School transport for reception to year 11 children

Children with special educational needs, disabilities or mobility problems

If your child is going to their nearest suitable school and has special educational needs, disabilities or mobility problems, we can do an individual assessment to decide if they are eligible for free travel. We will consider:

• your child's physical ability to walk to school
• any health and safety issues related to their special educational needs, disability or mobility problems
• whether your child would be able to walk to school if they have an appropriate adult with them

In our assessment, we will look at:

• information you give us about your child
• information from any professionals involved in your child's care
• information from your child's school
• relevant information in your child's Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) if they have one
• relevant information in your child's individual healthcare plan if they have one

If you want us to assess whether your child is eligible, contact us to ask for an assessment under SEND, disability or mobility travel eligibility. Your child does not need to have an EHCP for you to do this.

If your child does have an EHCP, we would usually consider the school named in their EHCP to be their nearest suitable school. If they are going to any other school, you are responsible for getting them to school. 

Children from families on low incomes

We provide discretionary extended rights for children from families on low incomes. This is designed to help families exercise school choice.

Families on low incomes are those where children are entitled to free school meals and where the household income is less than £7,400 per year.

From September 2026, the government is extending free school meals to all children from households getting Universal Credit. However, this does not mean all children getting free school meals will then be eligible for free school travel. The household income must still also be less than £7,400 per year for children to be eligible for free travel.

Children from families on low incomes are eligible for free school travel if they:

• are between eight and 11 years old and go to their nearest school that is more than two miles away from home
• are in Years 7 to 11 and go to one of their three nearest secondary schools that is more than two miles away but less than 12 miles away from home
• are in Years 7 to 11 and go to their nearest denominational secondary school that is over two miles away but less than 15 miles away from home

If your benefits or income change, your child's eligibility for free travel might also change.

If you cannot accompany your child due to a medical condition

You may be eligible for free school travel if your child is going to their nearest school and you live under the statutory walking distance. You will have to send us evidence that you cannot accompany them because of your medical condition. You need to contact us to arrange this.

If your child is not going to their nearest school, you will not be eligible for free school travel even if a medical condition means you cannot accompany them to school.

Buying a school bus pass

If your child is not eligible for free travel, you may be able to buy a paid travel permit instead. You must read the terms and conditions before buying a permit.

Find out about buying and replacing permits on our paid travel permit page and check our bus timetable information page to find out which buses serve your area and when.

How we decide your nearest suitable school for travel

To be your child's suitable school, a qualifying school must be suitable for your child's age, ability, aptitude, sex, and any special educational needs they may have. For example, a boys' school cannot be a suitable school for a girl. We cannot consider parents' personal opinions, for example, about things like Ofsted results, when we decide if a school is suitable or not.

To work out which suitable school is your nearest, our mapping system follows the nearest walked route and measures the distance from a fixed point within your property to the nearest school entrance gate identified in the system. This is not always the main entrance. The routes include footpaths, bridleways, public rights of way and private roads or farm tracks. This sometimes means that children living on the same street may not all be eligible for free travel to the same school.

If your child is not attending their nearest school

If your child cannot get a place at their nearest school because it is oversubscribed, the next nearest school that has places available will be their nearest school for eligibility purposes.

However, if your nearest suitable school is not oversubscribed and you do not apply for a place there, we will assess whether your child would have got a place there if you had applied. If we decide they would have got a place, your child will not be eligible for free school travel to any other schools unless they are eligible under extended rights.

Changes in circumstances

If you move or your circumstances change, you need to let us know. The change might affect your child's eligibility to free school travel.

We cannot backdate any changes, so it is important you contact us to let us know as soon as possible.

Safety on school transport

We take all reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of pupils using school transport vehicles. The drivers and assistants all have the relevant clearances to work with children.

We also have a home to school transport code of conduct that tells you more about our responsibilities and what we expect from you and your children.

Safety walking to school

If your child is going to their nearest school under the statutory walking distance and you are worried about the safety of their walk to school even if they have a responsible adult with them, you can ask us to do a walked route assessment.

We will send you a map of the route and a form where you can show which part of the route you think is not safe. When we get this form back, we will assess the route following guidance from Road Safety GB which includes issues like:

• traffic flow
• crossing points
• step offs
• sight lines
• road casualty records
• whether a child could reasonably walk the route with a responsible adult

We do assessments during term time to make sure they are accurate.

Contact us to ask for a walked route assessment. We will only do an assessment if your child is going to their nearest school under the statutory walking distance.

Questions about free travel

Watch our video answering some common questions about free travel.

Appeal our eligibility decision

If we have decided your child is not eligible for free school travel, you can appeal this decision. You have 20 working days after getting our decision to make an appeal. Find out about the appeals process on our school transport appeals page.

Maps of school distances

Our nearest school finding tool does not automatically produce maps. This means we cannot provide you with maps showing the distances to your nearest schools.

We will let you know if your child is eligible for free school travel after National Offer Day. If you decide to appeal our decision, you can then request maps showing these distances as part of your appeal and we may then generate them if they are relevant to your appeal.

Types of school transport

The transport we provide can be by:

• school bus services
• local bus and train services
• contracted vehicles (taxis)

In some circumstances, we may pay allowances for parents to use their own transport. We may provide specialist transport for children with specific mobility difficulties. We assess each case on its own merit.