If your child isn't entitled to free home to school transport they may still be able to travel using our concessionary school travel scheme.
The concessionary travel scheme uses spare capacity on existing school transport services, including designated school buses and taxis. It does not include public service buses. We assess applications on an individual basis.
There are a number of factors we take into account when we assess your application, including:
- spare capacity on an existing school service
- We can only approve your application if there is available space. If there are no available seats, we won't be able to approve your application. We will not increase the capacity of an existing vehicle or provide additional vehicles to accommodate a concessionary travel application.
- detours
- We can only approve your application if adding your child doesn't add extra mileage or detours to the existing route. You must either be on the existing service route or willing to meet the vehicle in a safe place on the route.
- when you apply
- We assess applications on a first come first served basis.
If you or your child do not comply with the Travel Behaviour Code, your child's seat may be withdrawn with immediate effect.
Cost
As of September 2024 the cost for a year's travel is £270.00. This is subject to review. You can pay this amount as staged payments of £27.00 per month for 10 months by direct debit. We won't set up direct debit payments until after we have approved your application.
There are no discounts for applicants who only want to travel part time or for families with more than one child who want to make multiple applications.
Apply
If you cannot apply online, you will need to contact the team on 01492 577899 to ask for a form.
You will need to apply every year. At the end of each academic year we cancel all concessionary travel arrangements and your child’s arrangements will not automatically continue for the next academic year. You will need to apply again for the next year. We do not consider previous applications when we assess your new application.
Questions and answers
When will you process my application?
We process all applications as quickly as possible. If your application is for travel to start in September we cannot guarantee that the application will be assessed before the school term starts.
Until you have received a response it is still your parental responsibility to get your child to and from school. We will let you know our decision in writing once we have assessed your application. If we approve your application, we will also include information about your transport details.
What if transport is no longer required?
If you don't need transport any more, please tell the Home to School Transport team in writing as soon as possible.
If your child has been issued with a bus pass you must send this back to us at the same time. We will cancel your future payments from the date we receive your letter and the bus pass. Please do not cancel your direct debit, we will do this when we receive your letter. If we take more payment than is due, you will receive an immediate refund under the Direct Debit Guarantee.