Apply for an exemption from PSVAR accessibility regulations for home-to-school coaches
Form for operators to apply for an exemption from PSVAR for non-compliant coaches providing home-to-school transport.
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
Who is eligible for an exemption?
You can apply for an exemption from the public service vehicles accessibility regulations (PSVAR) if you operate coaches that provide closed door, home-to-school transport for eligible passengers.
Eligible passengers are defined as:
- a person receiving primary, secondary or further education or training at an educational establishment served by the service
- a person supervising or escorting any such person while they are using such transport or
- a person involved with the provision of education or training at that establishment
How to apply
To apply, you will need to provide:
- your contact details
- your operator (‘O’) licence number
- the vehicle identification number (VIN) for every coach used for home-to-school services from 1 August 2026, which is not PSVAR compliant
You will also need to provide the following figures, as of 1 May 2026:
- how many coaches you had in your overall fleet
- how many coaches you had in your overall fleet that were fully PSVAR compliant
- how many coaches you used or were available for use on home-to-school and rail replacement services
- how many coaches you used or were available for use on home-to-school and rail replacement services that were fully PSVAR compliant
The period for applications is 2 July 2026 to 23 July 2026.
Where applications are received after the deadline, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) cannot guarantee that they will be processed or that respective coaches will be included in an exemption order issued before current medium-term exemptions end on 31 July, or at all.
Apply for an exemption
Exemption period
Where granted, exemptions will commence on 1 August 2026, replacing any existing exemptions, which will expire on 31 July 2026.
The exemptions are for 4 years and will expire on 31 July 2030. We currently have no plans to issue further exemptions beyond 1 August 2030.
Compliance
The exemptions are contingent on the holder meeting the validity conditions.
An exemption will remain valid until its expiry date unless either:
- the Secretary of State for Transport withdraws the order, which they may do at their sole discretion
- the operator of a home-to-school coach fails to comply with any one of the conditions
Non-compliance with any of the conditions listed on the exemption certificate will be treated as non-compliance with PSVAR. It will render any exemptions invalid and operators may be subject to enforcement action by DVSA.
This section explains the conditions.
Condition 1 - Maintaining minimum fleet compliance
You must keep a minimum percentage of PSVAR-compliant coaches in your whole fleet. We will calculate this minimum proportion based on the information you provide in your application for an exemption.
You can no longer apply for an exemption for rail replacement coaches, but we need to take them into account in our calculations, which are based on the previous medium term exemptions scheme.
Calculation steps
Step 1. Look at your position on 1 May 2026
Check how many coaches you had doing:
- home-to-school work
- rail replacement
Then work out how many of those coaches should have been PSVAR-compliant, using the table below (figures must always be rounded up).
| Number of coaches in the home-to-school and rail replacement fleet | Number of coaches or percentage of coaches required to be PSVAR compliant in the home-to-school and rail replacement fleet |
|---|---|
| 1 – 5 | 1 compliant coach |
| 6 – 9 | 2 compliant coaches |
| 10 – 29 | 25% compliant coaches |
| 30 or more | 35% compliant coaches |
Step 2. Work out your ‘baseline’ number
Now compare what you had vs what you should have had on 1 May 2026.
If you met the requirement, use your actual number.
If you exceeded it, use your higher number.
If you fell short, use the number you should have had.
Step 3: Turn that into a percentage of your full fleet
Take that number and divide it by your total coach fleet.
That gives you the minimum percentage you must keep going forward.
Calculation examples
Example 1: Met requirement
- School/rail fleet: 5 coaches
- Required: 1 compliant coach
- You had: 1
- Total fleet: 10
- Result: 1 ÷ 10 = 10% minimum
Example 2: Exceeded requirement
- School/rail fleet: 5
- Required: 1
- You had: 2
- Total fleet: 10
- Result: 2 ÷ 10 = 20% minimum
Example 3: Did not meet requirement
- School/rail fleet: 10
- Required: 25% = 3 coaches (rounded up)
- You had: 1
- Total fleet: 20
- Result: 3 ÷ 20 = 15% minimum
Notes for calculations
Only count in-scope coaches (not buses or out-of-scope vehicles).
Compliant or fully compliant refers to a vehicle that complies with all paragraphs of schedule 1 and schedule 3 of PSVAR. Schedule 1 concerns facilities for wheelchair users and schedule 3 concerns other accessibility features.
A coach should be considered to be compliant with PSVAR only if it has been issued with either an accessibility certificate or approval certificate under sections 176 or 177 of the Equality Act 2010.
Condition 2 - A PSVAR compliant coach must be provided upon request
If you receive a valid request, you must:
- provide a PSVAR-compliant coach if one is available
- not charge more for an accessible coach than for a standard one
- meet the request within 2 calendar months
A request is valid if it is:
- made by a local authority, school, or organiser of the service or a passenger (if you run the service yourself)
- for a coach carrying more than 22 passengers on a home-to-school service
- to carry a passenger who cannot travel safely or comfortably without an accessible coach
A coach is ‘available’ if:
- you own or lease it
- it is not already committed to another school contract in response to another valid request
If you are running a service using a non-compliant coach, you must make sure passengers who need accessibility are still able to travel. How you do this depends on who arranged the service.
If a third party arranged the service (for example, council or school), you must:
- get written confirmation from them that they will provide suitable alternative accessible transport
If you arranged the service yourself, you must:
- offer or provide alternative accessible transport
- keep records showing you did this
You must be able to provide evidence to DVSA if requested.
Condition 3 - New coaches must be PSVAR enabled
From 1 February 2027, new coaches used on any service must be PSVAR-enabled if they carry more than 22 passengers, and are either:
-
first registered on or after 1 February 2027
-
pre-registered from 1 August 2026 but not delivered until 1 February 2027 or later
You do not need a PSVAR-compliant coach if the vehicle is:
- a special type of vehicle already exempt in existing regulations
- a Ministry of Defence vehicle first used before February 2027
- operated under a long-term private hire (booked by one customer for 1 month or more)
- a specialist touring vehicle (for example, for bands or sports teams) that:
- has a non-standard layout
- has at least 20% fewer seats than normal
- includes built-in facilities like a kitchen
The special types of vehicle are listed at regulation 4 (1) (a) to (e) of the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000, which, in summary, are:
- off-road vehicles
- a vehicle operating under Section 19 of the Transport Act 1985, by a community transport service
- a secure vehicle, such as for carrying prisoners
- a vehicle for transporting people who are sick
- a vehicle used exclusively by government departments or by UK or visiting armed forces
PSVAR-enabled means that a coach:
- must meet the main PSVAR accessibility standards, including a wheelchair space and signage
- does not necessarily have a lift installed, but:
- it must have a ramp, or
- be built so a lift can be easily installed later, without major structural changes to the coach
- does not necessarily have destination blinds installed but is constructed in a way which allows destination blinds to be installed readily without major structural changes to the coach
Condition 4 - Providing coach fleet data to the Secretary of State for Transport
You must provide a full, accurate and timely response to any request from the Department for Transport or the DVSA for data concerning your coach fleet.
Support
For enquiries contact PSVARMTEapplications@dvsa.gov.uk.
Background
- Final stage impact assessment providing detailed analysis of options, costs and benefits to industry of exemptions from accessibility requirements and consideration for the Public Sector Equality Duty
- The Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 on legislation.gov.uk
Updates to this page
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Application period for new PSVAR exemptions starts.
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Clarified the wording on compliance levels.
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The application period has ended.
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First published.