Information about home to school transport, post 16 transport and how to apply for a school bus pass.
Apply for a school bus pass
Fill in our simple online form.
Clock Completing this form takes around 10 minutes
Paperclip To complete this form you will need; a photograph of the child applied for and the National Insurance number of the applicant.
Apply online
After you've applied
The bus pass will be sent to your permanent home address.
If the application is being made for the school year commencing in September you should expect your child's pass in late August.
Lost or damaged school bus passes
If you have lost or damaged your school bus pass please contact METRO below. There will be a charge of £7.00.
Eligibility
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General
For pupils to be eligible for transport assistance they will normally have to:
- Travel more than 2 miles (from Reception up to and including Year 3), or 3 miles (from Year 4 up to and including Year 11);
- Attend the nearest qualifying and available school to the child's permanent home address;
- This route will be measured along the nearest available walking route.
- Where the Authority is not able to admit a child to the nearest qualifying and available school, assistance will be provided to the next nearest qualifying and available school, subject to the
distance to school exceeding 2 miles (from Reception up to and including Year 3) or 3 miles (from Year 4 up to and including Year 11)
- The measurement of the statutory walking distance is not necessarily the shortest distance by road. It is measured by the shortest route along which a child, accompanied as necessary, may walk with reasonable safety. As such, the route measured may include footpaths, bridleways, and other pathways.
- The 6 and 15 mile upper limits are not walking routes and will be measured along roads
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Special Educational Need (SEN)
Pupils who have a statement of special educational need (SEN) will receive transport free regardless of distance if all of the following apply:
- Transport is specified in Section 4 of the statement
- The child is attending the nearest appropriate school named in the statement
- The child has a physical or medical condition that prevents them from walking (accompanied as necessary)
Where a SEN child attends a mainstream school free transport assistance will be provided subject to the 2 or 3 mile limit
Where a parent choses to send their child to a school which is not the nearest appropriate school (and is not named on the statement), assistance with transport will not be provided
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Families on lower income
Children from low income families, those entitled to free school meals, or whose parents are in receipt of the maximum level of Working Tax Credit, will be eligible for home to school transport assistance if they meet the following criteria:
- Primary aged children (up to age 11) are entitled to free travel arrangements to their nearest qualifying school where the distance to that school is over 2 miles from their home
- Children aged 11 to 16 are entitled to free travel arrangements made to one of their three nearest qualifying schools (or places other than a school at which they might receive education under section 19(1) of the 1996 Act), where they live more than 2 miles, but less than 6 miles from that school. The 6 mile upper limit will be measured along roads, they are not walking routes.
- Children aged 11 to 16 where parents/carers express a preference for a school based on religion or belief, where they live more than 2 miles but not more than 15 miles from that school to the nearest suitable school. The 15 mile upper limit will be measured along roads, they are not walking routes.
- Once eligibility has been confirmed on income grounds, the pupil would be eligible for the entirety of the school year for which the assessment has been made
Appeals
You can appeal against our decision not to provide free transport. If you are the parent or carer of a school age child, you should contact us.
My bus scheme
Metro's revolutionary yellow bus scheme, providing dedicated school transport.
Bike scheme
If you would be interested in receiving a bike instead of a bus pass please contact the Transport team
Contact us
School bus passes
For information about school bus passes.
SENACT (SEN Assessment & Commissioning Team)
For information on eligibility and applying for transport assistance, including Post 16 students, if your child has special educational needs and/or a disability.
Transport team
If your child has special educational needs and/or a disability, and you are already in receipt of home to school transport assistance for your child.