Before you visit
V&A South Kensington
Planning what to see
- Over seven miles of inspiring galleries are waiting for you at V&A South Kensington. Explore using our interactive map, and take a look at our teachers' resources online to help you organise your visit.
- Please note: galleries are occasionally closed at short notice. Please check our visit page or call us on +44 (0)20 7942 2000 near the time of your visit.
V&A East Storehouse
Planning what to see
We are currently piloting our Creative Learning schools and colleges offer with local east London mainstream state schools and colleges. Workshops and self-guided visits will be bookable through our website for the Summer Term 2026. Please check this page for updates.
We will also have an Educators Connect programme – a supportive space for teachers to learn and share. More information on this coming in Autumn 2025.
V&A East Storehouse is your access all areas experience of the V&A collection. Go behind the scenes and take your own path through the worlds of art, design, performance, fashion and more.
Please refer to our pre-visit information guide, which explains what you can expect.
Young V&A
Planning what to see
Young V&A is a relatively compact museum. There are three free permanent galleries called Imagine, Play and Design.
Play Gallery (suitable for EYFS - KS3)
- In the Play Gallery, the ‘Mini Museum’ is inspired by the ways that babies and toddlers first experience the world with a sensory landscape in which objects are placed at children’s eye level height, where they can discover colours, textures, and shapes as they explore the space.
- Further parts of the collection are displayed within an alphabet running the length of the gallery, helping little ones build communication and oracy skills. Elsewhere a rainbow of cases show objects by colour, appealing to early learners.
- A construction zone encourages children to use their problem-solving and design skills with a large marble run, and to have fun building dens and architectural structures in the Imagination Playground.
- The Arcade delves into the history and process of boardgame and videogame design, with lots of different games for children to play.
Imagine Gallery (suitable for KS1 and KS2)
- The Imagine Gallery includes a variety of spaces to inspire creative expression through performance, storytelling, imagination and community.
- Children can choose their own adventure and create their own stories inspired by the collections – including the life-size Joey the War Horse puppet in the Adventure area and the original Superman costume worn by Christopher Reeve.
- A performance space, The Stage, contains a dressing up box and shadow puppets interactive encourage children to enact their own performances.
- A display called This Is Me by photographer Rehan Jamil, cocurated with young people from the Mile End Community Project, features portraits of local children expressing what creativity means to them.
- The much-loved dolls’ house collection can be explored within a new streetscape, alongside a commission by Emily Queenie created with local schoolchildren exploring what community means to them.
- Rachel Whiteread’s Place (Village), an installation of over 100 dolls’ houses, has been redisplayed in an atmospheric space immersing visitors within the work.
Design Gallery (suitable for KS3)
- The Design Gallery, conceived for older children, showcases innovative objects and case studies that explore how things are designed, made, and used, and the ways in which design can change the world.
- Remarkable stories illustrating the power of children’s agency are highlighted here, like world changing inventions such as an Elephant Detector created by a 14-year-old Chinmayi Ramasubramanian in India to reduce human-elephant conflict. Cocoa Girl, the UK’s first magazine for Black girls designed by Serlina Boyd, inspired by her daughter Faith, is featured as part of a display exploring how design can give people voice.
- The Factory uncovers some of the many processes and materials used in making familiar and unfamiliar objects, where children can see design processes in action.
- The Shed is home to Young V&A’s onsite Studio Resident –and is a space where young people can experience the work of a contemporary artist or designer first hand and take part in design challenges in the adjoining Open Studio.
Temporary exhibitions
Young V&A hosts temporary special exhibitions. These ticketed exhibitions are free to school groups visiting Young V&A on selec ted days. To find out about the current Young V&A temporary exhibition, which days it is open to schools and how to book, visit here.
Teacher tickets
If you are a teacher and are hoping to come on a pre-visit to support with your planning, please book a separate ticket for the exhibition (Teacher Ticket). This ticket can only be booked after your school booking has been confirmed, by calling 020 7942 5200 or email young@vam.ac.uk.
Booking a visit
V&A South Kensington
You must book a self-guided visit online in advance of your visit.
You will need to log in to make a booking. Don’t have an account? Request an account for your school.
On arrival, please check-in at the Learning Centre desk. Our friendly team will be able to assist you with lockers and check your booking.
We do not accept third-party provider bookings.
Changes and cancellations
Please call +44 (0)20 7942 2000 as soon as possible if you need to change or cancel your visit, or if you anticipate being late for your time slot.
Adult/student ratios
Adult supervision is required at all times with the following adult-to-student ratios:
- 0 – 2 years 1 adult: 3 children
- 2 – 3 years 1 adult: 4 children
- 4 – 8 years 1 adult: 6 children
- 9 – 12 years 1 adult: 8 children
- 13 – 15 years 1 adult: 10 children
- 16 – 18 years 1 adult: 15 children
Students are not permitted in the galleries unaccompanied.
All teachers and accompanying adults are responsible for student supervision during your visit, and must remain with the group at all times.
Teachers are the lead supervisor for their group and must ensure that students behave in a way that minimises the likelihood of accidents or damage.
Access
- If anyone in your group has any additional access needs and requires assistance, please let us know at the time of booking.
- Please see our disability and access page, or call us on +44 (0)20 7942 2000 for full information about access.
V&A East Storehouse
Booking is essential. If you don’t have a booking, unfortunately you won’t be able to visit V&A East Storehouse with your class.
We are currently taking bookings from east London mainstream schools and colleges for our pilot phase. We are developing a unique new programme responding to teacher and student need, so our pilot phase may last until summer term 2026.
Please contact us on va-east-engagement@vam.ac.uk to enquire about workshops and self-guided visits. In our pilot phase we are only able to respond to schools and colleges who are mainstream provisions based in East London.
Our self-guided visits are for Years 5-13 and our bookable workshops are for Years 9-13
Self-guided visits and workshops are bookable for a maximum of 30 students.
We do not accept third-party provider bookings.
We do not currently accept bookings from home schools or agencies as we are prioritising local school provision in East London and our offer isn’t suitable for mixed age groups.
Please call +44 (0)20 7942 2100 as soon as possible if you need to change or cancel your visit, or if you anticipate being late for your time slot.
Arrival
- On arrival, please check-in at the main entrance on Parkes Street with one of our Front of House staff. Our Learning & Engagement team will be able to check your booking and assist you with lockers.
- Before entering the Collections Hall your group will be briefed by Learning & Engagement staff on guidelines for navigating the space.
Adult/student ratios
Adult supervision is required at all times with the following adult-to-student ratios:
- 4 – 8 years 1 adult: 6 children
- 9 – 12 years 1 adult: 8 children
- 13 – 15 years 1 adult: 10 children
- 16 – 18 years 1 adult: 15 children
Due to the size of the space, we can only allow 15 students per group inside the Collections Hall. Larger groups will need to be split with adult supervision as per the above ratios, when visiting inside the Collections Hall. For example, a class of 30 Year 9 students will need 4 adults supervising their visit as they will be split into two groups of 15 with 2 adults supervising each group.
Students are not permitted in V&A East Storehouse unaccompanied.
All teachers and accompanying adults are responsible for student supervision during your visit and must always remain with the group.
Teachers are the lead supervisor for their group and must ensure that students behave in a way that minimises the likelihood of accidents or damage.
Access
- If anyone in your group has any additional access needs and requires assistance, please let us know at the time of booking.
- For information about access, please see our Access at V&A East Storehouse page, or call +44 (0)20 7942 2100.
- Please note, in the centre of the Collections Hall there is a section of glass flooring with a view of the Agra Colonnade and working store below. Each level has public walkways so you can explore more of the collection and see the museum at work. The walkways are a minimum of 1.6 metres wide with a metal grating floor and glass railings, allowing you to see all the way down to the basement level below. We recommend wearing comfortable clothing and flat shoes. The metal grid flooring is not suitable for stilettos or kitten heels.
- We advise you to read the visiting information (which includes a visual guide and a pre-visit video) to prepare you and your students for your visit.
- We advise you to review the accessibility guidance ahead of your visit.
- If you think any of your students may need a break while in the Collections Hall, please ensure you have enough staff to maintain student to staff ratios in the Collections Hall at all times.
Young V&A
Opening times
Young V&A is open Monday to Sunday, 10.00 – 17.45. Closed 24-26 December. Provisions for school groups are available term time only.
Visiting with your class
All schools must book their visit. This can be either through:
- Free Self-guided visit/Free entry to our temporary exhibitions: Book here
- Creative workshops (EYFS to KS3): Book Here
- Admission to Young V&A is free. A separate charge may apply to our workshops. We accept bookings for our Schools’ programme from registered schools only. We do not accept third-party provider bookings.
Changing or cancelling your visit
Please call +44(0)20 8983 5200 as soon as possible if you need to change or cancel your visit or anticipate being late for your time slot.
Adult/student ratios
Adult supervision is required at all times with the following adult-to-student ratios:
- 0-2 years 1 adult: 3 children
- 2-3 years 1 adult: 4 children
- 4-8 years 1 adult: 6 children
- 9-12 years 1 adult: 8 children
- 13-15 years 1 adult: 10 children
- 16-18 years 1 adult: 15 children
Please note, students are not permitted in galleries unaccompanied.
All teachers and accompanying adults are responsible for student supervision for the duration of your visit and must remain with the group at all times.
Teachers are the lead supervisor for their group and must ensure that students behave in a way that minimises the likelihood of accidents or damage.
Access
If anyone in your group has any additional access needs and requires assistance, please let us know at the time of booking. This will enable us to best support your group visit.
Check out our access page here or call Young V&A - 020 8983 5200 for full information for visitors with access requirements.
Explore our visual story to help plan your visit.
Risk assessment
V&A South Kensington
- You should carry out your own risk assessment before you visit, and bring it with you on the day. See our health and safety information for more guidance.
- A copy of our risk assessment is available on request, to assist with creating your own risk assessment. Please contact our team at schools@vam.ac.uk
Staying safe at the museum
- To enable you and your students to have the best possible and safest visit with us, we advise dividing your larger group into smaller sub-groups to move around. Please ensure each smaller group still meets our adult-to-student ratios outlined above.
- Please refer to our staying safe guidelines during your visit
V&A East Storehouse
- You should carry out your own risk assessment before you visit and bring it with you on the day. See health and safety information on our website for more guidance.
- To assist with creating your own risk assessment, a copy of our risk assessment is available on request. Please contact the team by emailing va-east-engagement@vam.ac.uk.
Staying safe at the museum
- To enable you and your students to have the best possible, safest visit with us, we require you to split your larger group into smaller sub-groups of no more than 15 students to move around. Please ensure each smaller group still meets our adult-to-student ratios outlined above.
- In case of evacuation and you are not able to re-enter the building, we will arrange for belongings in lockers to get back to you.
Young V&A
- You should carry out your own risk assessment before you visit and bring it with you on the day. See our health and safety information for more guidance.
- You should carry out your own risk assessment before you visit and bring it with you on the day. On booking you will be sent Young V&A Health and Safety document provided for more advice about this. Please contact our team at yvaschools@vam.ac.uk with any further questions.
Staying safe at the museum
- To enable you and your students to have the best possible and safest experience whilst visiting us, we advise dividing your larger group into smaller sub-groups to move around the museum.
- Please ensure each smaller group still meets our teacher to student ratios above.
- Our friendly staff may ask you to split into smaller groups to participate in some of our interactive areas, so that they can be safely and fairly accessed by you and other visitors.
On the day of your visit
V&A South Kensington
How to reach V&A South Kensington
Our address is:
Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL
Travelling to V&A South Kensington
- Public Transport: please check our visit page for the latest public transport information.
- Coaches: Two drop-off points are located on Cromwell Road. All drop-off points allow up to 15 minutes waiting time. Coach parking facilities are in Hyde Park, off Bayswater Road.
Schools in the Greater London Area can apply for free public transport when making visits to museums within the GLA area.
Arriving at V&A South Kensington
- You can enter via any entrance. The nearest entrance to the Learning Centre is the Blavatnik Entrance on Exhibition Road. This entrance is step-free and wheelchair accessible.
- Upon arrival at V&A South Kensington, please follow signs to the Learning Centre, where you will check-in. Our interactive map is available to help you with wayfinding.
- In the interest of visitor safety, our Security team may carry out bag searches at the entrances.
Facilities for schools and colleges
- There are lunchroom facilities in our Learning Centre. When booking your school's self-guided visit, you have the option to add-on a lunchroom slot.
- Booking a lunchroom slot gives you access to use our lockers. It is the lead teacher's responsibility to ensure lockers are secure. Items are left in the locker at your own risk.
- The toilets in the Centre are regularly cleaned throughout the day.
Exhibition admission
- School groups can visit our exhibitions at a discounted rate. To book and find out more, please call our Contact Centre Team on +44 (0)20 7942 2000 and an advisor will be able to process your request.
Conduct
- Teachers are responsible for students' behaviour and safety at all times. Please remind your group not to touch objects, shout or run.
- You are welcome to draw in any gallery. For temporary exhibitions, please check signage or ask a member of staff. Please only use dry materials – for example coloured or graphite pencils. Materials must be encased in a box or bag.
V&A East Storehouse
How to reach V&A East Storehouse
Our address is:
V&A East Storehouse
Parkes Street, E20 3AX
Travelling to V&A East Storehouse
- Public Transport: please check our visit page for travel details.
- Coaches: there are no coach parking facilities at V&A East Storehouse. We recommend using public transport.
- If you need to travel by private vehicle for accessibility reasons, please email va-east-engagement@vam.ac.uk for guidance.
Schools in the Greater London Area can apply for free public transport when making visits to museums within the GLA area.
Arriving at V&A East Storehouse
- Upon arrival at V&A East Storehouse, please enter via the main entrance on Parkes Street. Please ensure the lead teacher in the group goes to the front of the queue and informs Front of House staff that their group has arrived.
- Please arrive promptly for your visit. Please note that if you are late your visit may have to be shortened.
Facilities for schools and colleges
- There are lunchroom facilities in Common Room West. Lunch spaces must be booked prior your visit. When booking your school's self-guided visit please add-on a lunchroom slot if one is available. Lunch spaces are not guaranteed for self-guided visits.
- Booking a lunchroom slot gives you access to use our lockers. It is the lead teacher's responsibility to ensure lockers are secure. Items are left in the locker at your own risk.
- The toilets in Common Room West are regularly cleaned throughout the day.
- Please note that all the toilets in Common Room West are not gender-specific.
Conduct
- Teachers are responsible for students' behaviour and safety at all times. Please remind your group not to touch objects or run.
- Large bags and coats must be put away in the lockers before entering the Collections Hall.
- Photos are allowed in the Collections Hall. You must use the phone lanyards supplied by staff for health and safety reasons.
- You are welcome to draw in the Collections Hall, using dry materials only, which we will provide. You cannot bring your own materials into Storehouse. These must be always attached to clipboards for health and safety reasons.
Young V&A
How to reach Young V&A
Our address is:
Young V&A
Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2 9PA
Travelling to Young V&A
- Underground: Bethnal Green (2 min walk)
- Overground: Cambridge Heath (5 mins) or Whitechapel (15 mins)
- Buses: 106, 254, 388 and D6 stop nearby
- Coaches: There are two drop-off points for coaches on Cambridge Heath Road, outside Young V&A’s entrance. All drop-off points allow up to 15 minutes waiting time. Coach parking facilities in Whitechapel High Street NCP.
Schools in the Greater London Area can apply for free public transport when making visits to museums within the GLA area.
Visual Story
Explore our visual story to help plan your visit.
Arriving at Young V&A
- Please enter the museum via the Main Entrance on Cambridge Heath Road. Please note, the Main Entrance is step-free and wheelchair accessible. In the interest of visitor safety, our Security team may carry out bag searches at the entrances to the Museum.
- All groups must check in at The Portal Trust Community Room on the Lower Ground Floor. Our friendly staff will check your booking details upon arrival. Please ensure that all supporting adults have a printout of this document.
Storage
- EYFS and primary school groups will be allocated one storage trolley for their coats and bags per 30 children.
- Our storage lockers are not lockable, and belongings are left at the school’s risk. We advise you and students keep any valuables with you throughout your visit.
- Free locker facilities are available in the Lower Ground Floor corridor for the public and KS3 groups. Keys can be obtained from the schools' check-in desk.
Workshop bookings
If you have booked a schools' workshop, please meet your facilitator in The Portal Trust Community Room 5 minutes before the start of your workshop.
Lunch space
- There are lunchroom facilities in The Portal Trust Community Room for schools. A 30-minute slot is automatically allocated to your group upon the booking of a school visit. Please check your ticket for your lunch slot time.
- Please note our lunch tables are reserved for school children only and teachers and accompanying adults will have to stand. If anyone in your group has mobility issues, please notify a member of the Visitor Experience Team who will be able to accommodate.
- It may be possible to use the Museum’s outdoor space for a packed lunch if the weather permits.
- Consuming food in the galleries is strictly forbidden.
Conduct
- Teachers are responsible for students’ behaviour and safety at all times. Please remind your group not to touch objects, climb, shout or run while in the Young V&A.
- If the behaviour of any groups or individuals affects the safety or enjoyment of other visitors, they will be asked to leave. Teachers should ensure that their pupils understand how they are expected to behave and have contingency measures in place in the event that anyone is asked to leave.
- Pupils should be instructed to inform a member of Visitor Experience staff (wearing orange aprons with V&A staff passes) should they become separated from the rest of the group. Please ensure all pupils and accompanying adults are made aware of this in advance of their visit.
Drawing in the museum
You are welcome to draw in any gallery. For temporary exhibitions, please check signage or ask a member of staff. Please only use dry materials, for example, coloured or graphite pencils. Materials must be encased in a box or bag.
Contact us
If you have any questions before you visit any of our museums, you can contact us by phone or email using the details provided below.
V&A South Kensington
- Contact Centre: +44 (0)20 7942 2000
- Learning Co-ordinator – Schools and Colleges: schools@vam.ac.uk
V&A East Storehouse
- Contact Centre: +44 (0)20 7942 2100
- Creative Learning team: va-east-engagement@vam.ac.uk
Young V&A
- Contact Centre: +44 (0)20 7942 2000
- Schools and Colleges: yvaschools@vam.ac.uk