Local authorities (LAs) are required to arrange free, suitable, home to school transport for children of compulsory school age who are ‘eligible’, to their nearest suitable qualifying school (section 508B of the Education Act (EA) 1996).

Eligible children fall within four groups, set out in Schedule 35 EA 1996:

Children with SEN, a disability or a mobility difficulty

Children whose route to school is unsafe

Children who live beyond the statutory walking distance

Children from low income families

Follow the links above to find out more information about each category.

If your child meets the criteria for any one of these categories, they should be entitled to home to school transport. For example:

• If your child is eligible for free home to school transport due to their SEND, it does not matter whether they live within statutory walking distance – they will still be eligible for transport. 

• If your child is eligible under one of the 4 categories, then also being eligible for disability living allowance or having access to a Motability vehicle is not relevant to a disabled child’s eligibility for free travel to school (except as evidence of their disability) – they will still be eligible. 

• If your child is eligible for free home to school transport due to their SEND, there is no requirement for them to have an EHC plan or attend a special school.

A qualifying school is a:

• maintained (publicly funded) school or nursery
• non-maintained special school
• pupil referral unit
• city technology college
• an alternative provision Academy, or
• an Academy

If your child has an EHC plan and attends an independent school, their independent school can also be a qualifying school if this is the only school or the nearest school named in Section I of your child’s EHC plan (Paragraph 15(3) Schedule 35B EA 1996). 

Your child may also be eligible for free travel to a place that isn’t a qualifying school:

• where they receive education at a place other than a school under section 19(1) of the EA 1996 (which requires LAs to make arrangements for the provision of suitable education for children of compulsory school age who would otherwise not receive suitable education for reasons such as illness or exclusion), or 

• where they are suspended (temporarily excluded) from a school (but remain a registered pupil of that school) and attend an educational establishment that is not a qualifying school and is not within the statutory walking distance of their home, then that educational establishment is treated as if it were a qualifying school for the purposes of eligibility for free travel.

Schools should also work with the LA when arranging educational provision for a child during a suspension where the pupil might be eligible for free travel to the place where they will be receiving education. 

What are travel arrangements?

"Travel arrangements" are defined in section 508B(4) EA 1996 and paragraphs 61 – 69 and part 3 of the government’s statutory guidance 'Travel to school for children of compulsory school age 2024’.  

’Home to school travel arrangements’, in relation to an eligible child, are travel arrangements in both directions between your child’s home and the relevant educational establishment.

They include arrangements for the provision of transport, and any of the following arrangements – but only if they are made with your parental consent:

• provision of one or more escorts (whether alone or together with other children) when travelling to or from the relevant educational establishment 

• payment of the whole or any part of a person’s reasonable travelling expenses 

• payment of allowances in respect of the use of particular modes of travel, and 

• voluntary arrangements made by you.

Travel arrangements in relation to an eligible child must not give rise to additional costs and must include appropriate protection against those costs.

The Travel to school for children of compulsory school age 2024 Guidance (paras 81 - 85) defines suitable travel arrangements. It highlights that LAs must make sure that the travel arrangements they make take account of the needs of the child concerned. For example, it would not be appropriate to provide a pass for free travel on a service bus to your child if their special educational needs mean they would be unable to travel on a service bus.

In particular: 

• The arrangements should allow your child to travel without undue stress, strain or difficulty, so that wherever possible they arrive at school ready to learn. 

• They must allow your child to travel in reasonable safety and comfort, although this does not necessarily mean a door-to-door service. However, your child’s needs may mean they need to be collected from their home, and your LA should not have a policy that it never provides door-to-door transport and should make decisions on a case-by-case basis. 

• Your child’s needs may need to be reassessed from time to time, for example if their level of need changes or if they move to a new school. Some children with special educational needs can find change distressing. Your LA should provide you with as much notice as possible of any changes to your child’s travel arrangements.

The guidance suggests maximum reasonable journey times of 45 minutes for primary school children, and 75 minutes for secondary school children. These maximum journey times include any time taken to walk to a pick-up point. It notes, however, that for children with SEN and/or disabilities, journeys may be more complex and a shorter journey time, although desirable, may not always be possible. Your child’s age and disability would have to be taken into account in considering what is suitable. Breaks might be needed when children live a long way from their school. Where long journeys are unavoidable, LAs should consider whether there are measures they can take to minimise negative impacts for your child.

Safeguarding and training

LAs should make sure that:

• an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, with a check of the children’s barred list, has been carried out for drivers and passenger assistants involved in providing dedicated school transport 

• drivers and passenger assistants have received any training they need to perform their role in relation to safeguarding 

• drivers and passenger assistants know how to report any concerns they have about the children in their care, and 

• LAs share any concerns they have about the driver of a taxi or private hire vehicle with the authority that licenses them, and consider whether concerns they have about a driver should be referred to the DBS.

LAs also need to make sure that drivers and passenger assistants working on dedicated school transport have undertaken appropriate training and that this is kept up to date. The training that a driver or passenger assistant requires may be dependent on the needs of the children who are travelling.

School staff receive training to allow them to manage a child’s medical needs in school and, wherever possible, the transport staff that will be working with the child are expected to be able to participate in this training. As a minimum, training should include:

• safeguarding 

• the handling of emergency situations, for example what to do in a medical emergency or if there is a road accident 

• equality, for example recognising, supporting and communicating with children with disabilities 

• any training required to meet the specific needs of the children travelling – for example, administering their emergency medication or managing their behaviour, and 

• it is recommended that training in the handling of emergency situations includes training in basic life support skills.

The guidance is clear that as well as ensuring drivers and passenger assistants receive any training they need to manage children’s behaviour while travelling, your LA should not withdraw your child’s transport arrangements due to behavioural challenges unless as a last resort. If your LA does withdraw arrangements for this reason, it will need to meet its transport duties in an alternative way (para 113).

If you haven’t been able to find the answer to your question on this page, see the pages on the different categories of ‘eligible children’ linked above, or take a look at our FAQs.