Scotland just passed the Outdoor Education Bill

On Tuesday 16 December 2025, the Scottish Parliament passed the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Bill.

If you’ve followed this journey, you’ll know this wasn’t inevitable. It was slow, procedural, sometimes frustrating, and often quietly brilliant.

This post is us lifting the curtain a little: on the long chain of moments, people, and organisations that helped get Scotland to this point, and on what role Outward Bound has played along the way. Not as the hero of the story, but as one of many hands on the rope.

For years, Outward Bound and many others across the sector have said it plainly: residential outdoor education isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a need-to-have. With the Scottish Parliament passing the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) Bill, Scotland has backed that belief in law, giving every young person the chance to take part in a residential adventure - Martin Davidson

What the Bill does (and why it matters)

In plain terms, the Bill will establish that pupils in state and grant-aided schools should have the chance to experience at least four nights and five days of residential outdoor education during their school career.

It has now been passed by Parliament, and only requires Royal Assent to become an Act.

This matters because outdoor residentials have always been powerful. But access has been patchy. Too often, it’s been determined by budgets, postcode, confidence, culture, or whether a school can take a risk on something that feels “extra”.

This Bill says it is not extra.

The bit people don’t see: what “getting a Bill passed” actually looks like

Most people imagine advocacy as a big speech and a single vote.

In reality, it looks more like this:

• Young people practising what they want to say, then saying it anyway.
• Teachers quietly making the case, again and again, because they’ve seen what happens when a pupil surprises themselves.
• Committee rooms. Evidence sessions. Financial memos. Amendments.
• Hours spent translating lived experience into language that can survive scrutiny.
• A sector learning how to speak with one voice without everyone having to be the same.

The Scottish Parliament’s own reporting on the Stage 3 debate references the committee evidence heard on benefits like confidence, wellbeing, and pupil teacher relationships. 

This matters because what young people learn outdoors stays with them. When they’re challenged, supported, and trusted in real environments, they discover confidence, resilience and connection that can’t be taught on a screen. They find their voice. They realise that anything is possible - Martin Davidson

Our role: soft campaigning, loud collaboration

Outward Bound’s job has never been to “win” legislation like a trophy.

Our job is to keep holding up the truth we see every day: that when you take young people beyond the classroom walls, they don’t just learn, they change.

And crucially, we’ve tried to do that in a way that brings others with us. Because this only works if it is built with schools, local authorities, outdoor education centres, youth organisations, unions, parents, and politicians who disagree on plenty of things, but agree on this.

A timeline of moments we’re proud of

Not exhaustive. Not perfect. But honest.

• February 2023: putting a stake in the ground - We publicly backed the principle behind Scotland’s proposed legislation and made the case for equity in outdoor learning, not outdoor learning for the lucky few.
• July 2023: bringing decision-makers to where the change happens - Martin Davidson hosted politicians at our Ullswater Centre, building a “united front” around the idea of residential outdoor learning as part of the curriculum, across nations.
• Summer 2023: “Protest in the Peaks” and the Let Us Out campaign - Young people took placards, banners, and their voices to mountains and valleys across the UK, chanting “Let Us Out!” This wasn’t theatre. It was young people stating a need.
• March 2023: taking the message to Westminster, together - We helped convene a moment that brought together “movers and shakers” across the outdoor education sector, including YHA, Scouts, PGL, Field Studies Council, Bendrigg and more, to make the collective case.
• 14 March 2024: A big step - Scottish Government Minister Natalie Don-Innes, visited Loch Eil with Nick March (AHOEC), Tim Pickering (SAPOE) and Ollie Bray (Education Scotland). Key decision-makers and sector voices, side by side.
• June 2024: Scotland’s Bill is introduced - Liz Smith MSP visits our Loch Eil Centre to mark the reintroduction of her Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Bill.
• 13 November 2024: giving evidence - Outward Bound’s Freda Fallon gave evidence at the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee during Stage 1 scrutiny.
• 27 March 2025: Stage 1 passes - The Parliament agreed the general principles at Stage 1.
• September 2025: the financial hurdle - A key pinch point was the Financial Resolution. The Scottish Government lodged the motion on 24 September 2025, and it was agreed the following day, allowing the Bill to keep moving.
• 19 November 2025: Stage 2 - The Bill was considered at Stage 2.
• 16 December 2025: Stage 3, and the Bill is passed - Parliament agreed the motion that the Bill be passed at Stage 3. 

The wider UK picture: Scotland moved first, but it’s not Scotland alone

We’ve also backed similar efforts across the UK, because the need is not unique to one nation.

• In Wales, Sam Rowlans MS' Residential Outdoor Education (Wales) Bill was rejected on 17 April 2024, by the narrowest of margins (one vote), and we publicly committed to keep working with partners to make progress.
• In Westminster, Tim Farron MP is the sponsor of the Outdoor Education Bill in the House of Commons. His fight continues. 

Scotland’s step forward should give energy to everyone who has been pushing the same boulder uphill elsewhere.

I want to thank Liz Smith MSP, colleagues across the chamber, and the wider sector for the leadership and persistence that has brought us to this moment. Because of you, countless young people will now have the chance to experience something truly life-changing - Martin Davidson

What happens next?

Passing a Bill is not the end of the work. It is the start of the practical questions:

• How do we ensure implementation is faithful to the intent, and the quality framework is upheld?
• How do we support schools and local authorities to deliver quality, safely, and equitably?
• How do we protect what matters most: the experience that helps a young person realise, sometimes for the first time, that anything is possible?

Outward Bound will keep showing up for those questions. Not as the loudest voice in the room, but as a consistent one. Bringing evidence, lived experience, and the perspective of the young people we exist to serve.