Starting secondary school (Year 7)

8. Transport

It is your responsibility to ensure your child gets to school.

Your child may be eligible for free transport to school, depending on whether they are attending the nearest suitable school with places available and how far the walk is. There is also support for families on low incomes.

Your child will not get free transport to school if the school you choose is not the nearest suitable school.

Suitable schools

When assessing eligibility, the county council considers whether the nearest qualifying school has places available and provides education appropriate to the age, ability and aptitudes of your child and any special educational needs your child may have.

Nearest school

We do not measure the distance to the nearest school in the same way when assessing for free transport.

The nearest school is measured by:

• a straight line for school admissions
• walking distance for free transport

For addresses near to the County boundary the nearest suitable school may be located in a neighbouring Local Authority's area.

If you are in any doubt over the distance between your home and a school and eligibility for free transport please check with the area education office.

Eligibility

Please see the free transport to school page for further eligibility criteria.

School buses and public transport

If your child is not entitled to free transport they may still be able to travel on contracted school buses provided by the county council, if there is space available.

Lancashire County Council contracted school bus services are provided for children who qualify for free home to school transport.

We do not guarantee there will be space on these buses for other pupils and parents should not expect that a space will be available for the whole time their child is at their chosen school.

If space is available, you can pay a daily fare to the driver or if you want to save money you can buy a season ticket. It might be cheaper for your child to travel on a public bus service with a discounted weekly ticket.

It is also important to note that service routes are subject to change and services which no longer carry eligible pupils risk being withdrawn.

The county council will not provide extra services for non-statutory pupils and you will need to plan how your child will get to school if space is not available.   

Consideration should be given to other options such as public transport, car sharing, cycling and walking.

To plan the route and find out about services please see the Traveline website or call Traveline on 0871 200 22 33 (open 7 days a week 8am to 8pm. Calls cost 12p per minute plus your phone company's access charge).