Youth travel offers enormous value - developing confidence, independence and cultural awareness. But it also brings a duty of care that’s complex, often stretching across departments, partners and borders.

ISO 31031:2024, the new international guidance for youth travel risk management, marks an important moment for schools, colleges, universities and youth organisations. It’s a recognition that youth travel carries distinct challenges, and that managing them well demands clarity, capability and coordination.

What ISO 31031:2024 tells us

ISO 31031:2024 builds on the wider principles of ISO 31030 but applies them directly to the realities of youth and educational travel. A few key takeaways stand out:

Clear roles and responsibilities: Everyone involved in a trip, from senior management organisers, members of the trip leadership team, and participants, should understand their duties. Ambiguity leads to delay and confusion when incidents occur, and avoidable concern for parents and guardians.
Competent third-party providers: Schools and youth organisations are advised to vet and work with specialist partners who can deliver the right expertise, infrastructure and response capability.
Leadership and culture: Effective travel risk management is driven from the top. When senior leaders prioritise safety and resource it properly, it becomes part of the organisation’s culture, not just a compliance task.
Communication and emergency planning: Plans should be shared, tested and understood by all stakeholders. Information flow in a crisis is as critical as the plan itself.
Relevance: Risk management should match the nature of the trip. Simpler for low-risk activities, more detailed for complex or high-risk travel.

These principles aren’t new but their integration into a dedicated standard for youth travel gives organisations a shared benchmark to measure against.

From policy to practice

Four years after ISO 31030 brought similar clarity to business travel, the youth sector is now catching up. Many education institutions have taken positive steps: defining responsibilities, appointing travel safety leads, and partnering with external specialists.

But gaps remain. Processes are often uneven between departments. Some organisations still rely heavily on individual experience rather than shared systems. Others struggle to maintain engagement from senior leadership once immediate risks seem to pass.

This mix of progress and inconsistency highlights why readiness, not just compliance, should be the goal.

A way to measure progress

To help organisations reflect on their current approach, Healix, in partnership with GSA Global, has created the Youth Travel Risk Readiness Assessment.

This tool helps universities, colleges, schools and youth organisations understand how far their practices align with ISO 31031:24 and what they need to strengthen. It takes around ten minutes to complete and offers a structured view of maturity across planning, communication, leadership and provider management.

It’s not about scoring or audit; it’s about an awareness starting point for better coordination and confidence.

Get started with your assessment