Background to the report 

The Education Act 1996 aims to ensure that all children of compulsory school age (5 to 16 years) in England have access to an education. To ensure that transport is not a barrier, the Act puts a duty on local authorities to provide free-of-charge home to school transport for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest suitable school and cannot reasonably be expected to walk there because of the distance; or because of a special educational need, a disability or mobility problem; or because the route is unsafe. There is also provision for children from low-income families to enable them a choice of school. 

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In 2023-24, local authorities spent £2.32 billion transporting an estimated 520,000 children and young people to school or college. 

Scope of the report 

Home to school transport is one of the fastest-growing areas of spending for local authorities and this report examines the reasons for this.  

This report builds on our 2024 report Support for children and young people with special educational needs and our 2025 report Local government financial sustainability in which we noted the increase in home to school transport costs. It looks at spending on, and delivery of, home to school transport by local authorities in England. 

Conclusions 

For the children and young people who rely on it to get them to school and college each day, local-authority-provided transport is an invaluable service. Without it, many may struggle to access or continue with their education. When first introduced, it was predominantly a service for children in rural areas. Following changes in legislation, the number of children and young people assessed as having SEN increased, with implications for home to school transport.

Spending on home to school transport has increased significantly over the past decade, and a large and growing proportion of expenditure now goes on transporting children and young people with SEND to school. 

Local authorities are struggling to balance their statutory duties to provide transport for eligible pupils with their duty to balance their budget. Efforts to address escalating costs are delivering savings and can help to increase independence for some young people. However, where discretionary services have been cut, some pupils may miss out or parents may have to adjust working patterns or give up work altogether to take their children to school. Yet there is currently insufficient data to judge how any changes to home to school transport might impact attendance. Local authorities are looking to DfE’s upcoming SEND reforms to ensure the long‑term sustainability of the service. 

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Press release

View press release (31 Oct 2025)

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