Schools Pre-visit Information IWM London

Pay in advance of your visit: 

A single payment for the whole group can be made using a credit/debit card by phoning our payment team Monday - Friday 9am – 4pm on 020 7416 5399. Please note once payment has been taken, the group numbers cannot be reduced, the date cannot be changed and payment cannot be refunded.

Pay by invoice after your visit:

We will send an invoice for the full cost of the visit or the relevant administration fee to your finance department following your visit date. Payment options are listed at the bottom of the invoice and include payment by BACS, cheque or a link to pay by credit/debit card. Cheques must be made payable to Imperial War Museum Trading Co Ltd.

Visiting us by train

IWM London is easily accessible by public transport. Please visit the Transport for London and National Rail websites for further details.

Nearest tube stations

• Lambeth North (Bakerloo Line) is a 10 minute walk.
• Waterloo (Northern, Bakerloo and Jubilee Line) is a 15 minute walk.
• Elephant and Castle (Northern and Bakerloo Line) is a 10 minute walk.

Nearest train stations

• London Waterloo and Waterloo East is a 15 minute walk. 
• Elephant and Castle is a 15 minute walk.

Visiting us by bus

You can take any of the local bus routes, 159, 344 and 360.

Visiting us by car or coach

There are NCP car parks nearby in Waterloo and Elephant and Castle.

IWM London is within the London Congestion Charge zone. Please visit the Transport for London website for further details.

Visiting us by coach

There are metered coach bays located directly in front of the museum. Visit the TFL's coach parking map for more information.

Walking and cycling

See the Transport for London cycling website for details. The nearest Cycle Hire Scheme docking stations:

• Lambeth Road
• St George’s Road

Visit the Sustrans website for further information on London Cycle Routes.

• Groups must enter via the West Entrance which is situated on the right-hand side of the building.
• The West Entrance can get crowded quickly, so please arrive at the time specified on your booking confirmation. 
• A teacher must sign in at the West Entrance and provide a contact number in case of emergency.
• There are toilets inside for schools to use on arrival.

There is a lot to see, and we recommend that you allow a minimum of two and a half hours for your visit. 

There may be a charge for some of our special exhibitions.

• First World War Galleries
• Second World War Galleries
• Peace and Security: 1945 - 2014: Clusters of objects used to explore some key and often controversial episodes of recent history.
• The Holocaust Galleries: only accessible to schools who have booked a Holocaust Learning Session.

Our exhibitions include material relating to the consequences of conflict. Teachers should consider what is age-appropriate for their students.

Visit What's Here for more information

We have Visit Resources and Activity Sheets for primary and secondary school groups ready for you to print and download! We kindly ask that your students bring pencils to use within the museum rather than pens, to avoid any damage to exhibition spaces.

For safety reasons and to give children the best possible visit, all groups must follow the adult to child ratio in our Code of Conduct. We reserve the right to refuse admission to groups that do not meet the minimum ratio. 

• For Primary aged students, there should be one teacher per ten students (1:10 ratio). Primary-aged students are required to be always within sight of an accompanying adult whilst at an IWM branch.
• For Secondary-aged students, there should be one teacher per fifteen students (1:15 ratio). Secondary-aged students may explore IWM branches independently so long as their behaviour is sensible and they are within hearing distance of an accompanying adult.

Please note, as a condition of your booking, your organisation will be liable for the cost of any damage to property resulting from reckless behaviour by members of your group, or from the negligence of responsible adults in regard to their supervision of the group. This property is not exclusive to, but includes, items in our collection or in our care (including large vehicles and aircraft), and those of our partners. It also includes buildings and other property belonging to IWM or our partners.

• We will take you to the bag room before you head to into the galleries – this room is not supervised so please take any valuables with you.
• We have limited cloakroom space so please consider leaving coats and bags on your coach.
• There are locker facilities which require a £1 coin. We are unable to store large items of luggage or suitcases and the nearest left luggage facility is at Waterloo Station.

• We have a packed lunchroom, which must be pre-booked. There is a café serving hot drinks and food throughout the day. Please note, IWM cafés are cashless, and therefore will not take cash as payment.
• Food and drink may only be consumed in the packed lunchroom or café.
• The lunchroom is along the corridor from the bag room.
• Multiple schools use the lunchroom throughout the day. Please go to the lunchroom at your allotted time.

• You are welcome to visit our museum shop, which is open throughout your visit and accepts both cash and card payments. If you are interested in reserving gift bags to collect on the day, please let us know. 
• Our museum shop offers a wide choice of books, clothing and accessories, posters, prints, stationary, souvenirs and gift ideas. 
• For our younger visitors we have an exciting range of pocket money toys and souvenirs as well as a selection of children’s books. There are also educational resource material and replica printed items for sale. 

To make any changes to your booking or request specific information not available on our website, please contact our Customer Services team at [email protected] or on on 0207 416 5000.