Parental preference and travel assistance

If you choose to send your child to a school that the council does not consider to be the nearest suitable school, the council has no duty to provide free transport. In such circumstances, parents will be required to make their own transport arrangements.

The nearest suitable school is one that the local authority deems to be suitable for the specific needs of the pupil.

Schedule 27 of the Education Act states that parents may express a preference for the maintained school they wish their child to attend, and the local authority must consider the parents’ requests before the final statement or Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is issued naming a school.

However, if a parent expresses a preference for their child to attend a school further away than the nearest suitable school, then the local authority reserves the right to refuse transport assistance to that school.