Free school transport

If your child is between 5 and 16 years old they may be able to get free transport to the nearest suitable school depending on:

• how far the journey is to the nearest suitable school
• whether they have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or a mobility problem
• if the walk is unsafe
• if they're from a family on a low income

The transport we provide may be a:

• bus service we run
• commercial bus service
• free bus pass for public transport
• taxi service

You do not need to apply for free school transport. We will automatically make an offer of transport for your child if we have established that your child meets the transport policy.

If your child goes to a grammar school and there is an all-ability school nearer to your house, we will not provide free school transport to the grammar school.

You may be able to pay for your child to travel on a commercial school bus or on a spare seat on a council-run school bus.

Most children are not eligible for free school transport. This means you are responsible for making arrangements for them to travel to school and meeting the cost. There are a number of school transport options available.

If you want to pay for your child to travel on a school bus, there may be a small number of spare seats available on buses we run for children who get free school transport. You can also check whether there is a suitable bus route run by a commercial operator.

There are some exceptional circumstances in which we may provide free school transport. You can find more information in section 3.8 of our Home to School Transport Policy.

You can read them here. This is in line with our home to school transport policy.