Far from the nearest place of history
Many schools are a long way from a major museum, castle or archive. A live session can close that distance in minutes.
Live Connections
Bring the past into the room.
When a class can't travel to history, history can travel to the class.
Live Connections will let cultural partners join classrooms by video — so a museum object, a castle tower, an archive document, an author, an actor, a historian, a parliament chamber, a battlefield story or a local memory can appear in the room, live, wherever a school is.
Monday 26 April – Friday 30 April 2027
Family History Weekend: Saturday 1 May – Monday 3 May 2027
What it is
History, for the schools that can't come to it.
Not every school can visit every place. History Week helps cultural partners reach classrooms that may never be able to travel to them.
A live virtual session can bring a museum object, castle tower, archive document, author, actor, historian, parliament chamber, battlefield story or local memory directly into the classroom.
This isn't a screen for the sake of a screen. Some schools are far from the nearest museum or heritage site. Some can't fund a coach, cover the staffing, or take a whole class out for the day. Some pupils find big trips difficult. Live Connections is designed so distance, cost and circumstance stop deciding which children get to meet the past — and so real places, real objects and real people can reach every classroom that wants them.
Reaching the children who would otherwise miss out — that is the whole point.
Why it matters
Designed for access, not spectacle.
No coach, no full-day trip needed
A live visit can happen inside a single lesson — without travel costs, staffing strain or a day out of the timetable.
Reaching every pupil
For pupils who find large trips difficult, the classroom can be the calmest place to meet the past — together, with their teacher.
What a session could look like
Live history, in many shapes.
These are illustrations of the kinds of session cultural partners might offer — examples of what's possible, not a list of confirmed partners.
Live session
A castle giving a live tour from the battlements
Pupils climb a castle tower without leaving their classroom, following the walls and watching the landscape it once defended.
Live session
A museum showing objects from ancient Egypt or Roman Britain
A curator holds real objects up close to the camera and answers the questions a class actually wants to ask.
Live session
An author reading historical fiction and answering questions
A writer shares a passage, explains the history behind it, and talks with pupils about how the past becomes a story.
Live session
A parliament explaining democracy and debate
From the chamber itself, pupils see how laws are argued, voted on and made — and why it matters who gets a say.
Live session
An archive showing wartime letters
An archivist turns the pages of real letters from the front, and pupils read the words of people who lived through it.
Live session
A theatre exploring costume, performance and storytelling
Actors and makers show how a period comes alive on stage — costume, character, voice and the craft of bringing history to life.
Live session
A local historian helping pupils investigate their own town
A historian helps a class read the history on their own doorstep — the streets, names and stories that shaped where they live.
Examples are illustrative venue and partner types. No venues are confirmed or partnered yet.
How it will work
A simple way to discover and book.
The discovery and booking experience is still being built. Here's the shape we're working towards for History Week 2027 — and how you can be part of it from the start.
Partners list sessions
Museums, castles, archives, theatres, libraries, authors, historians and more describe the live sessions they can offer schools.
Schools discover them
Teachers browse sessions by theme, age group and the five daily windows of History Week — and find ones that fit their week.
A class requests a slot
A teacher asks for a time that works, and the partner confirms — bringing the session straight into the classroom by video.
History comes to the room
On the day, the class meets the place, object, story or person live — wherever in the country the school happens to be.
Live Connections is in development. Sessions may be offered free, paid or sponsored — details will be confirmed as History Week 2027 takes shape.
For venues & cultural partners
Reach classrooms you could never fit through the door.
A live session lets you welcome far more schools than any building can hold — including the ones that could never make the journey to you.
- register your interest now and help shape how Live Connections works
- later, create a profile and describe the live sessions you can offer
- list virtual sessions for schools alongside any physical visits
- choose whether sessions are free, paid or sponsored
- reach schools far beyond your usual catchment, anywhere in the UK
- be discovered by teachers planning their History Week
For schools
Meet the past, wherever you are.
Register your class's interest now and we'll keep you posted as Live Connections opens — so you're ready to bring a live session into your room during History Week.
- meet people, places, objects and stories you couldn't otherwise reach
- fit a live visit inside a single lesson, with no coach or full-day trip
- choose sessions that match your year groups and the daily themes
- take part whether you do one session, one day or the whole week
Register interest
Bring history live into your classroom.
Live Connections is coming for History Week 2027. Register your interest now — schools and venues alike — and we'll keep you posted as it takes shape.