Home to School Transport Policy Effective for 1 September 2015 Onwards

Home to School Transport Policy Effective for 1 September 2015 onwards

The County Council has adopted a new home to school transport policy that applies across all areas of the county.Itstates that from September 2015, new pupils will receive free home to school transport if they attend the nearest secondary school to their home address, and this school is 3 miles or more from the home.

The exception to this, in accordance with the law, is where a child qualifies by virtue of parental low income and it is one of the 3 nearest qualifying secondary schools between 2 and 6 miles from the home.

Catchment areas will no longer be a relevant factor when assessing whether a child is entitled to free home to school transport. This is the key point of change in the policy.

For primary schools, pupils will receive free home to school transport if they attend the nearest school to their home address,and the school is 2 miles or more from the home up to the age of 8, and 3 miles or more for those aged 8 or over.

Again, catchment areas will not be a relevant factor in the assessment of entitlement to transport.

Those pupils currently receiving free transport on the basis of attending their ‘catchment school’ and it being 3 miles or more away, will continue to receive free transport until they finish their primary or secondary education (subject to their circumstances remaining the same).

The new policy applies to those starting in Year 7 at secondary schools from September 2015 and Reception in primary schools from September 2015. It is consistent with the Council’s statutory responsibilities on school transport and will ensure an equitable landscape in the assessment criteria across Essex. There is no legal requirement to take account of ‘catchment areas’ in deciding whether school transport should be provided.

The previous ‘catchment area’ based policy meant that in some areas, children qualified for transport to more than one school (and not necessarily the nearest school) whilst others had an entitlement to transport to only one school.

This change has not changed or dispensed with the actual ‘catchment’ areas for the purposes of admissions to schools (which in the case of almost all secondary schools and many primary foundation and Academy schools, are set by the schools themselves).