Guide to starting school or moving up to junior school

Be aware that the order of your school preferences can affect whether free school transport is available.

If you do not express a preference for your nearest school, you are unlikely to be eligible for free transport to a school further away.

Parents are not required to name the nearest suitable school as their first preference when they make their school application, but it must be listed as one of their preferences to ensure that if they cannot be offered a place at the nearest suitable school, then transport could be provided to the next nearest school.

You can work out your nearest school using our Find my child a school place service.

Parents are responsible, in law, for ensuring their child attends school so you should consider the daily journey when applying for schools. If it is not possible to walk to school because of the distance involved, you could consider using public transport or car sharing. Most schools have school travel plans and are working with parents to reduce their car use.

Travel assistance for primary age pupils is generally provided where the school attended is the nearest suitable school and it is more than two miles from your home address for a child who is under eight and three miles for those who are over eight . Most children do not qualify for help with home to school travel and parents are responsible for making the travel arrangements and meeting the cost.

In all cases children are only entitled to transport in the term following their fifth birthday. This is when they become statutory or compulsory school age. If a child starts school before they are statutory school age it is the parent’s responsibility to get their child to and from school each day

For more information including guidance and policy documents, see our school transport web pages