Travel to school or college

Most children get to school with their parents or carers, or on their own if they’re older. This may not be possible for some children or young people because: 

• their school is too far away
• they’re unable to walk
• they cannot walk to school, even though it is within the normal walking distance of two miles (if aged 5 -7) or three miles (if aged 8 or over),
• they’re not able to use public transport in the same way as other children
• they attend a school where there are no arrangements for boarding at or near the school
• their religion or belief means that the nearest suitable school is outside the distances.

Travel Assistance

If your child or young person has Special Educational Needs or a Disability (SEND) and has an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, or other specified needs, you can apply for free school travel assistance to help them to get to their nearest school or college by using the online form.  Apologies this form is temporarily unavailable, we will restore access to it as soon as possible (29th June 2022).

You should read the council’s Travel assistance policy for 0-25 year olds in education before submitting the application.

Various documentation will be requested as part of the application form process and you will need to be able to upload it with the application. In most cases, completion of the application is not possible without this:

• EHCP (Education Health Care Plan)
• Supporting evidence, in absence of EHCP – any relevant supporting documents such as behaviour support plans, incident reports or previous risk assessments in addition to any health & social care information and plans
• If a wheel chair user, the wheelchair specifications including make, model and measurements
• If applicable, Epilepsy Care Plan, Behaviour Care Plan, Asthma Plan, Allergy Care Plan and any related health care plans
• Benefits documentation

The documents should be recent (under 2 years old).  To be successfully sent to Travel Assist, file sizes in total should not exceed 20mb, and no one file should exceed 1mb. 

Change of Circumstances

‘What happens if my child changes school?’

For any school changes a new application is required so that a reassessment can take place.  Please reapply using the appropriate form above for your child’s age, as soon as you become aware of the school change, so that transport can be put in place promptly.  Any changes can take up to 15 working days to complete.

If the new address is outside the City Council boundaries, applications will need to be made to the new local authority for travel assistance.  BCC will be unable to assist with these arrangements.

‘What happens if my child changes address?’

For a change of address, please email  travelassist@birmingham.gov.uk providing details of child’s name; DOB; school; the current address; the new address and date of address change.  A reassessment is required before any change can be put in place, so please notify Travel Assist as soon as possible to avoid possible delays in the new transport arrangement.  Please note that this process can take up to 10 working days to complete.

If other details change, please email both the old and new details to travelassist@birmingham.gov.uk.

Contact us

For general enquiries or to give feedback about your child or young person’s transport service, please contact the Home to School Transport service Monday to Friday, 7:00am – 5.30pm.

Phone: 0121 303 4955

Email: travelassist@birmingham.gov.uk

More information 

For more information read our Parents Transport Guide: 

Parents Transport Guide (PDF Version)

You can read our Home to School Transport newsletter here.