Travel information

All our young learner programmes include free return airport transfers. Transfers will be available for arrivals and departures between 10am and 5pm (depending on student travel requirements) from designated airports or stations.

To guarantee your airport transfer, please submit an online travel form:

1. Go to www.bellenglish.com/online-travel-form
2. Provide your booking details, including: Full name, course, course dates, contact number, and flight details
3. Click SUBMIT

Please be aware that our designated airports / stations for young learner programmes include:

• • Heathrow, Stansted and London St Pancras* for Bell Berkshire College and Bell Royal Masonic School
  • Heathrow and Stansted for Bell The Leys

*based on advised train times

If you are planning to arrive out-of-hours, on a different date, or different airport, please contact our support team on yl.travel@bellenglish.com or call +44 (0) 1223 275 598 and we will arrange a bespoke transfer price quote.

Our online travel form notifies our Young Learners team with flight details and transfer requirements. It is important that we receive this form as soon as possible – or at least 10 working days before the course start date – so that we can guarantee an airport / station transfer for your child.

Online Travel Form

When arriving in the UK, your child will:

1. Go through Immigration and luggage collection at the baggage hall
2. Go through Customs
3. Go through to the Arrivals Hall where they will be met by our Bell representative, who will have a Bell sign, ID card and have authorisation forms with the student’s name and details. They will often be wearing a bright coral shirt with a Bell logo.
4. Register with the Bell representative

Due to unforeseen circumstances, your child may experience flight delays, cancellations of diverted flights. This sometimes happen, so do not worry! Simply phone Bell at the emergency contact below and notify us of any changes to travel. We will ensure we are ready and waiting for your child once they do arrival at their final destination.

A few things to note:

• Make sure you have your Bell luggage tag in clear view so that our representatives can quickly see you.
• Your child should only leave the airport with a Bell representative or pre-approved transfer driver.
• If you can not see our Bell representative, please wait up to 15 minutes at the barrier in the Arrivals hall, and keep your eyes open for someone with a Bell sign.
• On the extremely rare occasion where you can not see our Bell representative after 15 minutes, please go to the information desk nearby and ask: ‘Please can you ask the Bell representative to come to the information desk?’ Wait at the desk until a Bell representative arrives.
• If there is a problem, contact Bell on the emergency line saved on your phone: +44 07522551397

During high season, we may request students to wait while we collect other students due to arrive at similar times. If this is the case, we aim for the wait to be no longer than 2 hours before the shuttle departs and they will be supervised throughout this period.

An Unaccompanied Minor refers to an individual who is registered for a service some airlines offer for underage flyers.

The airline agrees to take special responsibility for the student during the flight and personally ensures they take them to a Bell representative on arrival.

We recommend that all students under the age of 15 are registered as unaccompanied minors.

If you register a student as an Unaccompanied Minor, please notify our young learners team once this has been confirmed.

A few things to know :

1. It is most often a chargeable service paid in advance when registering outward and return flights with the airline.
2. Bell is not able to register students as Unaccompanied Minors or pay for this service on your behalf
3. The service is not available across all airlines, so we encourage you to check with the airline first

Our designated Operations Coordinator oversees all Unaccompanied Minor arrivals. If you have notified us that your student is using this service, our Operations Coordinator will ensure full coordination with airline staff on the day of arrival.

When arriving in the UK, airline staff will accompany your child:

• Through Immigration and luggage collection at the baggage hall
• Through Customs
• Through to the Arrivals Hall where airline staff will take them to meet our Bell representative, who will have a Bell sign, ID card and have authorisation forms with the student’s name and details

Your child should only leave the airport with a Bell representative or pre-approved transfer driver.

As transfers are arranged 1 – 2 days before the arrival date, we are not able to confirm the specific driver who will be collecting the student in advance. However, our Operations Coordinator is available to liaise with you and be your key contact if you should require further information on the day.

During high season, we may request students to wait while we collect other students due to arrive at similar times. If this is the case, we aim for the wait to be no longer than 2 hours before the shuttle departs and they will be supervised throughout this period.

Once you’re all packed and ready to go, run through the following checklist to make sure your child has everything they need for their travel.

• Flight or train tickets
• A valid passport or ID for travel (and visa if required)
• Bell booking confirmation (plus proof of payment if required)
• Letter of Authorisation to travel completed and signed by parent/guardian
• Bell travel confirmation with arrival and departure procedures checklist
• The emergency phone number +44 07522551397  saved on their phone under Bell, in case of any unforeseen circumstances occurring during their travel

We ensure the safety and well-being of your child from arrival to departure. On departure days, your child will:

• Get their flight tickets and passports returned to them at the end of their course
• They will travel to the airport by coach or taxi
• Be escorted by a Bell representative to check in with the airline, where they are given the departure gate number.
• Be escorted by a Bell representative to the entrance of the departure lounge. Please note: Bell representatives are not allowed to go through into the departure lounge.
• Make their own way to the departure gate and wait to board the plane

If your child is travelling as an Unaccompanied Minor, a Bell representative will take them to meet the airline staff, who will then take care of them during the flight.