A forest on the Surrey-Hampshire border has won high praise for the quality of its education service, which is used by more than 12,500 children and adults each year.

Alice Holt Forest has also received an award from the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom in recognition of its education and safety standards.

The way the forest is managed has removed some of the red tape for teachers, who will no longer need to carry out risk assessments for activities run by the forest’s education staff.

Helen Wallace, the Forestry Commission’s education manager at the site, said: “Schools visit from as far afield as London and the south coast and we hope the badge will encourage more teachers to have the confidence to organise school visits with us.

“The award is a real coup for the staff here. It could be considered to be in the same vein as the Ofsted inspection but for learning outside the classroom, and we are thrilled to get official recognition.” hw.