Free School Transport Eligibility

Am I Eligible for Free School Transport?

Learners may be able to get free transport to school, depending which school they attend and on how far they live from the school and any additional needs they may have.

To qualify for free school transport applicants must meet ALL of the following criteria:

  • Be at least 5 years old
  • Be resident of Carmarthenshire
  • Go to their nearest or catchment school
  • Live at least 2 miles from the school if they’re in primary school or at least 3 miles from the school if they’re in secondary school (measured by the shortest available walking route as measured by the Council’s mapping system, and includes schools in adjoining Counties if relevant)

School Catchments 

Under certain circumstances transport may also be provided for learners who do not normally qualify under the general policy based on:

 

Where there is no available walking route to school. The walking route between the home address and school is assessed in accordance with the ‘Leaner Travel (Wales) Measure’ guidelines on the assessment of risk of walked routes to school. 

Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 

Individual transport arrangements may be made where the medical condition of learners either prevents them from making use of the normal transport or the condition prevents them from walking the defined ‘statutory distance’. All applications for assistance on medical grounds must be supported by a medical certificate or signed statement from a medical practitioner which must clearly state that the learner is incapable of walking the specified ‘statutory distance’ to school. Each statement will be subject to a period of review determined by the condition and agreed with the parent/guardian at the time of initial award.

Will be subject to the eligibility criteria, however transport may additionally be provided for learners not meeting this criteria but where the requirement for transport is specified as part of a Statement of Additional Learning Needs issued by the Authority or where a learner is the subject of the statutory assessment procedure, due to learning difficulties, which the Local Authority considers makes transport ‘necessary’.

Assistance will be provided if a learner experiences a change of residence during their GCSE years (after the October half term break of their first year of GCSE studies – year 10) provided the learner meets the criteria on age and distance at the new residence and before the change of residence was attending the nearest or local authority designated school. Transport would be offered only until the end of year 11, on the nearest available vehicle and from the nearest available pick-up point.

Transport will usually be provided should parents choose to send learners to a voluntary aided school on religious grounds and subject to the learner meeting the criteria on age and minimum distance transport and residing not more than 8 miles from the school. Additional arrangements apply for St John Lloyd School, Llanelli – Please contact us for more information - E- mail - learnertravel@carmarthenshire.gov.uk 

The learners family situation might qualify them for transport. If the learner’s family has more than one parental home and at least one of those homes is in Carmarthenshire, you might be eligible for a travel pass for school. Here’s what you need to know: 

  • Learners must attend the school that is within catchment or nearest suitable school to their main home or the school that is agreed to be the most suitable for the learner.
  • To check if the learner qualifies for free school transport e- mail - learnertravel@carmarthenshire.gov.uk 

 

Parents/Guardians are responsible for arranging a suitable means of Transportation for their learners to get to school if they do not qualify for free transport.

To Learn more about the the eligibility criteria please read Carmarthenshire's School Transport Policy.

School Transport Policy

 


 

Bus Eligibility

Answer the below questions to see if a learner is eligible for free transport.