UK Parliament Booking Portal FAQs

This is a purpose-built system with leading cloud technology. You can view and book available slots without needing to fill out an application form.   

Our new booking portal supports all new modern browsers. However, if you employ third party pop-up blockers, or have strict internet security settings you may not be able to fully access the service. We would advise using a modern internet browser such as Chrome, Edge, or Safari, and to not run popup blockers for our booking URL: edubookings.parliament.uk 

If you experience these difficulties, then we recommend speaking to your organisation’s IT service providers. 

Our priority is ensuring a smooth and fair booking process for all. Whilst the application form served its purpose it was not the best experience for educators. We have been looking at ways to optimise the process in response to feedback.  

Our new booking system offers you a much-improved user experience.   

• is easier to use: you will only see the available slots and can book one immediately 

• operates on a first come first served basis with a queue management system in place 

• offers a much shorter timeframe to receive a booking confirmation: you can expect this on the day of booking   

• allows you to log in any time

Our video guides show you how to register, and how to use the system.    

If you still need help with making a booking please call us on 020 7219 4496 or email engage@parliament.uk.   

Note, we can only offer you guidance and answer your questions, but we cannot take any bookings via phone or email.    

If the issue you are having is technical rather than about bookings, then you may need to speak to your organisation’s IT provider. 

Our new booking portal supports all new modern browsers. However, if you employ third party pop-up blockers, or have strict internet security settings you may not be able to fully access the service. We would advise using a modern internet browser such as Edge, Chrome or Safari, and to not run popup blockers for our booking URL: edubookings.parliament.uk 

If you experience these difficulties, then we recommend speaking to your organisation’s IT service providers. 

Yes, you will be able to access the booking portal at any time but you will only be able to make new bookings during specified periods for each term.  

Outside of those periods the system is available for you to update your details and view your previous bookings. You may still be able to book school visit slots if they become available due to cancellations. We suggest you periodically check the booking portal for these.  

You will have registered on this system on or after April 2025.  

Our portal will let you know when you attempt to register.  Please follow the instructions provided on screen. 

Our records come from the Department for Education and are updated periodically. There are several reasons your organisation details may not be listed.  

Please contact us at engage@parliament.uk where a member of our team will check the records and update them as needed so you are able to register.  

Our records come from the Department for Education and are updated periodically. There are several reasons your organisation details may not be listed.  

Contact us at engage@parliament.uk where a member of our team will check the records and update them as needed so you are able to register. 

Schools – Please note that only those who work for/are employed by organisations are permitted to make bookings. Charities or third party booking organisations who attempt to book on a school’s behalf are not permitted and bookings will be cancelled. For GDPR purposes we strongly recommend that teachers book using a school email addresses. School bookings using personal email addresses may be subject to further checks or cancellations if we cannot verify their connection to a school. 

Youth Groups – we strongly recommend using organisation email addresses where possible as this will make the verification process swifter.  

Home Educators – we understand you will likely need to register using a personal email address. We will ask for other contact information to help with our verification processes. 

Parliament is a secure and safeguarded site. Organisations wanting to visit our Education Centre need to be verified to ensure these high standards of care for all our visitors and our staff.  

If there is no central database to check against then education groups need to be verified by us.   

• Home Educators and Youth Groups are not nationally listed in the same way schools are.    

• We are therefore required to carry out due diligence and ensure that those who register meet our eligibility requirements and have permission from their groups to book.   

Verification is undertaken by our team and can take up to 5 working days based on demand. This information has been publicly available since early April to enable bookers to register and be verified ahead of today.   

School information is automatically verified through our school database based on centralised records.   

If you’re currently in the queue, the wait time is the system’s best estimate of how long you will be in the queue. It works on a first in, first out basis. Everyone has a place in the queue and will get an opportunity to complete their booking in the order they joined. As the system sees people leaving it will try and recalculate the wait time in the queue. This means the wait time will sometimes change either by going up or down. At no point does your place in the queue change.    

Please do not open multiple windows whilst in the queue or in the booking portal. Doing so would increase waiting times in the queue and may cause your session to time out meaning you will inadvertently lose your place in the queue 

Please do not close your browser window whilst in the queue. If you get an error message or it seems that the queue is ‘stuck’, simply refresh your browser, but do not exit.  

Once you are logged into your account, you will be sent to your homepage which has details of what you are able to book. This section is called ‘Available to book now’

You will have to complete your booking within the session you are in. You cannot save your progress and return back to your booking. The system does not auto-save progress.  

This ensures we can offer schools equal access to a limited number of visit slots.  

To keep the queue moving and give all schools a fair opportunity, you will need to be active on a page. If you are inactive for up to 10 minutes, you will be automatically moved back to the queue.    

You will be able to see the available slots on a calendar view, so you can select your preferred date and time. By selecting a slot, you will reserve it for 10 minutes whilst you complete your booking, meaning others cannot book it. You must confirm your booking within 10 minutes, or you may lose the slot. There is a timer on the booking page.    

You can see the total number of bookings made by your organisation that term. You can also see details of those bookings you have made yourself. 

You should receive your booking confirmation email shortly after submitting your booking online. At the final stage of booking you will see your unique booking reference number on screen. Please note this down as we will use it to look up your booking should you have any questions or need to make changes.  

Please do not book any travel unless you have received a booking confirmation email with a booking confirmation number.  If you did not receive your booking confirmation email please ensure engage@parliament.uk has been added to the safe senders list and check your junk/spam folders. If the email is still not there, please email us on engage@parliament.uk. 

Demand from those who wish to visit us for an educational experience is higher than the availability we can offer.   

You will be able to view and book available slots on the day but these slots will be booking up fast from the calendar whilst you are in the queue. The process is first come, first served.   

Slots during our peak hours book up the quickest so if you can be flexible with your arrival and departure times you will have a better chance of securing a slot.   

Our most popular visiting times are between 11:30 and 15:00 and book up fast! The first few weeks of a term tend to book up less quickly. 

Your group will benefit from a curricula-linked workshop in our award-winning Education Centre. 

The workshop is tailored to the age range of your group and will be automatically allocated when you submit your application based on the ‘pitch at age range’ that you select. 

Details of the workshops are available on our education visits page: Education Visits – Parliament UK Education 

Please search your emails (including Spam folders) for an email from engage@parliament.uk.  

If you still cannot find it, then please contact us so we can check if your booking is confirmed.   

No.  

If you are part of a multi academy trust, please book the schools separately under the individual schools’ name, and not under a single schools’ name. This is important so that we can ensure you receive the correct travel subsidy allowance. 

You will be able to give us feedback on your experience via a feedback form on the booking confirmation email.   

This feedback will go to our technical team and not the bookings team. If you have a specific question or you need help please contact us at engage@parliament.uk   

Currently this is not possible. We advise you bookmark the ‘Available now’ page and periodically check the portal for any cancellations.  

Bookings are made by and for schools.

You should therefore register under your new school/organisation using an email address linked to the new organisation. This will mean setting up a new account as accounts are based on email addresses.

Your old account will remain linked to the previous organisation but will be removed based on our data retention policy during periodic data clean ups.

If you have retained the same email address, please contact us at engage@parliament.uk and request an organisation reset. This will enable you to register your account against a new organisation. Please note that any bookings you have made will be linked to your previous organisation and are not movable.

If you have changed name please contact us at engage@parliament.uk.  We may ask for documentary evidence to support the request. 

Please use the forgotten password button available on the home page of the portal.  

It may take up to 20 minutes for the email to come through. 

No. Bookings are made on behalf of organisations and once made belong to them rather than to individuals.  

Once a booking is made it remains linked to its original organisation and we are unable to reallocate them. 

If your organisation changes name or structure please email us at engage@parliament.uk.  We may ask for documentary evidence to support your request. 

Yes.  

We will send you email reminders asking you to RSVP to confirm your booking and to notify us of changes to numbers in the group or access needs. Failure to respond to these requests may result in cancellation of bookings.  

Please contact us as soon as possible at engage@parliament.uk so we can update your booking. 

Please contact us as soon as possible at engage@parliament.uk so we can cancel your booking. If you are unable to attend your session, it is your responsibility to advise us with as much notice as possible, ideally four weeks or more. Cancelling at short notice does not allow enough time for another school to apply for the session, which remains unused and fewer students will have had the chance to visit Parliament this year.   

Bookers who do not cancel their visits and do not show on the day may have the ability to make future bookings withheld from them and their organisations.  

Please check your junk and spam folders in case your organisation is blocking our email.  The email will come from engage@parliament.uk 

We endeavour to provide support for all UK official languages. If you need further advice please contact us at engage@parliament.uk. 

Once you are on the portal you can book up to three slots during your session. To do this, you must select and book your first slot. Then, you will be able to return back to the ‘Available to book now’ section and select the next slot you wish to book, and so on.  This way, you will only be able to access and book slots which are available.   

You will only be able to reserve one slot at a time and complete a booking before going back to the ‘Available now’ section to select your next slot from the calendar.   

Your sessions will need to align to the maximum and minimum capacities per session.