School Transport

Parental Choice

Parents have the right to apply to send their child to the school of their choice.  If a parent chooses not to send their child to their nearest or Local Authority designated catchment school (or one of their nearest 3 schools in the case of Low Income Families) then the parent is responsible for all transport costs.  If a family's circumstances change in the future and they are no longer able to fund the transport to the school of their choice the pupil will be expected to transfer to their nearest school with spaces.

Home to School Transport

Where we are not able to provide a school place within 2 miles (for Primary aged pupils  and all pupils from Low Income Families) or 3 miles for other Secondary pupils it has a policy to provide free transport for those pupils who are resident in the Borough and meet the criteria, which has been agreed by the elected Members of the Council.

Reception to Year 11

For Parents/Guardians/Carers with children aged between 4 (if attending a reception class in a school) to 16 years, please see the ' Home to School Mainstream Transport Guidance Notes ' for full details and eligibility criteria. The notes can be found in our related downloads section at the right-hand side of this page. If you believe you are eligible, complete the ' Home to School Application Form' in our online forms section on the right. If your child attends a Special School, please contact Department of Children & Learning on 01702 215007.

Post 16 Students

For students over the age of 16 and up to the age of 19, transport awards are discretionary.  Please see the ' Post 16 Travel Assistance Guidance Notes ' for full details and eligibility criteria.  The notes can be found in our related downloads section at the right-hand side of this page. If you believe you are eligible, complete the 'Post 16 Discretionary Transport Application Form' in our online forms section on the right.

Enquiries

If you need to contact us further please use the contact details to the right of this page.

Traveline

Enquiries regarding bus services should be made to Essex Traveline 0871 200 2233 (07:00-22:00 weekdays and 08:00-20:00 at weekends).  Calls cost 10p per minute plus any charges your network provider makes.  Alternatively you can plan your bus journey at http://www.traveline.org.uk/