Guidance

Home-to-school travel: data collection

Published 3 February 2025

Applies to England

The Department for Education (DfE) is collecting data from all local authorities in England on:

• home-to-school travel
• travel provided for those in post-16 education and training

This guidance is for local authorities to help them complete the data collection.

We understand that some local authorities may not currently be able to provide the data broken down in the way requested. However, we expect all authorities to provide as much of the data as they can. If some data is not available, local authorities should provide totals without the requested breakdown.

How to access the data collection

Local authorities can access the data collection through DfE Sign-in.

Senior managers with responsibility for home-to-school travel and post-16 travel should sign off the data provided.

Pupils you should include

Include pupils:

• who have a vehicle arranged for them by the local authority including through internal fleets, external contracts, taxis, minibuses or school buses
• who have travel passes paid for by the local authority to use public transport
• who are taking part in independent travel training
• whose parents arrange their travel which is paid for through a personal travel budget or mileage allowance
• receive a contribution to their travel from the local authority, for example post-16 pupils

Do not include pupils who pay for travel which has been arranged by the local authority.

Definitions of types of travel

Local authorities already submit information to DfE each year about their spending on education and children and young people’s services, in accordance with Section 251 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009.

This includes information about their spending on:

• home-to-school travel
• travel from home to post-16 providers

In this data collection, the definitions of type of travel are the same as those used for the section 251 collection.

The definitions of types of travel are:

• SEN home-to-school travel defined in row 2.1.4 of section 251
• mainstream home-to-school travel defined in row 2.1.5 of section 251
• home to post-16 provision – SEN transport (aged 16 to 18) defined in row 2.1.6 of section 251
• home to post-16 provision – SEN transport (aged 19 to 25) defined in row 2.1.7 of section 251
• home to post-16 provision transport – mainstream home to post-16 transport defined in row 2.1.8 of section 251

Home-to-school travel eligibility

Each pupil should be counted under just one of the eligibility criteria, rather than double counted under multiple criteria.

Example A

A child has special educational needs, a disability or mobility problem which inhibits their ability to walk. They attend their nearest suitable school, but the school is beyond the statutory walking distance. They are eligible due to living beyond the statutory walking distance. The fact they may also be unable to walk to school due to their special educational needs (SEN), disability or mobility problem is not relevant to their eligibility in this case.

Example B

A child is 10 years old and eligible for free school meals. They attend their nearest suitable school which is 2.5 miles from their home, but there is no safe walking route. They are eligible because there is no safe walking route. Extended rights do not apply in this case.

In a small number of cases, a child may be eligible under 2 of the criteria.

Example C

A child attends their nearest suitable school which is within the statutory walking distance, but they could not be expected to walk due to their special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). In addition, there is no safe walking route to the school. To avoid double counting, please select only one eligibility criteria.

Use the guidance on home-to-school travel for information on eligibility criteria.

Modes of travel

It is possible that some children may use multiple modes to travel to and from school - you may double count these pupils.

For example the local authority may:

• provide a free, local bus pass and arrange for a taxi to transport the child between their home and the bus stop - the child would be counted under both ‘Pass for public transport’ and ‘Any other vehicle’
• pay for the child to undertake independent travel training and provide a free bus pass for them to independently travel on the bus

Provide the number of pupils travelling, rather than the number of vehicles used. For example, 2 children that travel in the same taxi are counted as 2.

Definitions of modes of travel

Pass for free public transport

A pass providing free travel on all or specific local transport routes at all or certain times of the day or week. It does not include children in areas where all children are separately entitled to free travel on local transport routes through a universal scheme, such as the TfL provision in London.

Concessionary public transport

A pass providing discounted travel on all or specific transport routes at all or certain times of the day or week. This will only be applicable to post-16. It does not include young people where all young people in a certain age group separately receive the same discounted rate on public transport through a universal scheme.

Dedicated school transport

Transport that is provided for the sole use of pupils travelling to and from the school or provider, run by:

• the local authority
• the school or provider
• a third-party supplier contracted by the local authority - for example, a minibus transporting home-to-school travel eligible pupils from the school to their homes

Any other vehicle

This includes taxis and private hire vehicles arranged and paid for by the local authority to transport a child or multiple children.

Personal travel budget and mileage allowance

Money provided to parents for them to make their own arrangements to transport their child to and from school.

Independent travel training

Training to give a child the skills and knowledge they need to be able to travel to and from school independently.