Education Transport Advice
Getting to and from pick-up and drop-off points
Where transport is allocated on public buses, contract buses or trains, students are expected to make their own way to and from pick-up and drop-off points.
For most students a ‘door to door’ service is not provided, and children may be expected to walk reasonable distances to and from pick-up and drop-off points, at the beginning and end of journeys.
Parents or guardians are responsible for arranging accompaniment to and from pick-up and drop-off points where they deem this necessary on safety grounds.
Where eligibility to transport has been awarded on the grounds of the non-availability of walking routes to school, this does not necessarily apply to walking routes to and from pick-up and drop-off points.
At pick-up and drop-off points
Parents or guardians are responsible for the safety and behaviour of their children when travelling to, from and at pick-up and drop-off points.
Students should arrive at pick-up and drop-off points 5 minutes before advised scheduled departure times.
Students should wait for vehicles sensibly. Reports of inappropriate behaviour at pick-up and drop-off points will be referred to schools and dealt with accordingly. Students should be mindful that while in uniform they are representing their schools.
Where tickets are issued, students should ensure these are carried to allow travel on allocated services, and show them to drivers when boarding vehicles.
When on board, students should immediately find a seat. Seat belts must be worn where provided.
Children picked-up and dropped-off at home
Parents or guardians are responsible for arranging for their children to be taken to, and collected from vehicles.
Drivers are not required to collect children from, or drop children at the door.
It is important that a responsible person is at home in the mornings and afternoons when vehicles arrive. If due to unforeseen circumstances an appropriate person is not at home, schools and transport providers must be contacted as soon as possible to make alternative arrangements.
Students should be ready to board vehicles at specified times. If not, drivers will leave after a few minutes and continue journeys without them to ensure a timely arrival at school for other passengers.
Parents or guardians would then be responsible for providing transport to ensure their children attend school.
Pick-up and drop-off times
Routes to and from school, and pick-up and drop-off times are planned by transport providers to be as efficient as possible for all students travelling on vehicles.
Because of this, it is not possible to accommodate the individual circumstances of each family, such as work commitments or taking other children to and from school.
Parents or guardians cannot choose their own pick-up and drop-off times, and should be flexible to suit the transport arrangements provided.
All contracted bus, minibus and taxi routes should be considered as a public transport service.
Unavoidable changes to pick-up and drop-off times can be unsettling, however these are likely to be an ongoing factor for students travelling on school transport throughout their education.
Journey durations
Students living furthest away from schools are likely to have longer journey times if picked-up first and dropped-off last.
When compared to travelling in private vehicles, journey times on shared services are likely to be significantly longer. Road congestion also results in longer journeys.
To manage passenger numbers on each vehicle, students may be allocated to routes that do not have the shortest journey times, or closest pick-up and drop-off locations to home addresses.
It is recognised that students travelling long distances to mainstream or special educational needs schools are likely to have longer journey times.
Shared travel
Education transport is based on shared travel in vehicles with other passengers. Parents and guardians cannot apply for individual transport.
Boarding correct services
Parents or guardians are given details of transport providers allocated.
For students allocated to public bus or train services, journey information is available from TravelEssex.
For students allocated to contracted services, drivers know contract numbers, names, addresses and destinations of children being transported.
Parents or guardians can ask to see driver identification.
Reporting lost or damaged tickets
Please contact transport providers, replacement ticket fees are normally charged.
If vehicles are late
Wait at least 30 minutes before making alternative travel arrangements. Road congestion often causes delays.
Parents or guardians and students should ensure they have their transport provider contact details in case of an incident.
In the event of incidents such as vehicle breakdowns, drivers determine if passengers should remain on board or leave vehicles.
Students should follow driver instructions and must not leave vehicles without permission. Any students leaving vehicles against driver advice do so at their own risk.
Challenging behaviour
Anti-social or challenging behaviour should be reported to transport providers in the first instance, who investigate allegations and follow a process to resolve any issues.
Where issues continue, please contact schools or the School Travel Behaviour Team.
Eating and drinking on vehicles is not normally permitted.
Some vehicles have CCTV installed for the safety and security of everyone travelling.
Parents or guardians may be held financially responsible by transport providers, for any soiling, damage or vandalism of vehicles caused by their children.
School Travel Behaviour Team
Telephone: 0345 603 2200
Infant seats and booster seats
Where child passenger restraints are required, parents or guardians are responsible for providing appropriate equipment for their children to travel with. Please contact the transport provider to arrange this.
Responsibility for securing children into passenger restraints
This is a joint responsibility of parents or guardians and transport providers for morning journeys. School staff will generally help for afternoon journeys.
Drivers are responsible for ensuring all passengers are secure before vehicles depart.
Changes to transport arrangements
Throughout each child’s education, travel arrangements are likely to change multiple times. This includes changes of transport providers, changes to pick-up and drop-off times and locations, changes to journey durations, changes of drivers and passenger assistants, along with other students joining and leaving vehicles.
Transport variations are often unavoidable and are made throughout the year in response to changes of requirements.
It is recognised that changes of arrangements can be unsettling, however transport providers work with families and schools to minimise disruption.
Parents or guardians must email the Education Awards Team if their children are moving school or home address; a reassessment of eligibility to transport will be required.
Journeys are provided to and from home addresses only, and transport providers are not required to accommodate alternative addresses such as childminders, another parent, or grandparents.
Education Awards Team
Email: EducationAwards@essex.gov.uk
Part time attendance at school or college
Transport is only provided for the normal start and end times of the school or college day. Transport does not normally accommodate part time attendance for induction periods, transition periods, specific college course timetables, or exam timetables.
Additional journeys during school or college days are not provided, and parents or guardians are required to make their own arrangements.
Eligible students may use normal morning or afternoon transport if they wish. Students provided with public bus or train tickets may use these flexibly during school or college days.
Early closing
Some schools and colleges decide to close early on the last day of term, and transport providers accommodate these requests where they can. However this may not be possible due to other commitments, or where bus services are registered with the Traffic Commissioner. On these occasions, schools, colleges or families are responsible for making their own early travel arrangements.
Additional travel
Education transport does not accommodate:
Breakfast or after school clubs
School or college trips
Extracurricular activities
Taster days; for example primary students visiting secondary schools, or secondary lower school students visiting upper school sites
Work experience
Travel between different school or college sites during the day
Medical or dental appointments
Additional trips if children become unwell at school or college
Additional trips if children are excluded from school or college
Additional trips for family functions where children attend residential schools
Additional trips back to residential schools where children have been unwell at home
Children with special transport requirements
When applying for transport, parents or guardians should provide all relevant information about the special travel requirements of their children.
Parents or guardians are encouraged to discuss travel requirements and preferences of their children with transport providers, and share techniques to help with journeys.
You can find useful resources on the Essex Local Offer website.
You can also watch our video on school transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Provision of passenger assistants
Passenger assistants are not required on most vehicles, and are only provided in the following circumstances:
For vehicles transporting 25 or more mainstream primary students, 1 passenger assistant will be provided. Provision of passenger assistants will not be considered for any other aspect of journeys or routes for mainstream students
For vehicles transporting students with special educational needs; 1 passenger assistant will be provided where an assessment of an individual child or group of children has determined a requirement on the grounds of physical, medical, or behavioural need
Parents, guardians or other family members are not permitted to travel on contracted transport with their own children.
Driver and passenger assistant safeguarding checks
Transport providers must ensure all their employees carrying out regulated activity on Essex County Council contracted transport services have been through safeguarding checks.
These include an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check, and drivers may already have this as part of their licensing requirement. Drivers of registered bus services are not designated as carrying out a regulated activity.
All passenger assistants are required to have an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check.
We cannot instruct transport providers on the gender of drivers and passenger assistants used.
Adverse weather conditions
During snow or severe weather conditions, transport providers communicate with parents or guardians and schools if they are unable to operate services.
We support decisions to suspend services where travel would be considered unsafe for passengers, staff or other road users.
Transport providers consider multiple factors when deciding:
Availability of staff; can they travel safely between their homes and vehicle depots
Road conditions along the whole route, including at vehicle depots, all pick-up and drop-off points and at schools
Pavement conditions for passengers between pick-up and drop-off points and their homes or schools; including those with mobility issues
Weather forecast for the whole day; if passengers are transported in the morning, are afternoon return journeys likely to be possible
Buses and minibuses are often rear wheel drive, and do not handle snow as well as front or all-wheel drive vehicles
If transport is no longer required
Students may move to different schools or home addresses, and education transport is no longer necessary.
Parents and guardians are under no obligation to use the transport offered, and may wish to make alternative travel arrangements at their own cost.
Contact the Integrated Passenger Transport Unit to inform us if transport is no longer required.
Integrated Passenger Transport Unit
Telephone: 0345 603 2200
Complain about education transport
Parents, guardians and schools should contact transport providers directly to share feedback about the quality of their services.
For issues that remain unresolved, please let us know by using our complaints and compliments form.
