects in 2025

Terms & Conditions for UK School Visits

Terms and Conditions of Booking

Chichester Cathedral is fully committed to safeguarding. We want every group to arrive confident that everyone in the cathedral follows the same rules and is protected by the measures we have in place. The Cathedral safeguarding policy, procedures and governance can be viewed via its website, or you can contact us via safeguarding@chichestercathedral.org.uk for more information.

Whilst taking all reasonable measures to ensure the safety and security of pupils / students, we are unable to accept responsibility for any accident or misadventure throughout the duration of the visit. All participants are advised that they should check their insurance.

Staff are encouraged to make a site visit prior to the day and make a health and safety and safeguarding risk assessment. Please note that while at the Cathedral responsibility for pupil/ students’ health, safety and behaviour remains with the school and its staff.

We understand that teachers often need to plan their visits a long time in advance, and indeed this is helpful for us. However, circumstances can arise which affect the availability of your dates, and in a worst-case scenario the booking may have to be cancelled. We will do everything in our power to make alternative arrangements with you. Occasionally circumstances arise whereby a special service must be arranged at short notice, such as a funeral, and we reserve the right to alter the visit as required but we will endeavour to make the experience as good as possible and close to what was originally intended. We will give the maximum notice possible and if we cannot find a suitable alternative date you will receive a full refund. Please note that we do not offer refunds on visits which are cancelled by the school.

Visiting schools are strongly advised to ensure that pupils / students do not leave valuables unattended in any part of the Cathedral. If pupils/students choose to leave belongings in the Eastern Arm it is done do at their own risk. We regret that the Cathedral cannot be held responsible for the safety of possessions and valuables. If you are using a break time and/or lunch space during the visit you are responsible for ensuring the space is left clean and tidy. If the space is left in an untidy/dirty manner a cleaning fee of £25.00 will be charged to the school.

Once your visit date is confirmed we will send an invoice for your visit which is payable within the invoice terms, these will be stated clearly on your invoice.

Chichester Cathedral is a Christian place of worship. Prayers are said on the hour from the pulpit and are broadcast over the Cathedral PA system. If your visit coincides with our hourly prayers, 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.

It is common for difficult topics to arise when visiting the Cathedral with children and young people. Please consider their need for support whilst engaging with these themes. We often get lively, thought-provoking questions from children and young people visiting us. We love discovering and exploring these questions together as a group and we welcome those of faith and none to explore the bigger questions of life while they are with us. Your enthusiasm in helping children and young people understand and talk about difficult questions is a way in which everyone can get the most out of their visit.

Adult to Child Ratio*

Ensure that the group is appropriately supervised by the appropriate adult to child ratio based on the age of the children. Ideally this should be:

Age	Adult to child ratio
0-2 years	I adult to 3 children
2-3 years	1 adult to 4 children
4-8 years	1 adult to 6 children
9-12 years	I adult to 8 children
13-18 years	1 adult to 10 children

NB: In a mixed age group, the ratio should always be according to the youngest child.

Cathedral Shop

If you wish to visit the Cathedral shop, please let us know and we will try to arrange this as part of your schedule.

I just wanted to say a huge thank you for your warm welcome and for such a fantastic visit for our children. The peace and calm of the Cathedral and the opportunity to experience and encounter different parts of this beautiful space was inspiring. They absolutely loved it.
Primary school teacher visiting with year 6 pupils

Have a question about school visits?

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