Denominational home to school transport

For pupils starting denominational schools from September 2007 onwards, there will now be a charge for school transport.

The annual charge will be £250 for primary school pupils and £300 for secondary school pupils.

Pupils who currently receive free home-to-school transport to faith schools will continue to do so until they reach 16, or until they change school

Other pupils may also qualify for free transport based on certain criteria:

• pupils entitled to free school meals
• pupils whose parents are entitled to the maximum level of Working Tax Credit
• where a family has 3 or more siblings attending schools on denominational grounds (up to age 16) only the two youngest children will be subject to a charge
• we continue to exercise discretionary powers in consideration of exceptional circumstances

We previously had a policy of providing free home to school transport for pupils attending faith schools. But increasing transport costs and the need for the Council to make substantial budgetary savings, meant that we had to review this policy.

We came up with four options to change denominational school transport:

1. Do nothing – retain current policy and apply the eligibility criteria rigorously
2. Introduce a maximum travelling distance
3. Charge for denominational transport
4. Withdraw transport on denominational grounds.

Find out more about the options for denominational transport.

We ran a consultation to seek the views of those involved in denominational transport, such as:

• parents of all pupils attending Nottinghamshire schools
• parents of Nottinghamshire children attending out of county denominational schools
• Chairs of Governors and Head Teachers of all Nottinghamshire schools and neighbouring denominational schools
• the diocesan education authorities within Nottinghamshire and neighbouring Local Authorities
• neighbouring Local Authorities
• Confederation of Passenger Transport
• anyone else who has an interest in how future denominational transport should be provided.

A report was written, explaining the reasons for the need to change, the possible options for change and the responses from the consultation. You can download the Denominational Home to School Transport Report below.

The report was considered at a meeting of the full County Council on 20 July 2006 where the decision was taken to introduce a charge for new pupils starting at a denominational school.

Further information:

Our Home to School Transport Policy (2007-2008) [PDF] applies to all pupils starting or changing school from 1 September 2007

Denominational Home to School Transport Report [DOC 171KB]

Denominational Home to School Transport Report - Appendix A - consultation form [DOC 80KB]

Denominational Home to School Transport Report - Appendix B - consultation comments [DOC 62KB]

Denominational Home to School Transport Report - Appendix C - Extract from DfES Draft Guidance, Education and Inspections Bill 2006 [DOC 62KB]

Denominational Home to School Transport Report - Appendix D - Home to school transport policy statement [DOC 60KB]

Denominational Home to School Transport Report - Appendix E - Charging Options for Denominational Transport [DOC 63KB]





Why we provide denominational school transport

Why changes to denominational school transport were necessary