Education Transport FAQs
The following information answers some frequently asked questions about Education Transport timescales and processes.
Timescales
These timescales apply to new transport requests, and for children with existing transport who have a change of address, school or requirements.
Only planned education transport for eligible pupils is offered. Short notice, urgent, temporary or one-off journeys are not provided.
Transport requests are processed strictly in order of receipt.
Stage 1; assessment of eligibility
The Education Awards Team receives applications and assesses these for eligibility under Essex County Council’s Education Transport Policy.
Transport applications can take up to 15 working days to assess. Applications received during peak July-October months can take longer than 15 working days. Therefore parents or guardians are encouraged to apply for education transport as early as possible, after their school or college placement has been confirmed.
For eligible children with special educational needs, disabilities and certain medical conditions; an additional process takes place to establish if specialist trained passenger assistants are required. This specialist healthcare transport process takes an extra 6-8 weeks.
Letters are posted to families to advise of application outcomes. For eligible children, transport requests are shared with the Integrated Passenger Transport Unit.
For Post-16 transport applications; once eligibility is confirmed, parents and guardians should make payments quickly, as otherwise transport arrangements will not progress.
Stage 2; transport allocation
The Integrated Passenger Transport Unit manages transport provision and allocates children to appropriate services.
It can take up to 10 working days to allocate children to a transport service. For requests received during peak July-October months, transport allocation can take longer than 10 working days.
When children cannot be allocated to existing transport provision, new contracted services are required. Additional procurement processes normally take an extra 10-20 working days.
Letters are posted to families to share transport details. For requests received in advance for travel starting in September, letters are posted mid-July.
Stage 3; transport provision
Most education transport is operated by external companies on behalf of Essex County Council.
Transport providers can take up to 10 working days to arrange travel. During peak July-October months this may take considerably longer.
For children allocated to contracted transport; processes include sourcing new vehicles, employing and training additional staff, planning routes, and adjusting arrangements for existing passengers to accommodate extra children.
For children needing to travel with specialist trained passenger assistants; recruitment and training processes normally take an extra 15-20 working days.
For children allocated to public bus, train and some contracted bus services; processes include production and distribution of new tickets, or existing smartcards being topped-up, which can take up to 10 working days.
Transport providers often publish route timetables, with pick-up and drop-off point locations, on their websites. For some children picked-up and dropped-off at home, transport providers share times directly with their parents and guardians.
Provision of bus and train tickets
Tickets are provided for use on public bus, train and some contracted bus services
Tickets are produced and distributed by transport providers. They may be posted to home addresses, sent electronically, given to children on buses or via arrangements with schools
Tickets are issued for a single term at a time; autumn term, spring term and summer term
Tickets may be issued as smartcards, electronic tickets for smartphones, or as paper tickets
Smartcards must be kept as they are reusable and may be topped-up with subsequent tickets
Contact transport providers directly about lost or damaged tickets, replacement fees are normally charged
Travel will be refused without a valid ticket
If transport is no longer required, tickets must be returned immediately with a covering note to:
FREEPOST RTKH-XUBZ-CJZS
Essex County Council
Integrated Passenger Transport Unit
County Hall
CHELMSFORD
CM1 1QH
Train tickets additional advice
Train tickets are posted with an order reference number. Please keep this as it’s required when requesting lost or damaged ticket replacements
Train passengers also need to carry a valid photocard or photo ID with them, please check the train providers website for details
Photocards are issued free of charge from staffed railway stations, and passport sized photographs of children are required. Child photocards are issued to those aged under 16, and proof of age is needed
Existing valid photocards may be reused
Where paper tickets are issued, write the photocard number in the space provided before use
Greater Anglia gives advice about activating their tickets; this applies to tickets on new smartcards, and subsequent tickets uploaded to existing smartcards
Failure to comply with National Rail Conditions of Travel may result in penalty fares
Customer contact response times
Parents, guardians and schools should carefully read all information on this page and our Advice page before contacting Essex County Council with enquiries.
Emails sent to us about things already explained on these pages, or included within our email auto-responses, are unlikely to receive further replies.
Emails sent to us requesting progress updates within advised timescales, are unlikely to receive replies. Please note that transport is not arranged urgently or at short notice.
For other email enquiries, we aim to respond within 10 working days. For those received during peak July-October months, it can take longer to respond.
Please contact transport providers directly with any feedback or questions about operational aspects of existing or new travel services.
