Home to School Transport Changes from September 2025

This will bring the Council’s Home to School Transport Policy for secondary schools in line with Welsh Government’s statutory distance eligibility criteria and statutory walking distance policy.

The revised Home to School Transport Policy will align transport provision more closely with Welsh Government statutory transport requirements and are necessary for the Council to maintain affordability within future financial constraints, continue to be able to meet its statutory requirements, and maintain discretionary transport for its most vulnerable users (e.g. ALN pupils).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Council’s statutory duty for providing Home to School Transport?

In line with Welsh Government policy, the Council must:

• Assess the travel needs of learners in its area.
• Provide free home to school transport for learners of compulsory school age attending primary school who live 2 miles or further from their nearest suitable school.
• Provide free home to school transport for learners of compulsory school age attending secondary school who live 3 miles or further from their nearest suitable school.
• Assess and meet the needs of children "looked after" in its area.
• Promote access to Welsh medium education.
• Promote sustainable modes of travel.

What level of service is the Council providing from September 2025?

Beyond the statutory minimum, the Council has determined that when assessing entitlement on the basis of safe “walking distance”, to use the discretionary powers afforded to it under the provisions of the Welsh Government Learner Travel (Wales) Measure to make a more generous provision to learners. 

The term “nearest suitable school” applies to the catchment area or nearest Welsh, English, dual language or voluntary aided (faith) mainstream school, or special school/class as appropriate. This does not apply to learners who do not have a continuous history of attending a voluntary aided (faith) school of a particular religious denomination.

Primary Learners (Nursery to Year 6)

The eligibility criterion for walking distance for learners receiving compulsory primary education at their nearest suitable school has been set at 1.5 miles, instead of 2 miles as required by the Learner Travel Measure.  Free transport to their nearest suitable school, (where places are available), is provided to learners who meet the 1.5 mile eligibility criterion from the start of the Foundation Phase, (the start of the school term after their third birthday), rather than from the start of compulsory education, (the start of the school term after their fifth birthday), as required by the Learner Travel Measure. 

Secondary Learners (Years 7 to 11)

From September 2025 the eligibility criterion for walking distance for learners receiving compulsory secondary education, at their nearest suitable school, has been set at 3 miles, in line with the Welsh Government statutory distance criteria.  

Post 16 Learners

From September 2025 free transport is provided to post 16 learners who meet the 3-mile eligibility criterion for two years after the end of compulsory education, rather than until the end of compulsory education, (the last Friday in June of the school year in which a learner reaches the age of 16), as required by the Learner Travel Measure. This provision applies to full time attendance at the nearest suitable school or college to the learner’s home at which the approved course of study that they wish to pursue is offered. 

The Council’s Home to School Transport Policy for secondary schools in line with Welsh Government’s statutory distance eligibility criteria and statutory walking distance policy, which 18 of the 22 Councils in Wales currently adopt.

When was the policy changed and what was the consultation process?

 At its meeting on 20th November 2023, Cabinet agreed to initiate a public consultation in respect of a proposed new Home to School Transport Policy.

Following this, a public consultation exercise was conducted with all key stakeholders such as pupils, parents, carers, transport providers and Elected Members.

The consultation originally ran from Monday 27th November 2023 until 5pm Monday 8th January 2024. However, it was subsequently extended for a further three-week period, from Thursday 18th January until 5pm Thursday 8th February 2024. Therefore, it ran for a total period of nine weeks.

Consultees were able to respond to the consultation through various channels including an online survey/questionnaire, a dedicated consultation email address, a freepost postal address, a telephone option, and providing feedback at the 8 in-person local engagement sessions held across the County Borough.

A subsequent detailed report outlining the consultation feedback and methodology was made available to Cabinet for consideration. The Cabinet report can be found here and consultation feedback can be found here.

The initial proposal as presented to Cabinet on November 20th, 2023, was to move both primary and secondary school Home to School Transport provisions to be in line with Welsh Government’s statutory legal distance eligibility requirements.

However, in response to the extensive consultation feedback, Cabinet approved the alternative option presented on Wednesday the 20th of March, for primary school transport to remain at its discretionary current level of 1.5 miles or further from an available walking distance to their nearest suitable school.

My child has Additional Learning Needs, what does this mean for their transport eligibility?

Children and young people who have a disability or additional learning needs attending mainstream education are assessed individually for transport on a discretionary basis.

Children attending their catchment or nearest special school, pupil referral unit or learning support class are not considered as part of these proposals, so there is no change to their current provision.

What if a learner is in receipt of Home to School Transport because their route to school is unsafe?

 If a learner does not have access to a safe walking route to school, free transport will continue to be provided.

How does parental preference of a school affect entitlement to free home to school transport?

If you choose to place your child in a school other than the nearest suitable or catchment school, then you are required to organise and pay for the cost of transport to the chosen school. 

How are walking routes to school assessed?

The criteria used to determine the eligibility to receive free school transport is based on walking distance measured by the shortest, available walking route. A route is considered to be available if it is safe for a learner to walk alone or, if appropriate for the age of the learner, accompanied by an appropriate adult.

In determining the comparative safety of a walking route, the Council and / or independent assessors, will conduct an assessment of the risks that escorting parents/carers and learners might encounter along the route between home and school. The assessment of a route will take place at the time of the day and on the days of the week that learners would be expected to use the route. It will take a road safety perspective and follow the Welsh Government Statutory Guidance on Risk Assessing Walked Routes to School.

As with all walking routes assessed under the statutory guidance, the topography and weather conditions experienced along a route do not present safety concerns and are not considered.

As confirmed by Cabinet on 20th March, all walking routes to school have been reviewed by independent assessors prior to eligibility confirmation. These assessments can be accessed here.

How will I know the distance from my home address to the school address?

The Council is not able to provide individual house measurements, however, indicative area maps highlighting the areas affected have been published here. The walking routes used to determine these maps are long established and in daily use.

How does the Council measure the distance from home to school?

When measuring walking routes, the Council Uses MapInfo Professional, which takes Government standard Ordnance Survey data and determines address points by using 6-digit geo-codes that is accurate to 1 metre and is generally accepted to be the most accurate data available.

Distances calculated by driving routes or online mapping software that use post code areas do not represent accurate measurements.

In order to determine the nearest suitable school, it is for the Council to determine the most appropriate route against which to undertake a comparative measurement. This may be via paths, roads or by a combination of routes.

The Council must be consistent in how it assesses eligibility for free school transport, and the Council’s policy states that in cases where distances are disputed, the Council will determine the most appropriate method of measuring the distances.  The measurement undertaken by the Council will be final and the definitive distance will be used to assess transport eligibility. 

Can I purchase a seat on the school bus following this change?

A full review of transport provision has taken place based on the number of entitled pupils from September 2025. As a result of this review there is unlikely to be any significant spare capacity to offer seats for sale from September 2025, although these will be made available in line with the Council’s current sale of seat policy.

However, UK Government legislation will soon require any coach/bus used on a scheduled service to provide wheelchair access. That legislation will apply to transport for learners provided by Local Authorities on a discretionary basis where the Local Authorities collect a fee from the learner (i.e., make a charge or sell surplus seats). At this time all buses must be what the UK Government describes as “either fully or partially compliant with the legislation by 1 August 2026”.

As a result of this change in legislation, seats will not be able to be sold on Council-contracted school buses from the start of the school year in September 2026.