Permission slip template
Send one link and parents sign on their phones. No slips in book bags, and you can see at a glance who has not replied.
Free, no account needed, 100 replies a month.
Or download the printable PDF. Free, no email address, ready to print and pin up.
The form people fill in, and the list you get back
You can reword any of these questions, or add your own, after you create it.
| 4 Feb, 06:58 | Beatriz Nunes | 2015-05-27 | 4A | Swimming gala | 2026-02-20 | Yes | Rui Nunes | Father | (503) 555-0147 | (503) 555-0148 | No | No | 2026-02-04 | |
| 3 Feb, 20:16 | Louis Traoré | 2015-11-03 | 4B | Swimming gala | 2026-02-20 | Yes | Fatou Traoré | Mother | (503) 555-0129 | Yes | Asthma, inhaler in his bag | Yes | 2026-02-03 | |
| 3 Feb, 07:41 | Maya Osei | 2015-08-19 | 4B | Swimming gala | 2026-02-20 | Yes | Adjoa Osei | Mother | (503) 555-0110 | (503) 555-0111 | No | Yes | 2026-02-03 |
Scroll sideways for the rest of the 15 answers, and press any heading to sort by it. In your own form you can search the answers as well, and download them as a spreadsheet at any time.
What a permission slip must contain
A permission slip is a record that a parent knew what was happening and agreed to it. To do that job it has to identify the child, describe the activity and the date specifically enough that nobody can later say they thought it was something else, give a contact that works on the day, and carry a signature.
The most common omission is the emergency contact that works *on the day*. A home number is useless when the parent is at work and the child is on a coach.
Medical information: ask, but ask conditionally
Almost every permission slip asks about medical needs, and almost every one asks it as an open box that most parents leave blank, which leaves you unable to tell "nothing to report" from "did not read the question".
Ask yes or no first, then ask for detail only from the parents who said yes. You get a definite answer from everybody and a useful one from the people it applies to. The online version of this template does exactly that.
Photography consent belongs on the same slip
If photographs from the trip might appear in a newsletter, on a website or on social media, ask on the same form. A separate media consent chased later gets a fraction of the responses, and the fraction it misses is exactly the parents who would have said no.
Be specific about who may sign
"Parent or guardian" covers most families and quietly fails for the rest. A grandparent who is the day-to-day carer, a foster carer, an older sibling over eighteen, a parent who does not have parental responsibility. Each of these will sign a slip if the form does not say who may.
Asking for the signer's name and their relationship to the child as two separate answers solves this without anybody having to interpret a policy. It also makes the gap visible: a slip signed by somebody described as "family friend" is one you can query before the trip rather than after it.
Paper loses slips; links do not
Thirty slips go out and twenty-six come back, and the four missing ones are chased on the morning of the trip. That is not a failure of organisation. It is what happens when a piece of paper has to survive a school bag for a week.
A link removes the bag from the process. Parents sign on a phone, you can see at a glance who has not, and the record does not depend on anyone remembering to hand it in. If you already have a permission slip as a PDF, this site turns that exact document into a link without you rebuilding it.
Questions people ask
What should a permission slip include?
The child's name, the activity and its date, an explicit yes-or-no consent, the parent or guardian's name and signature, an emergency contact that works on the day, and any medical needs. Add photography consent if images might be used.
Are electronic signatures valid on a permission slip?
In most places a typed or drawn electronic signature is as valid as ink for this kind of consent, and it comes with a timestamp and an audit record that paper does not have. If your organisation has a policy on electronic signatures, check it — school districts sometimes do.
How do I chase the parents who have not returned a slip?
With paper you cannot easily tell who is missing until you count. With a link you can see who has responded at any point, which turns chasing into a short list rather than a headcount on the morning of the trip.
Can I use my school's existing permission slip?
Yes. That is what this site is for. Upload the PDF or photograph the printed slip and the questions are read off it automatically, so the wording your district approved stays exactly as it is.
Is this permission slip template free?
Yes. The PDF downloads with no account and no email address, and the online version is free to create and share.
Ready to send it out?
Every question above is already written. Make it a form, get your link, and send it. Reword anything first if your group asks it differently.
Free, no account needed to start, and the printable PDF stays one click away.
Already have your own version of this form?
You build nothing. Drop the PDF here, or photograph the printed copy, and the questions are read off it: no canvas, no dragging a box onto each field, no mapping step. The wording your organisation already approved stays exactly as it is, and you get a link that collects the answers back as a spreadsheet — and as the original document, filled in.
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