When you say "couldn't get there", are you talking about the ceremony or the trip?

"attend to" should be just "attend".

I mean the trip.

Ann225I mean the trip.

You would not normally say "get there" for a trip, you would say "go". I suggest this:

There was a ceremony in the great hall that everyone was supposed to attend. There had also been a trip the week before, but unfortunately I couldn't go because I was stuck at work.

It may be appropriate to capitalise "g

I'd not use 'get' with the trip but with the place. For instance, the meeting point would be in London. We'd set off on the trip from London and I'd not be able to get there. Sorry, I should have specified it. Thank you for your help.

Ann225For instance, the meeting point would be in London. We'd set off on the trip from London and I'd not be able to get there.

Unless for some reason it is important to distinguish between getting to the meeting point and actually going on the trip, I would just stick with "I couldn't go". For most purposes it would amount to the same thing.

I'd use 'go' too but in this case I was just concentrating on the tense consistency rather than on the word 'get' or 'go'. I didn't give the example I used much thought and it was only after I posted the question that I noticed the other mistakes in the sentence (like putting 'also' before 'had' or 'to' after 'attend'). I'm not wearing my glasses right now and it has obviously taken its toll on