Get school transport

We are responsible for providing a school transport service, where it is not reasonable or safe to expect your child to walk to school. This service is generally, but not always, free of charge. Use this page to understand eligibility for transport between home and school, the ways to get this service, and the situations where charges may apply.

For most children moving to a new school at the start of the school year ('bulk transfers'), applying for school transport will automatically be part of the process. However, if your child moves schools at another time, or your circumstances change, you can submit a new application for school transport at any time.

Warning This page contains links to separate application forms for a variety of school transport services. Please select the section which matches your child's circumstances, to get additional information about eligibility, and make sure you are applying for the correct service.

Types of application

Bulk transfer applications (including dual residency)

We will check eligibility for school transport as part of the school place application process for bulk transfers to start Reception at primary school or Year 7 at secondary school. We will contact the parent who submitted the application, telling you if we think your child is eligible for transport to school, and asking you to confirm by a certain date if you plan to use the service. Our message will contain details about how and when you need to respond.

WarningEven if we contact you to say your child is eligible for school transport, you will still need to respond by the deadline stated on our message, or we will assume that you will take them to school. We need to know who will be using our service, so that we can plan the number of places needed, and make sure that we supply a vehicle of the right size. 

Once we establish eligibility during the bulk transfer process, your child's entitlement to the service will 'roll over' from one academic year to the next, unless your circumstances change or we inform you otherwise.

If your child lives at more than one address

We need to check eligibility for school transport separately for every address that your child travels to school from. We will only automatically check eligibility and contact the parent who made your child's school place application. If your child will be travelling to school from more than one address, we will need to know about it, so that we can also check their eligibility for this journey. 

Warning If your child lives with you part-time, but their other parent or carer submitted their school place application, it means that we haven't assessed if they're eligible for transport from your home to school. You will need to make a separate application to us. If you don't do this, you will be responsible for getting your child to school on the days that they are living with you.

In-year and other applications

If you have not received an offer of school transport as part of a bulk transfer to a new school, you will need to apply for this service. This may include any of these circumstances:

• Moving schools in any year which is not the normal starting age for that school (normally Reception for primary schools, and Year 7 for secondary schools)
• Moving schools in the middle of the school year
• Moving to a new address
• A change in your family's financial circumstances
• A change in the physical health or mobility of your child
• If we haven't already assessed your child's eligibility, because they live with you part-time, and their other parent or guardian completed their school place application

Eligibility and how to apply

A number of different factors may affect your child's eligibility for school transport, and whether the service is free of charge, including where they live, the school they attend, and their particular needs and circumstances, as well as your family's financial situation. Select an item from the list below, to read about eligibility in more detail and make any applications for your child.

If you live further than 'walking distance' from the school

If the journey from your home to your nearest suitable school* is further than the 'statutory walking distance' for your child's age, then they will be able to get free transport to attend. This distance is 2 miles for children aged 5 to 7 years old, and 3 miles for children aged 8 to 16. 

*When we talk about your 'nearest suitable school', we mean the nearest school that we, as a local education authority, determine as appropriate for your child. This may not always be the closest school to your home. In rare cases, your choice of school may affect your child's eligibility for free school transport, if you choose a more distant school, when we feel that there is an appropriate school which is nearer to your home.

If the walking route to school is hazardous

If we think the only available route to school is a dangerous one in terms of road safety, we may offer your child free transport, even if your home is within the statutory walking distance. Our assessment will take into account the age of your child, and whether we would reasonably expect you or another adult to walk with them to school. View our safe routes to school policy document, to learn about the things we do, and don't, take into account.

If you are living on a low income

If your family doesn't have much money coming in, your child may be eligible for free school transport. We define this low income as follows:

• Your child is eligible for benefit-related free school meals
• Your family is eligible for the maximum level of Working Tax Credit

This low income eligibility means that your child will get free transport in the following situations:

• They are attending their nearest suitable school, and it's 2 or more miles from home (for primary children aged 8 to 11)
• They are attending one of the three nearest schools to their home address, and the distance to school is 2 to 6 miles (for secondary children) 

If there is a medical reason

In exceptional circumstances, we may supply free school transport if your child attends their nearest suitable school, but has medical needs which mean they can't easily walk there. This is often done for a short agreed period, and eligibility will always be reviewed. In these cases, we would need evidence of your child's condition from their doctor, and may consult the Local Health Authority.

If there are faith or denominational reasons

There may be reasons of religious faith (or other belief) for your child to attend a school which is not the one designated by us (what we consider to be the nearest appropriate school). In the following circumstances, we will provide school transport:

• Your child's school has the appropriate religious ethos for your family's faith. This can include preferring a school with no religious affiliation, if your family are atheists or humanists.
• The school is the nearest one to your home which is appropriate in terms of faith.
• The school is outside the 'statutory walking distance' for your child's age (please see the notes above on distance from home).
• In the case of attending a school affiliated to your family's faith, your child has been baptised or confirmed in that faith. We may ask for a baptismal certificate or similar evidence.

Please note that although we provide a transport service to denominational schools, there are usually passenger fees for this service, unless you qualify for a reduction of the fees due to other reasons, such as low income, or having had a sibling at the same school at any time up to August 2014.

More details about the sibling scheme for denominational school transport

Children attending a particular school for religious or denominational reasons may qualify for a subsidised transport service, if they have a sibling who attended the same school before August 2014. Siblings are defined as any of the following:

• Brother or sister or half brother or sister
• Adopted brother or sister
• Step brother or sister
• The child of the parent or carer's partner (if that child also lives at the same address)

If your child isn't eligible

How to appeal against a decision on eligibility

We have a legal duty to provide a review and appeals procedure, if you disagree with our decision about your child's eligibility for school transport. 

Read about the stages of the appeal process

The appeals process has two stages:

Stage 1: Appeal to a senior officer

You have 20 working days from the receipt of our decision to make a written request for a review of the decision. This first stage involves the Group Manager or Head of Service responsible for school transport examining your evidence to see if our policy has been applied properly and fairly.

If they find that it has not been, and that you are entitled, then transport will be provided. If they find that our policy has been applied properly and fairly, then your Stage 1 appeal will be rejected, and they will respond within 20 working days explaining why this decision has been made. 

Stage 2: Appeal to a senior officer panel 

If you are unsuccessful at Stage 1, and you feel that your child is entitled due to your circumstances, then you can escalate your appeal to Stage 2. You have 20 working days from receipt of our Stage 1 response to submit a request for a Stage 2 appeal. This request will be referred to a senior officer panel (consisting of a senior officer from both the Transport service and the Education service), who will set up an appeal hearing within 40 working days.  

We aim to ensure that the appeal process is conducted in a transparent and fair way, and that you feel you have been able to put your case and have been listened to.

Approximately 10 working days before the hearing, you should receive an invitation to attend the hearing. You'll be asked to send information and evidence in support of your appeal.

All papers will be treated as confidential, and hearings will be held in private. If you're unable to attend, the case will be heard in your absence. 

After the hearing, the Panel will make their decision. They will consider the information and evidence submitted, both beforehand and at the hearing. They will consider whether providing transport for the child in question would be an effective and efficient use of Council resources, or whether this consideration is outweighed by the appeal you have made.

The Panel make their decision on the evidence and circumstances presented and concerning the individual child in question. If the appeal is upheld, you need to understand that there is no guarantee that siblings would also be eligible for free transport in the future.

The Panel’s decision is final and binding on both parties for the academic year in which the appeal is brought. You will receive a notification of the Panel’s decision and their reasons within five working days of the hearing. Further appeals may only be made in subsequent years if there is a substantial change in circumstances to consider.

At both stages of the process, there is a right of complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman. You can only make this sort of complaint if you consider that there was a failure to comply with the procedural rules, or if there are any other irregularities in the way the appeal was handled.  If the you think the decision was flawed on public law grounds, you may apply for judicial review.

Fare paying services

We organise school transport and hire vehicles based on the needs of children who are eligible for the service. Sometimes, your child may continue to make the same school journey each day, but no longer qualify for the service - for example, because they reach the age of 16, or your family circumstances change.

However, if we are already running a service to your area for other children who are eligible, it may still be possible for your child to take a seat on our hired vehicle, as a fare paying passenger. Please email our Passenger Transport team, stating your child's name and the school they will be attending, to request a fare-paying application. If you apply and a seat is available, we will let you know the fare, and you will need to pay in advance. 

Warning We cannot guarantee non-eligible children will be able to use one of our services as a fare paying passenger for the whole of the school year. We may have to cancel their seat at short notice, (normally a month), if we are able to hire a smaller vehicle, stop the service altogether, or a new child who is eligible for free transport needs the seat.