Organising a group up to 31 December 2007
You must book if you would like to bring a party to The National Archives at Kew. We are only able to take one party per day. There is one coach bay, which can be pre-booked until 31 December 2007.
To check availablity, please see the trip scheduler below.
There will be no access to the site for vehicles of parties that have not booked. To pre-book please contact us at: public services development team
Organising a group after 1 January 2008
The relocation of the Family Records Centre to Kew is allowing us to streamline many of our procedures. Of particular significance to coach party organisers is that from January 2008 we are effectively adopting the FRC model relating to coach party access. The new procedures are:
1) Coach parties. Pre-booking will no longer be required for coach parties. Instead, we will be inviting groups to notify us when they intend visiting. We will then be publicising intended visits on-site and on our website so that group organisers can plan ahead. Other than for junior education groups or special needs groups, the coach bay will only be available on a first come first served basis. We may be enlarging our facilities to allow two coaches to park in the coach bay. If the coach bay is full then any later arriving coaches will be allowed to drop their passengers and pick them up again at a pre-arranged time, there will not be any additional parking for coaches available onsite. Limited free coach parking is permitted on the A307 Kew Road (the stretch between Lion Gate and Victoria Gate) after 10:00 each day.
2) Access and reader tickets. Most of our most popular records, particularly those that are of interest to genealogists, are available in surrogate form (microfilm or online) as at the FRC. Many of our readers do not order original records. We are also planning, by April 2008, to allow visitors to use the general research areas without having to get a reader's ticket. A reader's ticket will be required only to order original documents. Tickets will be issued in the reading rooms themselves, subject to the usual identification procedures. Readers can still register for tickets in advance, but again they will only be issued in the reading rooms when triggered by a document order. By adopting these procedures we will be effectively clearing the reception bottleneck, often a cause for difficulty with coach party arrivals.
To let us, and others, know when you intend to travel please contact us by telephoning 0208 392 5393 or emailing: public services development teamas usual.
Please note that half term weeks are particularly busy. In 2008 these weeks are:
Spring Half term: 18 - 29 February
Summer Half term: 26 - 30 May
Autumn Half term: Late October (dates tbc)
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Family history/ U3A/ New reader groups/ Coach parties |
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Registration and booking service available for family history groups, with advance ticket preparation for new readers (or renewals). Where resources allow, we offer a dedicated orientation tour*. This tour gives an overview of the reading rooms, procedures and systems in place to assist effective research at The National Archives. This service will cease from 2008
*minimum 10 in group
Please note The National Archives operates close to capacity on Tuesdays and Thursdays and especially on Saturdays – we therefore suggest you choose the alternate weekdays for your visit. |
| Duration: |
30 minutes |
| Availability: |
Pre-booking is essential (strictly one coach group booking per day) |
| Contact: |
public services development team |
| Telephone: |
+44 (0) 20 8392 5393 or +44 (0) 20 8392 5200 |
Academic groups |
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Research focused talk and tour of reading rooms designed for groups of postgraduate academic research students. (For undergraduate groups, please see Education below.) |
| Duration: |
1 hour 15 minutes |
| Availability: |
University term time only. Please contact for details. |
| Contact: |
Research services department |
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Library and information service professionals |
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| Content: |
Reference-focused tour of reading rooms and behind the scenes service areas for librarians and information professionals. |
| Duration: |
2 hours |
| Availability: |
Monday to Friday. Pre-booking required, two to three months in advance. Please contact for details. |
| Contact: |
Resource centre, head of library |
| Telephone: |
+44 (0) 20 8392 5278 |
Records and information managers |
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| Content: |
Talk and tour of The National Archives focusing on records management in government, particularly current issues affecting the management of records and information in the public sector. |
| Duration: |
2 hours |
| Availability: |
Please contact for details. Maximum Group size: 15 people. |
| Contact: |
Records management department |
| Telephone: |
+44 (0) 20 8392 5330 (x 2237) (Booking) or ext 2303 (Information) |
VIP visits from national level overseas institutions |
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| Content: |
Programmes of professional appointments for VIPS from overseas national level institutions and Government departments. The visitors must be at VIP level, CEO, ministerial, Chief Archivist or deputy level. |
| Duration: |
Programmes flexible according to the visitors' requirements. |
| Booking: |
At least a month's notice is required, applications to Keeper's executive assistant. |
| Availability: |
Visits can be arranged for individuals or for groups. |
| Contact: |
Chief executive's personal assistant |
| Telephone |
+44 (0) 20 8392 5220 |
The Family Records Centre |
It is also possible to tour our sister organisation, the Family Records Centre |
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