The world is
their classroom.
Industry tours, expert-led visits, and working-facility access — organised for home-educating families who have the flexibility to make it happen.
Behind the fence. Inside the facility.
Most school trips go to museums. Into Industry goes behind the fence, past the reception desk, and into the working heart of facilities that children rarely get to see — with the people who run them explaining what actually happens there.
Into Industry is LifeLearn's programme of organised visits to real working facilities — water treatment plants, manufacturing floors, broadcast studios, conservation sites, laboratories, and more. Each visit is arranged by the LifeLearn team, hosted by professionals working in the field, and sized for small groups of home-educating families.
This isn't enrichment. It's the curriculum.
💡 Why this is the differentiator
Home education gives families something school timetables don't: the flexibility to go somewhere unusual on a Tuesday morning and spend two hours with an engineer who's been doing this for twenty years. Into Industry exists to make the most of that flexibility — by securing access that no individual family could easily arrange on their own.
Visits open now
One pilot visit confirmed. More in planning across the UK. Register interest to be notified when new visits open in your region.
Coming later in 2026
These visits are in planning. Register interest and we'll notify you when dates are confirmed in your region.
Broadcast Studio Tour
Behind the camera at a working TV or radio studio — how a broadcast actually gets made, from script to transmission. Production, engineering, and live broadcasting explained by the people doing it.
Register interest →Conservation Field Trip
A working day alongside conservation professionals — habitat management, species monitoring, ecological surveying. What environmental science looks like when someone does it for a living.
Register interest →Research Laboratory
Inside a working research lab — the equipment, the process, and the daily reality of scientific research. Scientists at the bench explaining what they're actually trying to find out.
Register interest →Manufacturing Floor
How everyday products are made — a working manufacturing facility, from raw material to finished product, with the engineers and operators who keep the line running.
Register interest →Port & Logistics
The infrastructure of global trade — a working port or distribution centre, the systems that move goods, and the careers that keep supply chains running.
Register interest →Working Farm & Food Production
From field to shelf — how food is grown, processed, and distributed. A working farm or food production facility with the people behind UK food production.
Register interest →Every sector. Every region.
Into Industry will eventually cover every major industry sector — organised at a regional level so families aren't travelling nationally for a two-hour visit. These are the categories we're building towards.
Water & Utilities
Treatment plants, energy generation, waste management
Media & Broadcast
TV studios, radio stations, production facilities
Science & Research
Laboratories, universities, R&D facilities
Manufacturing
Production lines, engineering works, assembly plants
Conservation
Nature reserves, habitat projects, ecological fieldwork
Food & Agriculture
Farms, food production, supply chain facilities
Health & Medicine
NHS facilities, medical research, healthcare careers
Technology
Data centres, software companies, engineering labs
Law & Justice
Courts, legal chambers, justice system facilities
Transport & Logistics
Ports, rail depots, distribution centres
Arts & Culture
Museums backstage, theatres, galleries in operation
Construction
Live build sites, civil engineering, architecture
From idea to visit
Every Into Industry visit follows the same path — from LifeLearn identifying an opportunity, to families coming away with something they'll still be talking about at dinner.
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1
We identify the facility
The LifeLearn team identifies working facilities willing to host a small group of home-educating families. This might come from our own network, from community suggestions, or from direct outreach to organisations in a sector families have asked about.
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2
We arrange the access
We agree a format, a date window, and a host contact with the facility. Safety, accessibility, age-appropriateness, and the learning value of the visit are all assessed before places are offered. The pre-visit briefing is written at this stage.
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3
Families register
Visits are announced in the Into Industry group and on this page. Places are limited — usually 10 to 15 families — so registration is first-come. A pre-visit briefing is sent to every registered family ahead of the date.
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4
The visit happens
Families travel independently to the site. The host organisation runs the visit — usually guided by staff who work there. LifeLearn coordinates but doesn't act as a school; families are responsible for their children throughout.
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5
The conversation continues
The follow-up is where learning cements. The pre-visit briefing includes conversation starters, at-home activities, and subject mappings for families who want to document the learning. Families share what they found in the Into Industry group.
📋 For compliance portfolios
An Into Industry visit — the pre-reading, the visit itself, the post-visit conversation, and any follow-up activities — constitutes a substantial piece of documented learning across multiple subjects. The Compliance Portfolio guide explains how to record it for any local authority enquiry.
Two ways to shape what comes next
Into Industry is being built with the community. Both of these have a direct impact on what gets organised and when.
Vote on what comes next
The poll in the Into Industry community group asks which visit type you'd most like us to organise first. The most-voted category gets prioritised. It takes thirty seconds and your vote materially shapes the programme.
Vote in the poll →Host or suggest a visit
Have a workplace, a network contact, or a local connection that could open its doors? Manufacturing, energy, media, conservation, law, science — anywhere home-educated children rarely get to go. Get in touch and we'll explore it.
Get in touch →Related from the library
Join to be first in line.
Into Industry visits open to LifeLearn members first. Join free — and you'll be notified the moment new visits are confirmed in your region.