School travel assistance faqs

It is important that all pupils carry their pass and be ready to show it to the driver each time the vehicle is boarded. Passes should be kept safe and in good condition. Lost/damaged passes should be replaced immediately. The charge for a replacement bus pass is £15.

Unless otherwise stated, passes are valid for a return journey to/from school/college, Monday to Friday and term time only. Please refer to the information on the reverse side of the travel pass for more conditions of use. The misuse and/or fraudulent use of a travel pass is treated seriously and can result in transport being withdrawn. Any of the following may lead to confiscation:

• use by anyone other than the named pass holder
• attempted use for unauthorised journeys
• using a damaged or defaced travel pass

Confiscated passes must be replaced immediately, for which there is a charge of £15

Lost or damaged travel passes must be replaced as soon as possible, for which there is a charge of £15. Payment can be made with a debit or credit card online. Please have the student reference number (supplied on the original letter) ready as this will be asked for.

Once a ticket has been replaced the original becomes invalid and cannot be used for travel. Pupils travelling on commercial bus or rail services will be expected to pay their fare until a replacement pass is received and no refunds will be paid for any expenses incurred.

It can take up to 10 working days to issue the pass. Parents/carers are responsible for arranging and paying for all journeys whilst they await for the new pass to arrive.

Pupils who travel to and from school by rail, must also carry a valid photo card. If your child is allocated to a rail service, we will contact you to request a passport sized photograph. If your child already has a photo card, please retain it for use as photo cards are not renewed each year. If you lose your photo card, there is a charge of £15 to replace it and you may also need to supply a new photograph.

It may be possible to claim a refund if your completed application has taken longer than 14 days to process, please contact us using our enquiry form. The following conditions apply:

• no refunds will be paid for applications processed within 14 days
• only the cheapest fare available at the time of travel (e.g. return fares/child fares) will be refunded
• tickets must be retained and attached to your refund claim form
• no refunds will be paid for pupils who have their tickets confiscated due to misuse/damage
• retrospective payments for a previous academic year will not be paid

We cannot guarantee you will receive the same travel arrangements each year. Throughout the year, and particularly at the start of each new school year, new children start and others leave causing the demand for your child’s route to school to change. Where this is the case, we may need to adjust your child’s travel arrangements. This may include a using a different driver or company, varying the pick-up and drop-off times and passenger assistant where we have assessed the need for additional support. We will always give you as much notice as possible of any of these changes. For contracts where the children have special educational needs and/or disabilities, we will strive to provide sufficient time for a meet and greet with the new driver and/or passenger assistant.

Local authorities should collaborate with schools to promote good behaviour on school travel. Schools have the power to sanction pupils for misbehaviour outside the school premises to such an extent as is reasonable, including for misbehaviour which takes place on school travel.

Any inappropriate behaviour on the journey to and from school will be treated seriously and could result in your child being temporarily or permanently banned from travelling.

Unacceptable behaviour may include, but is not limited to, being rude, pushing and kicking, bullying, distracting the driver, refusing to wear a seatbelt, or refusing to remain seated. It may endanger the safety and wellbeing of other people.

Smoking and vaping is illegal in public places and this includes all school bus, local bus and rail services. Any pupils found to be smoking/vaping will receive an immediate transport ban.

 Further information can be found on our policies and guidance notes page.

If your child is unable to attend school or transport is no longer required you will need to contact the Transport Commissioning Team as soon as possible and contact the transport provider.

No. Eating and drinking is not permitted on vehicles. If your child has a medical condition which means they must eat regularly you must notify the Special Educational Needs (SEN) team/medical needs team of this in advance of the journey.

Additional equipment and bags will only be permitted if:

• there is enough room on the vehicle
• they can be stored safely and securely
• it does not incur any additional cost
• it does not inconvenience other passengers

Other options should be considered, for example is the equipment available at school.

Medication should be stored in a sealed container and placed securely inside your child's school bag. It must be out of the reach of other children.

If your child loses something whilst they are on the school bus, we suggest that you contact the bus provider as soon as possible as they will be able to help.

We will always attempt to provide transport to eligible children each school day, but there may be unforeseen circumstances, for example road closures or extreme weather, that prevent us from doing so.

Where a school makes a decision to educate a child other than at the school, the school must ensure that the child is able to attend that setting. There is no duty placed upon local authorities to make arrangements to alternative settings where the decision has been made by someone other than a Council employee.

The Transport Commissioning Service is committed to providing a high level of service. However, there may be times when you/your child experience problems with the bus or rail service allocated. In the event of a problem arising or if you have any concerns, you can report them to us by completing our general enquiry form below. We will then investigate the problem and take appropriate action.

If you have a complaint or are dissatisfied in the way you have been treated by a member of staff, please see our complaints procedure page. Any complaints will be investigated and we will aim for a response to be sent to you within five working days.

For children without an EHCP, travel assistance will be withdrawn immediately. A new application should be submitted for an assessment to be carried out. Parents/carers should not assume that where there has been a change in circumstances that a child will remain eligible.

For children with an EHCP, parents/carers must notify the SEN Team immediately. The team will conduct an assessment to determine if the child is still attending the nearest suitable setting to the home address. Where it has been assessed that a nearer school could meet the child’s needs, travel assistance will be withdrawn.

The Transport Commissioning Service uses a bespoke mapping system which identifies the shortest available walking route along which a child, accompanied as necessary, may walk safely. As such, the route measured will include footpaths, bridleways, and other pathways, in addition to recognised roads. It will not include private driveways. The system takes into account routes that have been classified as hazardous routes and would therefore not expect any accompanied child/young person to walk along a route which has been deemed unsuitable on safety grounds.

For information on distance limits please see the low income section on our mainstream page.

We will promote good practice by reviewing routes, and where identified, put in place suitable new paths, pedestrian crossings and cycle lanes in order to improve safety and increase choice for pupils to walk.

Yes, for school admissions purposes but not for a child’s eligibility for travel assistance. The admissions policy and transport policy are prescribed and administered through different pieces of legislation.

The School Admissions Code 2014 states that an authority must make arrangements for parents and carers to express their preference for any state funded school where they want their child to be educated. The Council should try to comply with this, where possible. As required by the Admissions Code, the authority must set out the criteria against which places will be allocated at the school when there are more applications than places. This includes a list of acceptable oversubscription criteria and ‘living in the catchment area’ is included in the list.

Section 508B of the Education Act 1996 outlines the duties placed on councils to provide travel assistance to eligible children. The Department for Education’s Statutory Guidance for Home to School Travel Assistance 2025 clarifies these duties to make such school travel arrangements as they consider necessary for an ‘eligible child’ who is attending the nearest qualifying school. The nearest qualifying school may not be the catchment school. We only provide travel assistance to those pupils attending their nearest qualifying school. This means that travel assistance will not be provided to the catchment school if there is a nearer qualifying school to the home address.

Spare seats will not be allocated until after the start of the academic year, once all eligible children have been allocated to the routes. Details of how payment can be made will be emailed to you if a spare seat becomes available. The availability of the spare seats will be reviewed periodically throughout the year. Your child may be asked to vacate a seat for an eligible child and a refund will be issued to you. Please check your junk mail/spam mailbox. 

Your child’s cash grant will be paid after a full term once attendance has been verified by the school. Payment months are January, May, and August.

The new Armed Forces Covenant Duty came into force on 22 November 2022. From this date, public bodies affected will be legally obliged to have due regard to the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant when exercising specific functions. The covenant sets out to ensure that members of the armed forces, and their families, are not disadvantaged as a result of their service, for example, by the frequent house moves associated with an armed forces career. Where a child is not automatically entitled to free home to school transport, families can ask for their circumstances to be considered as part of the published appeals process.

Where we are asked to consider discretionary travel assistance, the reviewing officer or panel must consider the implication of the Armed Forces Covenant, and the link between the discontinuation of transport and whether service in the armed forces has caused disadvantage.