Assembly, Tate Modern 2017 photo © Tate (Seraphina Neville)
School visits to Tate Modern are free. As Tate Modern is now operating on a timed ticket system, all school groups must book in advance of visiting.
When you book a visit, please advise us of any specific access requirements that members of your group may have.
How to make a booking
To enquire, please email us at schoolsandteachers@tate.org.uk and we will send you the relevant booking form. If you would like to discuss your booking over the phone, please call +44 (0)20 7887 8888 (option 3). Our schools phone line is open Monday - Wednesday, 11.00 - 13.00 and 14.00 - 16.00.
Have the following ready when you call:
Range of dates for your visit
School address, telephone number and email address
Group size and age of pupils
Bookings must be made at least two weeks in advance to ensure tickets can be posted to the school.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to make a booking to bring a school group to Tate?
Yes. Timed tickets are required to enter our galleries for the free collections. To help manage numbers, we require all school groups to pre-book at least two weeks in advance and are limiting each class to 40 tickets (including teachers). Each day, there will be a block of 40 tickets available for an 11.00 visit and one block of 40 tickets available for a 13.00 visit.
How much does it cost?
Self-led visits to the permanent collection at Tate Modern are free. Tickets to exhibitions are £5/person (including teachers).
WHAT HAPPENS IF I FORGET OUR TICKETS?
For the safety of our staff, please do try to remember to bring your tickets. They will be posted to your school in advance of your booking. If, for whatever reason, you do not have your tickets with you on the day of your visit, please advise students to wait at the top of the ramp and send your lead teacher down to the desks to have the tickets reprinted.
CAN I BOOK EXHIBITION TICKETS FOR MY CLASS?
We are looking forward to welcoming you and your students back to exhibitions and appreciated your patience whilst we were unable to accommodate exhibition tickets over the summer. Tate is following all Government guidelines to keep visitors and staff safe, meaning that capacities for visiting are significantly lower than usual. As each exhibition has its own visitor capacities, please get in touch with us directly regarding which exhibition you would like to visit with your students.
WHAT HAPPENS IF WE ARE LATE?
That’s fine! Please note that you cannot enter the galleries before your scheduled time slot of either 11 AM or 1 PM and do plan accordingly, as we do not want students and teachers to have to queue outdoors for extended periods of time, especially if there is inclement weather. If you are more than 15 minutes late, you may be instructed to wait until you can be safely accommodated in the galleries.
DO WE NEED TO REGISTER ON THE NHS TRACK AND TRACE APP?
You no longer need to register with track and trace to visit Tate.
WHAT ACTIVITIES DO YOU HAVE FOR STUDENTS?
Due to the impact of COVID-19, we are not currently providing paper-based resources in the gallery, but you are welcome to save resources from the website or from our ebulletins to your mobile devices and use them the way you would a paper resource. If you’re not currently signed up for our ebulletin and would like to be, please email us.
These ‘activities’ are developed by artists who have worked on the Schools and Teachers Programme. You can find them below under ‘Self-led student resources’. These resources emulate the workshops and include the perspective of contemporary artists in the gallery. They aim to encourage new ways of looking at and learning with art.
CAN SKETCH AND DRAW IN THE GALLERIES?
You are welcome to bring your own sketchbooks and drawing materials to Tate Modern and are allowed to sketch in galleries as long as they are not crowded and you remain in small groups. If a gallery becomes too crowded, you may be asked to continue to the next set of rooms.
Permitted materials - dry materials such as pencils, graphite sticks, fine-tipped pens, wax crayons, conté and charcoal pencils (must be wood or plastic encased), oil pastels encased in paper. Prohibited materials - loose dry materials including charcoal and pastels, soft oil pastels and oil paint sticks, all paints and other wet materials, permanent markers and tape.
MY STUDENTS ARE STUDYING [INSERT TOPIC], HOW DO I FIND OUT IF IT IS ON DISPLAY?
Check Tate’s website, by searching for the artwork, artist or medium in Search, and then cross-check to see if those works are on the gallery tour route. Unfortunately, we cannot give access to works that are not on the pre-approved gallery routes.
IS THERE SOMEWHERE WE CAN PARK?
Tate Modern has limited accessible onsite parking. This should be booked in advance and a registration number provided at least 24hrs before the visit. Regardless of where you are parked, you will need to enter the gallery through the South Entrance.
I WANT TO ARRANGE A TALK OR TOUR FOR MY STUDENTS - HOW DO I DO THIS?
Unfortunately School Group tours, Tate to Tate tours, Exhibition private lectures, Exhibition packages and Exhibition tours are temporarily suspended. If you are booking for fewer than 5 people, you can book through Tate Private Tours.
WHERE ARE THE BATHROOMS AND CHANGING FACILITIES?
At Tate Modern there are bathrooms on each floor and a changing place on Level 0 in the boiler house building. Please check your route map for more details.
IS THERE A MAP?
Yes. A map of the route is available to download here: Download the Route Map PDF [80.1k kb]
PLAN YOUR VISIT
For the safety and enjoyment of all Tate visitors, one-way systems are in place at both Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Both sites are also operating at a reduced capacity to maintain safe social distancing practices.
Tate Modern offers one route through the gallery for school groups, which takes approximately 1.5 - 2 hours. Due to reduced capacity and logistical constraints, there will be one block of 40 tickets available for the 11 AM slot and one block of 40 tickets available for the 1 PM slot Monday to Friday. Please plan to observe the rule of 6 and allocate teachers accordingly.
A full route map, as well as a list of highlights across the route, can be found here:
Download the Tate Modern Route Map PDF [80.1k kb]
The route has step-free access and access to toilets and the changing places, access to a shop and the opportunity to buy food and drink. Please note Tate is operating a cashless system at present so only card purchases are possible.
The route has access to the Turbine Hall and the Hyundai Commission, Anicka Yi’s commission In Love With The World. The commission features both sound and smell-based elements. For those who are sensitive to noise, there are ear defenders available to use which have a strict Covid-19 cleaning procedure. Some visitors may be sensitive to the scents that are emitted in the space. The scents are designed to be subtle, but we understand that this may still be too disruptive for some visitors. In this case, visitors can bypass the Turbine Hall commission by moving into either the Natalie Bell Building or Blavatnik Building. For any visitors who request it a data sheet with all scent substance details can be emailed to them.
Due to space constraints, there will not be any access to the Clore learning hub, lunchroom, lockers, or schools-only toilets.
We advise leaving bulky items at home, as there is currently no access to cloakrooms, and therefore students will have to carry any bags and items they have brought to the galleries.
Lunches can be eaten anywhere outside Tate Modern. As these spaces are neither private nor bookable, we cannot guarantee their availability. As the weather gets colder, you may want to consider alternate arrangements for lunches.
All water fountains have been switched back on.
Students will need to use public toilets, so you may feel more comfortable accompanying them depending on your school’s safeguarding policy. Please note that every other cubicle is closed to allow for social distancing.
Access
Seating at both galleries is kept throughout.
If you require a quiet space for your students, at Tate Modern the Turbine Hall has large open space, or there is a quiet room that can be used. Please ask a member of staff to guide you to the space. You can identify the Visitor Experience team by their black Tate branded shirt and orange Tate lanyard.
We now have an Access Station at Tate Modern, which is located on Level 2 of the Natalie Bell building. It contains ear defenders (both adult and child sizes), magnifier overlay sheets, magnifying glass, coloured gel overlay sheets, large print maps and guides and a changing places radar key. You can request any of this equipment by speaking to a member of the Visitor Experience team.
Questions to discuss before your visit:
- What does art mean to you?
- What was the last thing you made or created?
- What does art make you think?
- What does art make you feel?
Questions to get you exploring when you get here:
- If you could take one piece of artwork home with you, what would you take?
- What do you think art does in the world?
- Why should art be taught in school?
- If you imagined a gallery in the future, what do you think it would look like? What would be in it? Who would be in it?