Transport to School and College

Local Authority’s transport policies are complex and have many elements to them. We have outlined the general points.

A child is eligible if they are of compulsory school age, attend their nearest suitable school and meet one of the following:

• Your child lives more than the statutory walking distance from that school. For children under the age of 8, free travel should be available to their nearest suitable school if it is more than 2 miles from their home. For children aged 8 years, free travel should be available to their nearest suitable school if it is more than 3 miles from their home.
• Your child could not reasonably be expected to walk to that school because of their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, even if they were accompanied by a parent.
• Your child would not be able to walk to that school in reasonable safety, even if they were accompanied by their parent.

There are ‘extended rights’ to free travel to school for children from low-income households. You can find more information on this at the link below:

Travel to school for children of compulsory school age - Statutory guidance for local authorities

When assessing whether a route can be walked in reasonable safety, local authorities should consider the whole of the route. This will include, for example, any sections that use footpaths or bridleways, as well as sections that use roads. They should consider a range of risks such as canals, rivers, ditches, speed of traffic and fields of vision for the pedestrian and motorist.

There are ‘extended rights’ to free travel to school for children from low-income households (see paragraphs 31 to 35).

If it is agreed that your child has a special transport need, the local authority may provide travel assistance in one of a variety of ways;

• A bus pass
• Minibus
• Taxi
• High Dependency Vehicle
• A mileage allowance to take your child to school.

The Local Authority will need to think about transport costs when agreeing to name a preferred school on an EHC Plan. If the Local Authority has found a school that is suitable to meet a child’s needs, but a parent would like a school that is further away, the parent may be asked to pay some transport costs.

If the local authority determines that providing travel to the parent’s preferred school would be incompatible with the efficient use of resources, the local authority may:

• name a different school that would be appropriate for the child’s needs (this may be the nearer school), or
• name the parent’s preferred school on the condition that the parent arranges the travel or provides some, or all, of the cost of the travel.

Nottingham City Council: School Transport for Children with Special Educational Needs - Nottingham City Council

Nottinghamshire County Council: Travel assistance for children and young people with special transport needs - Nottinghamshire County Council

All local authorities have a procedure for handling complaints about the services they provide. Parents should be able to complain about the service they have received in relation to travel to school. They should also be able to appeal a decision taken by the local authority about their child’s travel to school.

If you wish to appeal the Local Authority’s decision, please follow the guidance below:

Nottingham City Council residents: A parent/carer has 20 working days from the date of the transport decision letter, to make a formal written request asking for a review of the decision.

Nottinghamshire County Council residents: How to request a review - Nottinghamshire County Council

If a parent/carer or young person feels that their appeal has not been treated fairly or in accordance with the LA’s policy, the Local Government Ombudsman can be contacted for help and advice on 0300 061 0614 or at lgo.org.uk

You have the right to appeal to the Secretary of State or to take independent legal action.

If you consider the decision of the independent appeals panel to be flawed on public law grounds, you may be able to apply for a judicial review.