Home to School Transport

All local authorities have a legal duty to provide free, suitable home to school transport for eligible children aged up to the age of 16 to their nearest suitable school. Children who have SEN, mobility problems, or a disability are classed as eligible in Schedule 35B of the Education Act. In the transport guidance, there is a walking distance criterion; however, for children with SEND, it is not applicable. The Education Act 1996 states that children with SEND cannot reasonably be expected to walk to school.

In Section 1.3 of the Home to School Transport and Travel Guidance, it also states within the SEN/Disability or mobility problems eligibility:
“Usual transport requirements, that is the statutory walking distances, should not be considered when assessing the transport needs of children due to SEN and/or disability.”

To apply for school transport, you will need to complete an application form. This can be found online at your Local Authority’s website. Ensure you read through the LA’s travel and transport policy, which can also be found there. You may be asked to provide a letter from your child’s consultant to state that your child has SEND in support of the transport application.

It is important to ensure that drivers and escorts are suitably trained and that this training is kept up to date. The local authority will take responsibility for this. Local authorities should also ensure that all drivers and escorts have been DBS checked.

Children in primary schools should ideally not travel each way for longer than 45 minutes, and in secondary schools, no longer than 75 minutes, as children should be arriving at school ready for the day ahead. A journey time that is longer than this could impact on that.