Swindon Home to School Travel Policy consultation

Home to School Travel support is currently provided for children and young people in Swindon who require additional support in getting to and or from their educational setting.

The policy document provides children, young people and their families with information on what the council offers, who this support is available to, and what to do if a decision is made that a family may not agree with.

Background legislation

Learners aged 16 to 19 years

Section 57 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 does not include learners between the ages 16 to 19. There is no statutory requirement to provide travel assistance of any kind for children and young people over the age of 16.

Learners aged 19 to 25 years

Under Section 508F and Section 508G of the Education Act 1996, as inserted by Section 57 of Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, local authorities have a legal duty to provide free travel support which it considers necessary for eligible adult learners aged 19 to 25, who have an Education, Health and Care Plan and who attend qualifying establishments. 

Qualifying establishments

The following settings are considered qualifying establishments:

• Community, foundation or voluntary schools including special schools
• Non-maintained special school 
• Pupil referral units 
• Academies, free schools and University Technical Colleges
• For children with Education Health and Care plans, independent school and post-16 colleges if it is the only school named in the child’s plan, or if it is the nearest of two or more schools named in the EHC Plan as is not named on the basis of parental preference
• Any other educational establishment, other than a school, where eligible children are receiving education by arrangement made under section 19(1) of the Education Act 1994

Please note: Swindon Borough Council do not provide travel support to and or from training providers.

Consultation proposals

In order to ensure that we can continue to deliver home to school travel assistance in the years to come, we want to consult with families on the proposal to introduce a charging model of 25% of the total cost, which may be paid in termly instalments, for Post-16 Travel Assistance (ages 16 to19 years and 19 to 25 years), including Personal Travel Budgets (PTB’s) organised by the Local Authority.

This includes those with SEND (Special Educational Needs and/or Disability) from September 2027 except in the following instance:

• If a young person is eligible for free school meals

Further information on Free School Meal Eligibility for post-16 students, can be found via the free meals in further education funded institutions guide: academic year 2026 to 2027

Consultation timeline

We are required to consult on our Home to School Travel Policy annually. All consultation responses will be taken into consideration and will form the final report which will be considered at Cabinet. 

The timeline for this consultation is as follows:

• Monday, 14 September – The consultation begins, and the survey goes live
• Monday, 26 October – The consultation ends, and the survey closes
• February 2027 – This proposal and its accompanying recommendations are discussed at Cabinet
• September 2027 – Any approved changes will come into effect from the beginning of the academic year 2027-2028

Giving your feedback

Please view the following documents before completing the survey below:

• SEND Home to School Travel Policy 2027 to 2028 (PDF)
• Post 16 SEND Education Travel Statement 2027 to 2028 (PDF)

Home to School Travel Policy 2027 to 2028 survey

Further information

You can find more information on SEND Travel in Swindon on the Local Offer via our Travel Assistance pages. 

We ask that when completing this survey, you do not use any personal information which could identify you, your child or a child or young person you are working with.

We welcome and encourage young people to respond to these questions as well as their parents or carers.

Please note: this survey is anonymous however, further information is available in our privacy notice