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Home to school travel assistance for secondary school children


This page gives you information about home to school travel assistance for children attending secondary school.

Check if your child qualifies

Applications based on distance

Your child will be able to get home to school travel assistance if they meet the following criteria:

  • they attend their nearest suitable school
  • that school is over three miles away

If your school or academy operates on two sites, the distance will be based on the nearest site to you.

How we work out distances

To work out the distance from your home to your school, we use a Geographic Information System (GIS). This tells us what the shortest route is, using only the nationally recognised Ordnance Survey Integrated Transport Network (ITN) and Urban Paths Network (UPN). We will not include any other routes or use any other method of measurement.

Applications based on income

You may be able to get home to school travel assistance based on the amount you earn.

If you qualify we will provide travel assistance to one of the following:

  • one of the three nearest, suitable, qualifying schools, if that school is more than two but less than six miles from your child's home, or
  • the nearest suitable secondary school preferred because of religion or belief* for children whose parent(s) adhere to that particular faith, where that school is more than two but less than fifteen miles from the child's home

* For this purpose, parental adherence to the Roman Catholic faith has been defined as where at least one parent and the child are baptised Roman Catholic; and to the Anglican faith where at least one parent is a confirmed Anglican and the child is a baptised Anglican.

The six-mile upper limit to a choice of schools and the fifteen mile upper limit to a school preferred on the grounds of religion or belief are not walking routes therefore these routes will be measured along road routes.

What we offer

If your application is successful, we will provide your child with one of the following:

  • a bus pass
  • transport from your home, or a collection point close by, with other children in a coach or minibus, or in some cases, in a taxi
  • money to help you pay towards transport that you arrange for your child

The type of transport you get is chosen by us and our decisions is based on your child's needs and the most cost-effective form of transport available.

How and when to apply

If your child is moving up to secondary school and you qualify based on distance from school, you will be contacted by us by the end of April asking if you need travel assistance. If you complete and return the form, we will make sure appropriate travel assistance is in place ahead of the 2024/25 academic year.

If you have been offered a school place and you meet the other criteria set out above, you should apply for travel assistance. 

Applications for travel assistance needed to be made by Sunday 30 June 2024 to guarantee transport for the 2024/25 academic year starting in September 2024.

You can still apply after this date, but your application might not be considered in time for the start of the new academic year in September.

Apply

What happens next

This is how long it takes for us to process different types of applications:

  • In-year: If you need travel assistance quickly for the current academic year, it usually takes about two weeks from when you submit your application.
  • Next academic year: If you're applying for travel assistance for the start of the next academic year (September 2024), it can take up to eight weeks for us to process your application, but often it's done sooner.

What happens if you do not qualify

If there are any spare seats on a school bus, these can be sold to children who are not entitled to home to school travel assistance. This is called concessionary travel. Full details of the concessionary travel scheme, including bus routes available, how to apply, how seats are allocated and how to pay are available on the apply for a spare seat on school transport page.

How to appeal

If we do not award free home to school transport to your child, you can request a review of our decision in writing within 20 days of the receipt of the decision letter. You will need to send any additional supporting evidence with the request. Each case will be considered individually.

See our Ask for a Transport Case Review page.

Behaviour on home to school transport

We expect good behaviour from children when using the school transport we provide. When you apply for home to school transport for your child, you are required to sign a declaration stating that you agree to uphold good behaviour. Parents have a key role to play and you are responsible for the conduct of your children. See the information leaflets on our Behaviour on home to school/college transport page. 

Further information

Full details of home to school travel assistance are available on our School transport policies and strategies page. 



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