Assessing challenges and opportunities for schools’ access to nature in England

Regular access to natural environments has been shown to have beneficial effects on children’s health, development and academic attainment. This study assesses the current capacity for English primary schools to provide access to nature, and the opportunities and challenges of doing so. Using a mixed-methods approach combining questionnaires delivered at schools across England, semi-structured interviews with school staff, and GIS and cloud-based distance analysis between schools and nearby green spaces we found that children’s access to nature through trips to off-site locations is limited by several factors, including the cost of transport. Even when schools are within walking distance to green spaces or had access to such spaces on the school site, factors such as the pressure of delivering the National Curriculum and teachers’ lack of engagement with outdoor learning may limit opportunities to access nature. These findings suggest that urban planning initiatives to create more urban green spaces should be accompanied by measures to reduce the non-spatial limitations to access.