Nottingham City Council would prefer all children to walk from home to school to encourage exercise and promote children’s health.

For reasons that vary across the city this is not always possible and the journey to school should merit some careful consideration for both parent and pupil when choosing a school. Travel options should be investigated to ensure that suitable transport is available or the school is within walking or cycling distance from home.

For some children, regardless of their proximity to school, walking is not an option. Where this is the case the Council would prefer pupils to use public transport services instead of travelling by car. Bus and tram services pass nearby to every secondary school in the City of Nottingham. Bus and tram operators offer discounted tickets to children aged under 16 years.

Every parent/carer has a responsibility to ensure their child’s regular attendance at school and this may involve accompanying your child all or part of the way to school. In some cases the Council may offer assistance with travel if the school your child is attending is the designated school (the catchment school for the area you live in) or nearest school to your home address. However, this is dependant on the age of your child and the distance from your home to the school. Parents should bear this in mind when making their choice of school as travel assistance will not normally be considered for pupils attending a preferred school unless this school is nearer than their catchment school.

Pupils aged under 8 years of age – Transport will be considered if the pupil lives more than 2 miles walking distance from their designated school.

Pupils aged 8 years and over – Transport will be considered if the pupil lives more than 3 miles walking distance from their designated school.

In addition to the general principles above, the Education and Inspections Act significantly extend the rights of children from families on low incomes.  Low income is defined as those pupils in receipt of Free School Meals or those pupils whose families are in receipt of the maximum level of Working Tax Credit.

For primary aged pupils from low income families, free transport may be provided if they are attending their designated school and this is over 2 miles walking distance from their home address.

For pupils of secondary school age from families on low income, free transport may be provided if they are attending any one of the three nearest available secondary schools to their home, and the school is more than two miles walking distance and less than six miles driving distance away from their home.

Those pupils receiving transport based on low income will only receive transport for the academic year in which they apply. A further application will be required in subsequent years and their entitlement to free transport may be affected if their financial circumstances change.

The Council may offer assistance with travel to religious schools based on a pupil’s or parent’s faith.  The same age and distance criteria apply as above, but the pupil must also be attending the nearest or catchment school and be attending on denominational (religious) grounds. Parent should enquire at the school whether they live within the catchment area for the school as this will affect their entitlement to travel assistance

The following documents are available to download:

Home to School Transport Policy – A full explanation of school transport entitlement (466KB)
Home to School Transport Guide 2008-09 – A brief summary to school transport (150KB)
Home to School Transport Application Form 2008-09 – Available for those wishing to apply (92KB)

Related Links

For further information about public bus and tram services please click on the links below

Nottingham City Transport
The NET (Tram network)

If you would like further information or wish to discuss a particular issue please contact The School Transport Team on 0115 9150692 or email transport.team@nottinghamcity.gov.uk