Applying for school travel assistance
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Applying for school travel assistance
We provide free and paid school transport, as well as transport for children with special educational needs.
The offer of a place at any school does not automatically guarantee travel assistance under our policy - there is no automatic entitlement to travel assistance between home and school.
Free transport
We can provide free school travel assistance if your child meets certain criteria.
We support your right to apply for your preferred school - but free transport can only be provided to your nearest suitable school that has places.
If you live in a rural area or village, your local school may have a linked area which may give you some priority if applying for that school and it's oversubscribed. Use the schools directory to see if a school is linked to your local village or town.
Although a school may have a linked area, school transport assistance may not be provided if it's not the nearest suitable school under our transport policy.
If you choose a school further away, you will likely be responsible for your child's transport, but you can still apply and we will assess your application.
Paid transport
If you're not entitled to free school travel assistance, you may be able to pay for it if there's spare space. You need to apply every year for non-entitled school travel assistance, even if you had a space in the previous year.
Special educational needs travel assistance
Your child may be eligible to receive special educational needs travel assistance if they are 16 years old (or under) and they have an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
This needs to be the school named in the plan and it needs to be beyond walking distance stated in our policy. If you choose a different school, you will likely be responsible for transporting your child - but you can still apply and we will assess your application.
Post-16 travel assistance
If you're a student over the age of 16 in full time education, we may be able to provide assistance with transport.
Last updated 06 November 2024