Class Trip Costs at a Cologne School: Who Decides, How the Money Is Collected and How the City Pays for Low-Income Families

The Rules Behind a Class Trip

A class trip in Germany is a school event, not an optional outing. In NRW, the guideline for school trips says trips serve educational purposes, must relate clearly to lessons, and are prepared and followed up in class. A few points matter to parents who are new to the system.

• The school conference sets the frame. It fixes a trip programme for each school year, with the number, length and a cost ceiling. The guideline says the ceiling should be kept as low as possible so all pupils can take part and families are not unreasonably burdened.
• The class parents decide the details. The Klassenpflegschaft, the meeting of all parents of a class, decides destination, programme and length on the basis of a proposal from the class teacher, and by secret ballot for multi-day or expensive trips. The QUA-LiS parent portal describes this meeting as a place to take part in planning class trips.
• You get time to save. Pupils and parents should be given the chance, by early planning, to save for the expected cost.
• Money is not a reason to stay at home. The guideline states that financial effort must not be the reason a pupil cannot take part.

What You Sign and Who Signs Contracts

For multi-day trips and trips with higher costs, the school must collect a written, binding declaration from all parents before it signs any contract, in which they agree to the trip and undertake to bear the costs. The school must also point out the possibility of a travel cancellation insurance. The ministry’s page on insurance repeats that parents are obliged to bear the costs of a trip.

Contracts with transport and accommodation providers are signed in the name of the school, not in the name of the teacher or the parents. That matters if the trip is cancelled: ask what the declaration commits you to and whether a cancellation insurance covers illness of your child.

Can Your Child Opt Out?

The guideline says pupils are obliged to take part under the school law. An exemption is possible only in special exceptional cases, on a written, reasoned application. For multi-day trips it is given where the parents, after a conversation about aims and content, keep their application for religious or serious educational reasons. A child who is exempted attends another class or gets set tasks. Cost is not one of the listed reasons, which is why the next section matters.

How the Money Is Collected

There is no single method. A parliamentary question in the NRW Landtag describes in its preamble that class teachers mostly collect the money for outings and trips and that parents usually transfer it to an account. The state government’s answer says the school authority can set up a school girokonto under § 95 of the school law and, with its consent, use it for trust money. It also says teachers cannot be obliged to use a private account, and that passing account fees to teachers, pupils or parents is rejected.

For you as a parent: ask the class teacher or the parent chair how the money is collected, prefer a transfer to a school or trust account with the child’s name and the purpose as the reference, and keep the proof. Avoid handing cash without a receipt. If a parent takes the role of treasurer, ask for a list of payments.

Getting the City to Pay: the Bildungspaket

Cologne’s information on the education and participation package lists what is covered for trips:

• costs for one-day trips of schools (including open all-day schools) and Kitas,
• costs for multi-day class trips of schools and group trips of Kitas, including more than one trip in a year.

You can receive this if you get SGB II or SGB XII benefits, asylum seeker benefits, Wohngeld or Kinderzuschlag, or if you have a low income and count as a low earner. The law calls the SGB II benefit Grundsicherungsgeld since 1 July 2026, while the city pages still use the name Bürgergeld, so use the notice you actually hold. For school benefits the package applies up to age 25, and a separate application is needed for each child.

The city’s page on the package explains that families can also use the school’s collective billing procedure, and that the school confirms the trip on the city’s additional form, which also names the account for the reimbursement. Applications go to the Amt für Soziales, Arbeit und Senioren, department Bildung und Teilhabe, Köln-Pass, at Wiener Platz 2a, 51065 Köln. The city’s contact page gives opening hours of Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 8:00 to 12:00, and the phone number 0221 221 0. The low-earner income check is made by your local Jobcenter.

Step by Step

1. At the first parents’ meeting, ask which trips are planned, the cost ceiling and how the money will be collected.
2. Ask early if the cost is a problem. The guideline says cost must not exclude a child.
3. Before signing the declaration, read what you commit to and ask about a cancellation insurance.
4. If you receive benefits, show your notice to the school, and if you need to apply yourself for a multi-day trip, do it before the trip starts.
5. Pay by transfer with a clear reference, and keep the proof.
6. Offer to escort if you can. Parents may be appointed as additional escorts, but not with private cars, according to the QUA-LiS page.

For the other costs around school, see our pages on school transport and the Deutschlandticket for pupils, accident insurance and holiday activities and the Köln-Pass.

Compliance Note

This page summarises the NRW guideline for school trips, the Landtag’s answer on class funds and the information published by Stadt Köln as read in October 2026. Individual schools may add rules within the guideline, and eligibility is decided by the city or the Jobcenter. It is not legal or social-law advice. For your own case, contact the school, the Amt für Soziales, Arbeit und Senioren or a counselling service.