Newcastle schools have been successful for the fifth year running in accessing UK Government funding from the Turing Scheme for visits to their school partners abroad in 2026. We are delighted to announce that a further £500,000 has been awarded to 13 Newcastle schools for 15 international visits in 2026.
Around 450 children and young people with accompanying staff from primary schools, secondary schools and specialist provision will take part in life-changing visits between February and June 2026 to France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.
These are opportunities that these children would not be able to access without the support of their schools and Turing Scheme funding, which enables pupils from disadvantaged and underrepresented groups, in particular, to travel to a partner school in another country.
Click on the images to find out more about each of these visits in 2025
Click here to see Central Walker’s inspiring 2025 visit to Zaragoza and the significant impact it had on the children and teachers.
Briefings, application support and ongoing help and advice is provided to the city’s schools by International Newcastle and Newcastle City Council (School Effectiveness), as part of our work to support international connections, links, languages and intercultural awareness.
See see below for more details about this year’s successful schools, how we support international links for schools and for details about the Turing scheme.
UK and regional Turing Scheme allocations 2025-2026: Nationally, 148 UK schools were successful from 485 applications, being awarded a total of £7.2m for visits in 2026. The North East was the most successful region (outside London) with 23 successful schools (click here for a breakdown of schools by region). The scheme also funded 147 Higher Education institutions (£42.2m) and 159 Further Education establishments (£24.1m). The details of all allocations have been published on the Department for Education’s website here: Turing Scheme Funding Outcomes 2025-26. There is no information about the amount of funding awarded to each school or institution,
Newcastle school visits 2025-26: This year we had schools new to the Turing Scheme with new partnerships and some schools who had previous funding going to new places. Round 5 Turing Scheme is supporting these 13 schools to go on 15 international visits in 2026:
Primary schools
- St John’s (Barcelona, Spain)
- Lemington Riverside (Nancy, France)
- Central Walker (Zaragoza, Spain and Houston, USA)
- St Paul’s (Nancy, France)
- Kenton Bar (Rome, Italy)
- St George’s (Rome, Italy)
- St Teresa’s (Malaga, Spain)
- Wingrove (Nancy, France and Amsterdam, Netherlands)
- Broadwood (Rome, Italy)
Secondary schools
- Excelsior Academy (Zaragoza and Barcelona, Spain)
- Walker Riverside Academy (Atlanta, USA)
- Benfield School (Zaragoza and Barcelona, Spain)
Specialist provision
- Northern Counties School
Support for Newcastle schools
Since 2020, we have worked closely with the City Council (School Effectiveness) and schools to build up their awareness, interest and ability to establish international partnerships and their willingness to participate in the Turing Scheme.
Declan Baharini (International Newcastle) and Sarah Edgar (Newcastle City Council, School Effectiveness) support Newcastle schools to apply to the scheme, including help with international links, developing a strategic approach and checking applications.
We have a strong track record and recommend schools work with us. Our support is provided free of charge.
You can find out more about the importance and impact of international links and visits in our brochure, Empowering Newcastle’s Youth for a Global Future, which includes case studies of local schools who we have supported to access Turing funding.
Newcastle schools report that being part of an international visit has a dramatic, positive impact on the pupils, teachers and families involved. These are opportunities that would otherwise not be attainable for many pupils in the city, especially those from disadvantaged and underrepresented groups.
There is always a high level of interest in this scheme across the UK. It is an important route for schools to access funding to enable their pupils to have life changing experiences by going abroad, as part of a broader strategy around internationalism in schools.
Some schools have existing links with partner schools in other countries, many are just beginning to explore links and thinking about how an international approach could benefit pupils, staff and the whole school community.
Whatever the case for your school, do get involved if you are interested in establishing an international partnership. Contact sarah.edgar@newcastle.gov.uk
A strategic approach to internationalism
We recommend that schools develop a strategic approach to internationalism and intercultural experiences across the school community. International visits supported by Turing Scheme could be one part of this approach.
Schools can develop international links without going on visits, thanks to the opportunities of virtual collaboration, including joint lessons, joint projects and enabling children and teachers to get to know each other.
Schools can also participate in the British Council’s International School Award and use international partnership working as a means to progress through the levels. Newcastle encourages all schools to engage with the ISA and also support involvement through Express Yourself: North East Festival of Languages (ISA) – where schools can get an automatic Foundation Certificate and use Festival activities for international partnership work.
What does Turing Scheme support?
Pupils aged 4-19 years from UK schools can access funding to visit partner schools anywhere in the world (except British Overseas Territories) where pupils spend most of the time in the classroom.
There is a focus on enhancing skills and education outcomes, as well as providing opportunities to pupils who are disadvantaged, from underrepresented groups and those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. We know how valuable this grant is to many of our families as it enables learners to access opportunities which would otherwise be unavailable to them.