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History School Trips - Accompanied WWI Medicine & Surgery on the Western Front

Our 3-day, accompanied tour to the First World War Battlefields really can enhance the teaching and learning process for Pearson Edexcel’s GCSE History - Option 11: The British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: injuries, treatment and the trenches – and that’s not just our view, our itinerary has been formally endorsed by the exam board itself.

Your pupils will learn from a wealth of important historical sites and excursions such as Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, the largest hospital cemetery in Ypres Salient area; In Flanders Field Museum, a superb state-of-the-art interactive museum and Passchendaele Memorial Museum, which featured examples of trenches and bunkers where soldiers would have been treated initially.

We also offer free Medicine and Surgery Site resources to provide activities for pupils at key sites.

 

Prices start from £359pp

NST Subject Expert

NST Subject Expert

Educational support, local knowledge & on-tour assistance
Remembrance Journal

Remembrance Journal

Free WWI journal to record learning experiences

Sample itinerary

  • Day Day 1
  • Day Day 2
  • Day Day 3
Morning
Morning departure, visit to museum for First World War overview to set scene – e.g. In Flanders Fields Museum
Afternoon
Essex Farm CWGC Cemetery, Hill 60 & Caterpillar Crater and Lijssenthoek CWGC Cemetery
Evening
Visit Menin Gate for The Last Post Ceremony
Morning
The Sunken Lane, Auchonvillers CWGC Cemetery
Afternoon
Accrington Pals Memorial, Newfoundland Memorial Park and Thiepval Memorial to the Missing
Morning
Wellington Quarry, Arras
Afternoon
Cambrai Tank Museum
Evening
Depart for journey home

Price includes

  • 2 nights' full-board accommodation staying at NST’s Château d’Ebblinghem
  • Executive coach transportation from & to school & throughout your stay
  • Services of an NST History Subject Expert
  • Free WWI Remembrance Journal
  • Extensive group travel insurance
  • Free place ratio of 1 in 8

Price shown is based on 40 paying passengers departing from selected departure points and is subject to availability.

Latest offers

A note about endorsement

A note about endorsement

This itinerary has been reviewed by the awarding body to confirm that it suitably enhances the teaching and learning process for the related Pearson qualification.

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Top visits

In Flanders Field Museum

This superb state-of-the-art, interactive museum is now an even richer experience with the updated larger museum. Covering most aspects of the war in Flanders, each visitor will receive a wristband that will take them on a journey in the museum through the eyes of someone who was there. Educational worksheets and study resources and workshops are available www.inflandersfields.be/en/educational-new

Passchendaele Memorial Museum

Commemorating the 1917 Battle of Passchendale, this museum has been enlarged, with a new underground exhibition focusing on the battle, a network of open air trenches and a new remembrance gallery. A full day interactive platoon experience also available, please call for details.

 

Sanctuary Wood Museum & Hill 62

On Ypres school trips, students can visit this fascinating site near the original front lines, featuring well-preserved British trenches, covered passageways, and a section of the underground tunnel system. The museum consists of two rooms housing many artefacts removed from the battlefields plus a large and rare collection of three dimensional photo images inside special viewing boxes.

Hooge Crater Museum and Trenches Experience

Students can explore the Museum Hooge Crater, offering a unique tour with original artefacts and full-scale reconstructions of battlefield scenes. A visit to the trenches showcases a German and British trench in their exact original position, as they were between April and July 1915.

The museum also boasts an extensive collection of weapons from 1914-18, along with war equipment from all the armies involved in the intense battles of those years. Photos and other historical displays make this museum a true must-see for anyone studying World War I.

Essex Farm Cemetery & Dressing Station

Probably most famous because of the connection between the preserved British bunker and the Canadian poet, John McCrae, this cemetery and the nearby canal bank, formerly the British Front Line, are also well worth visiting.

Hill 60 & Caterpillar Crater

The remains of two of the mines blown up at the beginning of the Battle of Messines lie here. The preserved battlefield around the Hill 60 crater bears witness to the ferocity of the fighting around this vantage point, which changed hands on several occasions.

Lijssenthoek Cemetery

The story of the cemetery - the largest hospital cemetery in the Ypres Salient area with almost 11,000 victims, representing 30 nationalities - is told in this new visitor centre. The exhibition includes a photo and listening wall where stories from the war can be discovered.

Menin Gate & Last Post Ceremony

The largest and the most important of the British memorials to the Missing in The Salient, The Menin Gate holds the names of 54,896 soldiers of the British Empire. This memorial marked the start of one of the main roads out of Ypres towards the Front Line. Following a meal at a local restaurant, your students will witness the moving ‘Last Post Ceremony’ which takes place every evening at 8pm.

Sunken Lane

The Sunken Lane was a lane running in a north-south direction and situated in No Mans Land, halfway between the opposing front lines west of Beaumont Hamel village until the battle moved beyond the village in November 1916. 

Auchonvillers Cemetery

From the outbreak of the war to the summer of 1915, this part of the front was held by French troops, who began the military cemetery in June 1915. It continued to be used by Commonwealth field ambulances and fighting units until early 1917.

Accrington Pals Memorial

Constructed of Accrington brick, this striking and relatively recent memorial commemorates one of the best known of the Pals Battalions. It stands in a park dedicated to The Sheffield City Battalion which contains traces of the front line trenches, from which both battalions attacked on 1st July 1916.

Newfoundland Park

Undoubtedly one of the largest and best-preserved trench memorials on the Western Front. Just outside the park lies Hawthorn Crater, and within it are the ‘Danger Tree’ and remains of the British Front Line. The German Front Line can be seen across No Man’s Land. 

Thiepval Memorial & Visitor Centre

This is the largest memorial to the British missing on the Western Front, containing the names of over 73,000 men who died in the Somme section before 20th March 1918 and have no known graves. The visitor centre houses an informative exhibition designed to aid understanding of the history of Thiepval during WWI.

Wellington Quarry

This fascinating museum has been created within a section of tunnels dug by the British Army during WWI. It gives groups on Somme school trips the opportunity to visit the underground network which played a key part in the Battle of Arras. Your students will descend 20 metres in a glass lift to take a guided tour. A great alternative to Vimy Ridge which can get booked up very early.

Cambrai Tank Museum

Opened in 2018, the bare concrete walls of this museum have been designed to resemble those of a bunker on the Hindenburg Line, the formidable system of German defences attacked by more than 400 tanks in November 1917. The remains of an original tank - 'Deborah' - are housed in the museum. Displayed with her are objects belonging to the soldiers, airmen, and nurses who served in this part of Northern France during the First World War.

Need something bespoke?

Our dedicated team are on hand and ready to plan your tailor-made tour.

 

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On-tour support

On-tour support includes...

  • Pre-booked meals at great group prices
  • Services of an NST Subject Expert

 

 

On-tour support

NST History Subject Experts

Take one of our History Subject Experts with you on your next history school trip. 

Our Subject Experts are former teachers with detailed knowledge of the current history curriculum. They are selected to meet your exact tour requirements, helping your group to get even more from their time outside the classroom. Making them the perfect companion for any of our school history trips.

 

Group Co-ordinator

Your dedicated Group Co-ordinator, if staying at NST’s Château d’Ebblinghem, will ensure the smooth-running of your school tour, acting as all-round support for your group

Accommodation

Popular options in Northern France & Belgium

This is only a sample of our entire range, so for expert advice on accommodation to suit your group’s specific needs, speak to one of our Educational Travel Advisors.

NST's Château d'Ebblinghem

Popular options in Northern France & Belgium

More Information

Oude Abdij Hotel

A comfortable, atmospheric hotel offering an ideal location for excursions to the Battlefields. The owner, who lives on-site, is extremely hospitable and experienced in accommodating groups of young people.  She also speaks excellent English. Feedback from groups is consistently very positive and many return year after year. 

 

More Information

Messines Peace Village

A recent purpose built youth hostel offering spacious and practical accommodation in an historical location 15 minutes from Ypres. The hostel would be a good base for music groups.

 

More Information

Ypres Lodge

This modern accommodation has been purpose-built for school groups. Its location provides good access to the surrounding area and is within easy reach of the centre of Ypres and offers very good value for money and is highly recommended.

 

More Information

Hotel Hinterland

A small 3-star hotel located in the small village of Izenberge-Alveringem, surrounded by farmland and the countryside. The hotel has an impressive chateau style and has been recently renovated to be modern, spacious and cosy. 

More Information

NST's Château d'Ebblinghem

Popular options in Northern France & Belgium

More Information

Oude Abdij Hotel

A comfortable, atmospheric hotel offering an ideal location for excursions to the Battlefields. The owner, who lives on-site, is extremely hospitable and experienced in accommodating groups of young people.  She also speaks excellent English. Feedback from groups is consistently very positive and many return year after year. 

 

More Information

Messines Peace Village

A recent purpose built youth hostel offering spacious and practical accommodation in an historical location 15 minutes from Ypres. The hostel would be a good base for music groups.

 

More Information

Ypres Lodge

This modern accommodation has been purpose-built for school groups. Its location provides good access to the surrounding area and is within easy reach of the centre of Ypres and offers very good value for money and is highly recommended.

 

More Information

Hotel Hinterland

A small 3-star hotel located in the small village of Izenberge-Alveringem, surrounded by farmland and the countryside. The hotel has an impressive chateau style and has been recently renovated to be modern, spacious and cosy. 

More Information

Expert's comment

Our established programme, covering Ypres Salient and the Somme, enables your pupils to learn from a wealth of important historical sites and excursions and will help them understand the impact and the lessons left behind.

Jeff Garner, NST Educationalist History Programme Co-ordinator

Pearson endorsement statement

This itinerary has been reviewed by the awarding body to confirm that it suitably enhances the teaching and learning process for the related Pearson qualification. A Pearson subject representative has attended the associated tour to ensure that its content meets the requirements of the qualification it is aimed at and to confirm that it is suitable for the intended audience of the qualification. 

The review confirms that the itinerary and the tour support the content of this qualification and that the locations covered in each visit and the key outcomes to be delivered as part of each visit enrich the overall learning experience of the course or part of the course it is aimed at.

Endorsement does not cover the Tour Operator nor does it cover the suitability of the individual tour expert who delivers the itinerary on the day. The delivery of the tour and individual experience of the tour are not the responsibility of Pearson; participants are referred to the Tour Operator’s confirmation of booking for further information including pricing structures.

Endorsement of an itinerary and a tour does not cover any other resources produced by the Tour Operator to support the qualification or that will be used to deliver the tour. Whilst Pearson is satisfied that the itinerary and the tour itself are capable of enriching and supporting the achievement of the qualification, it is not essential for studying the qualification. The official specification is the only authoritative source in respect of the qualification content and should be used for definitive guidance to ensure that all learning objectives are fulfilled.

 

 

Curriculum

Study themes

  • Medicine and Surgery on the Western Front

 

Study levels

  • A Level

  • GCSE

  • KS3

 

FAQs

What is the focus of the Medicine and Surgery on the Western Front trip?

This trip explores medical treatment during the First World War, giving students insight into the journey of the wounded, the challenges faced by medical teams and the innovations that shaped modern medicine.

How does this trip support GCSE History studies?

The itinerary is closely aligned with the topics covered in GCSE History, particularly those relating to injuries, treatment and trench conditions. This itinerary has been endorsed by Pearson Edexcel, ensuring it complements the study of the British sector of the Western Front effectively. 

What sites will students visit during the tour?

Visits may include key locations such as Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, In Flanders Fields Museum, Essex Farm, Hill 60, Caterpillar Crater, the Sunken Lane, Thiepval Memorial and the Wellington Quarry. These visits help students understand both the human experience and the medical context of the war.

What accommodation is typically used for this itinerary?

Groups usually stay at NST’s exclusive Château d’Ebblinghem, which provides a comfortable and practical base for reaching both Ypres and the Somme. It’s designed for school groups, offering a supportive and safe environment for learning and reflection.

What specialist support is available on this trip?

An NST History Subject Expert can accompany your group, offering invaluable insight at key sites and help students make meaningful links with the themes they study. Our experts have strong historical and curriculum knowledge, along with detailed understanding of the battlefield region, which helps bring each location and story to life in an accessible way.

How long is the WWI Medicine and Surgery tour?

Most groups choose a three-day tour, as this allows enough time to cover the main sites and themes while keeping the pace manageable for students.

Giving you full support throughout

Before your tour

  • Dedicated NST expert from day one
  • Responsive, flexible communication - Teams, phone, or email
  • Same-day quotes
  • Trips tailored to your budget, with transparent pricing
  • Straightforward planning - we handle the details
  • Step-by-step risk assessment guidance
  • Free accommodation for group leader preview visits
  • Curriculum-driven, enriching experiences across 100s of locations
  • Unrivalled local knowledge & expertise

Whilst you're away

  • Our travel app keeps all your info in one place
  • On-tour support from our reps on the ground
  • Support & assistance from our specialists
  • 24/7 helpline and support
  • Extensive group travel insurance
  • Group-friendly accommodation
  • Free educational resources

On your return

  • Priority rebooking services
  • Loyalty reward scheme for valued customers
  • You say, we act - we're committed to continuously improving our tours

 

Speak to one of our school travel experts

Our team of school travel experts have unrivalled destination knowledge and experience so they can help to bring your tour ideas to life and might even suggest options you hadn’t already thought of too!

So get in touch today and we'll help to create a bespoke, budget-friendly tour itinerary to meet your specific learning requirements.

 

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