Home to school or college travel support

By law, we provide transport free of charge to eligible children between the ages of 5 and 16 years-old. We do not provide transport for students of ages above 16 years-old, unless they have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and have been assessed as eligible.

Learners without special educational needs or disabilities

We will provide information to help young people who do not have special educational needs or disabilities. We do not provide travel assistance.

Learners with special educational needs or disabilities

Those with SEND who may be eligible for travel assistance are:

• young people of sixth-form age
• adults aged 19 years-old or older in education or training

In most cases, there will be a charge for travel support. This may be all or part of the cost.

We will reassess the transport needs of young people with SEND when they move to post-16 learning, even if they stay at the same place of education.

If your child's education, health and care (EHC) plan assessment has found that support with transport is necessary to meet their needs, you should complete the application form below.

Eligibility

All applicants must live within Thurrock. Where a young person lives between 2 addresses, we will use the address at which child benefit is paid, if applicable. Where no child benefit is paid, we will use the address for benefits paid to the young person, or other evidence we consider relevant.

We will only offer post-16 transport support where:

• the student attends the nearest suitable school or college – as recommended by the local authority – that offers the course they wish to study
• their school or college is more than 3 miles from their home address

We do not make travel awards where either:

• another source of funding is available to the applicant – for example, the 16 to 19 bursary provided by schools and colleges
• a similar course or training opportunity is available at a location nearer to the applicant's home

Apply for post-16 travel support

If your child is starting a new college year in September, you should apply for travel support no earlier than 1 June and no later than 8 July – if you apply after this date, we may not be able to arrange support in time for the beginning of term.

Further information

Our post-16 transport policy statement, below, provides more information.